|
|
Post by Deleted on Jul 16, 2017 14:56:14 GMT -5
|
|
|
|
Post by Clipper on Jul 16, 2017 21:15:29 GMT -5
Our two favorite places to go for ice cream in the Utica and CNY area are Dave's Diner in Schuyler and Nicky Doodles in Verona. Dave's Diner is a diner that also has a drive in type window on the outside and picnic tables. The last time we were there we ordered medium size cones of soft ice cream. It literally had 6 or 8 inches of ice cream over and above the rim of the cone. The ice cream is outstanding, but the medium cone is so huge that it melts all over and runs down your arm. We ended up going back to the window for a dish and a spoon and took the top off the cones and put it in a dish to eat it. The next time we go there we will be ordering SMALL cones, lol. Nicky Doodles in Verona is just down the road from Villages at Turning Stone RV park where we stayed the last time we were in the area. They also have great soft ice cream and sundaes, and the portions are a reasonable value for the price. The place is so popular that you can wait in line for upwards of 15 minutes to get to the window and get your ice cream Given a third choice, it would be an ice cream drive-in that is on Rt. 28 between the top of Vickerman Hill and Rt. 20. We always took Kathy's aunt and uncle there when we visited them at their camp on Canadarago Lake. Sadly, just as there is a shortage of meat markets, family owned bakeries with a large selection of goods such as we were used to in Utica area, and good Italian restaurants, there are few choices of places to go on a hot evening for a nice refreshing ice cream cone. We have a Dairy Queen about 8 miles from us, and of course there is always the McDonald's sorry excuse for an ice cream cone. We CAN get a sundae at Perkin's Pancake Restaurant, or IHOP among other chain franchised, sit down restaurants, but not the same as going to a drive-in for a quick cone to go. It seems that there are regional favorites that are more or less indigenous to different regions of the country. When we come North I miss being able to order grits or sausage gravy over a biscuit. There are also very few BBQ places up there and even Dinosaur BBQ's food can't compare to the quality of the smoked meats and the sauces that are available here in the South. I guess I can live without the regional foods of the Utica area in exchange for the warm winters. low taxes, and the Southern hospitality we experience here in Tennessee, but this thread has me craving a pistachio cone from Dave's Diner, LOL. NOBODY in this area, neither supermarket or ice cream stand, has pistachio flavored ice cream.  |
|
|
|
Post by kit on Jul 17, 2017 7:07:32 GMT -5
My favorite ice cream place of all time sadly isn't there any more. It was the Gatesdale Dairy Bar on Rt. 20 in Bridgewater. As kids we used to camp at Cedar Lake in the summer and one of the fathers would often pile a bunch of us kids into his car (usually a station wagon) and drive over the back hills to Gatesdale. Among many other sundaes, they had "The Pig's Dinner" which was like a banana split on steroids. It wasn't cheap (by 1950s standards) and if you could eat it all, you'd get a pin that said, "I was a PIG at Gatesdale Dairy Bar". All their sundaes were delicious; they had names like "Dusty Road", "Black and White", and other cute names. Ice cream back then was REAL ice cream... not made like it is today. In the early 50s there was no such thing as 'soft ice cream'. It was the real deal.
They also had regular diner food in the other room which was very popular to passers-through as well as many locals. I was only a kid back then, but I fondly remember the Gatesdale Diary Bar.
|
|
|
|
Post by Clipper on Jul 17, 2017 9:28:23 GMT -5
We used to go to Gatesdale sometimes on a Sunday ride when I was a kid. They had GREAT hard ice cream. I don't remember what brand it was but it was wonderful. You spoke of the "Pig's Dinner." I used to go to a little restaurant and ice cream place on Herkimer Rd in Schuyler back in the late 50's with my mom and dad. They had a dish called a Tozer's Special. It was a wide soup bowl containing a humongous banana split with 8 tall piles of soft ice cream and a generous helping of every topping they had. I ate two of them once and got my picture on the wall by the door. LOL. If you could eat two they were free, similar to the Pig's Dinner. They should have called their's the pigs dinner. I sure was a pig to eat TWO of the darned things. Can you even imagine the amount of sugar and calories I consumed at that one sitting?  Gatesdale also had one of the best hot dogs anywhere in the area. They put a red spicy relish on it, similar to the relish served on the hotdogs at the old Northern Lights on the point in N. Utica. |
|
