Gran-Val Scoop — Restaurant in Granville

Granval Scoop Granville, Mass Saturday June 22, 2024. This is an interesting story so please read to the end. I have been going to Granval Scoop for years. My daughter even has a shirt from that place. Now, I look with skeptical eyes at an ice cream place. It's a haven for grandparents and grandchildren. This is what I have to look forward to? But my kids are still young and their grandparents are coming back into to town soon, so we might be back soon. So we've been many times and finally this time I was hit with a profound question: What is the process from COW to ICE CREAM? What a great question. Did we have time for this ? Not at all but I asked anyway. The ladies behind the counter though looked confused and so I asked a further question: Are you the boss? She pointed to a woman across the way and I came face to face with the person who I would be talking with over the next 10 minutes while waiting for my family to leave the animals outside and come into the place. You see years ago I remember seeing cows there at Granval Scoop. I made the assumption the cows created the milk, the tireless milk person would milk the cows, then that milk would be turned into ice cream. Somehow. I didn't know how, hence the question. Little did I know but the cows were no longer there. They got rid of them a long time ago and they used to have them but there is a simple process of homogenization and pasteurization which most dairy places do not deal with due to massive equipment. So, now they buy sweet cream milk fat at a value of 16% (normal milk is 2-3% for whole milk) and she said Friendly's ice cream (if it's still in business) is more like 10% but Granval Scoop is considered gourmet at 16%. This makes sense but I asked then, Where do you get your milk fat sweet cream? From a farm in Pennsylvania and they do that because they like the cleanliness of the product, not that other places are dirty, but she mentioned something about added coagulants in today's modern ice cream. She said their ice cream does NOT have that added stuff. Therefore she said it will melt faster than normal ice cream. Sure enough, my coffee chocolate ice cream cone I bought later for $4.40 was very good and it melted quite quickly. I licked it and enjoyed it very fast. Why am I telling you all this? Well, I can only assume my assumption of milk cows on the premises to ice cream is an entirely in house process. Not so. Perhaps the cows and things like that keep the ideas like that perpetuating but I learned so much from the boss. Also it's a testament to people crunching numbers and figuring out what about their business makes money and then capitalizing on that one thing. Specialization! Way to go Granval scoop. I cannot wait to go back and see you all again and participate in truly enjoying gourmet ice cream! I just cannot do too much. You know. Also one of our kids has a peanut and egg allergy and he doesn't have an issue with a simple vanilla...

This ice cream place is awesome! I remember coming here with my family when I was young. I didnt know until today that you can have birthday parties there and I wish I had had one there myself. They have excellent ice cream with a wide ranging assortment of toppings and ice cream. The staff is very friendly and service was pretty quick for the amount of people there. I was interested to see other items for sale from other vendors (besides their own baked goods) such as teas, honey, maple syrup, spices, hot sauces, and natural bath and body items like soaps and hand sanitizer. They had brochures and business cards from the vendors and I loved that because I collect brochures and enjoy looking up companies like that online after the fact. They have a large indoor sitting area as well as outdoor seating on the deck and in a pavilion/gazebo near the animals which is awesome because some ice cream places can feel crowded, especially when busy and this place seemed like it could hold a large capacity comfortably. I love coming here to see the animals, sometimes there is even babies or young animals. During my visit I saw 2 baby goats.. They were so tiny and adorable! If you want you can feed some animals, but not all because of either diet or nibbling. While you are allowed to pet the animals most of them were only interested in being fed, but can you blame them?! The sign told us which ones we could feed so pay attention if you have small children. Unfortunately the pigs were inside when we were there (probably to escape the heat) but you could see them resting and I couldn't get over how large they were. There also was a bunch of cows feeding in a barn which I thought was cool.

Overall this is one of my favorite local spots and probably my favorite ice cream place. It's a great place for adults and children alike, and I even saw a few people with dogs (just keep them away from the animals!) I would recommend Gran-val scoop to anyone who hasn't gone and I promise you will have an...

I would have given it 4.5 stars if there were half stars. It's clean, and has local honey, and their ice cream in containers, for sale. The ice cream cones are good, but my ice cream was not entirely smooth, like it was freezer burned or maybe had been warmer from a power problem or something, and then refrozen. The animals are fun to see and feed, and seem well cared for. And the animal part is free. There is a small, and I mean small, playground there for little kids, but it won't hold their interest for too long. A couple of big tractor tires and some sand. But, you don't go there for that, so it's ok. You will have a nice drive out there, especially in the fall, and it's a good experience for the kids, for the money. The ice creams have homemade waffle cones, and in the past, the ice cream was smooth and creamy. (Maybe ask for a sample to see if the flavor you want has ice crystals in it.) A good trip with...