Herrell's Ice Cream & Bakery — Restaurant in Northampton

My partner had been hyping up this place for quite a long time. He can be a bit of an ice cream connoisseur, but he grew up in the area and even with many other creameries around, he said this was his favorite and most nostalgic one for him. He has the book written by Mr Herrell himself, and even had a t shirt for this place that he wore when he brought me here. I'm from the West Coast and this was my first trip to the East, but he had been telling me about this place the whole time we've been together. I was thinking it was just nostalgia and it being nearby him that he kept hyping it up to me, but boy was I wrong. For context, I typically like ice cream without all the added stuff like sprinkles, chocolates chips, cookies etc. I just want to enjoy the ice cream without the other things in it, unless it's maple, pecans or walnuts. I love those. Herrell's had many options and I couldn't choose. However, when I saw peanut butter, just peanut butter ice cream by itself which for me is damn near impossible to find, I had to try it. I love peanut butter. No added chocolate or nuts or Reese's pieces etc. Just plain peanut butter ice cream. Hands down, it actually was some of the best ice cream I've ever had. It was delicious, and most importantly, so thick and creamy. You could lick it and it will absolutely keep its form of where your tongue left it slicked up lol. My boyfriend even explained Herrell's method of creating ice cream of not over stirring or over whipping it so that it could keep its texture and creamy consistency. I tried his sweet cream flavor as well and a few others and they were all really good. This place is definitely one of my top places of favorite ice creams. Prices were great too and lots of indoor seating. They also have little baked goods on the side. 100/10 will be coming back here for sure my next...

Hate to do it to a locally owned business, but my experience at Herrell's certainly did not live up to its 4.6 rating. I ordered a milkshake and like a couple other reviewers, I found it lacking flavor and pitifully watery and runny. It was more like whole chocolate milk than a milkshake. It was also full of bubbles after being mixed in a blender versus mixed with a shake stirrer. So needless to say, I was very disappointed. I should have known things were going to go awry when the server (a stocky young man with dark hair working at 2pm on 7/28/22) couldn't tell me how much ice cream was in a shake. I had asked to see if I could request 2 different types of ice cream in my large shake. I explained this to him, but he still didn't answer my question of how much ice cream was in a shake. So I finally just asked if I could have chocolate and banana in the shake and he said yes (even though, oddly, chocolate is not listed as an ice cream flavor on the list). So that's what I ordered. It then seemed to take and inordinate amount of time for him to make a milkshake. So instead of posting a 1 star review based on my initial experience, I wanted to give them a chance to make it right by me. I went back in and asked for another scoop of chocolate ice cream to be added into my cup to which he said, I'd have to pay the price of a mini scoop to get more ice cream. I then asked if he would please add one scoop for free and he said he'd have to ask, so I asked him to do so. I saw him ask someone who I assume was a manager and he returned and said they would not do it free and I'd have to pay for the scoop. I was very disappointed and surprised and left the store. Unfortunately, I can't recommend Harrell's. Bad product and bad...

So I understand that this is the Northampton ice cream place and I understand why. It's conveniently located with a good reputation to boot. However, I think they've been riding on that reputation for too long and have allowed the quality to go down. The way the ice cream is scooped and the ratio of toppings is often not ideal. To be clear, I don't blame the employees for this I feel like there's just they lack direction on this front. (The employees are always friendly and pleasant, one of the best parts of going quite frankly)

That aside, they have menu items up permanently that they just don't ever have. I went to order a banana split and was told they didn't have banana's that day- okay that's fine. I pivoted. I went back months later and tried to order it once again and was told that they actually rarely have bananas because it's not a popular menu item. If that's the case then take it off the menu and make it a special the days you DO have bananas. Just not stocking for a permanent menu item is poor practice.

My last complaint is pretty minor but having a serving size in a sample cup is the cheapest thing I've seen in a while. Just go off of amount of scoops like every other ice cream place ever. In conclusion, I believe they have a monopoly on the Noho ice cream scene and if any other ice cream shop of good quality came to town Herrell's would pale in comparison.

(I have been going to Herrell's since 2021 and have tried a variety of flavors and toppings. Their strongest product is their hot fudge. Just buy a jar of that and save yourself the trouble and...