Ben & Jerry’s — Restaurant in Waterbury

Look. I don’t know if Ben and Jerry’s has been doing custom ice cream cakes this entire time? Maybe. Totally could have been a thing for years and I only just recently figured it out because they pushed it on their Instagram feed and I follow them because, let’s face it, Ben and Jerry’s are GOAT: EXCELLENT, DELICIOUS ice cream products; Progressive company messaging hard for social/racial/gender JUSTICE; internationally successful/famous/HUGE, yet still firmly rooted right here in The Great State of Vermont.

So, honestly, I am not a huge “sweets” person. I rarely eat ice cream or dessert of any kind. At the same time I am a strong proponent of cake. As in I feel it is a completely reasonable thing to keep a homebaked cake in your pantry and just work your way through it. If you feel you need cake then get cake!

I grew up one town over from one of the original, iconic Carvel Ice Cream stores. The kind you could walk up to a window and get ice cream. But also! Ice cream cakes. (Fudgie The Whale anyone??) That memory of childhood, Carvel ice cream cake is my personal standard. It’s a high standard. Which pretty much any good food memory from your childhood is.

I was intrigued when I saw the Ben & Jerry’s IG post and so went over to their website and that’s when I discovered they have an online “cake builder” too and I was IN! I encourage you ALL to go check out the online cake builder!! You don’t have to commit to order a cake, but you can explore the mind blowing choices. I mean…WHO KNEW??

I figured out the closest place for me to get a cake from is the actual, Waterbury factory, which is an hour drive for me (each way) and, frankly, I thought, “ Two hour round trip drive to get ice cream cake? Obviously.”

And then it turned out we were in need of food and refreshments for a baby shower. So I had an actual excuse to order a cake. I went online and built a sheet cake for the baby shower and then a second, 6” round cake for my “personal use.”

Here’s what’s included in your cake price: 2 ice cream flavors, 1 filling, 3 toppings, a color for the top (or one of their super cool designs), a color for the sides and custom lettering.

For both cakes I chose “Tie Dye” for the tops and the sides. GENIUS! The cakes were SO BEAUTIFUL. I honestly don’t remember all the choices I made for the sheet cake, but it had to go with a strawberry theme. And I didn’t personally taste that one (it got rave reviews).

For my personal cake I chose Chocolate Fudge Brownie + Coffee Buzz Buzz with crumbled sandwich (Oreo) cookie filling; drizzled fudge, caramel and crumbled chocolate cookies for the toppings.

Not gonna lie though. It was June and, these days, in Climate Change Vermont, it is Hot and Humid. And I had decided to to transport $100+ worth of custom ice cream cake in my trunk. So we loaded a giant cooler into said trunk, put about 4 inches of ice in it and I drove up to Waterbury. FYI: you can just drive up to the closer, upper parking lot at the factory and park in one of the 2 spots that are clearly marked for Custom Cake PICK UP (Yes, I’m looking at YOU jerks who took the first cake pick up spot and then just left your car there…#losers). You call the # on the sign and a LOVELY person will bring your cakes out for you. Amazing. No need to brave the hordes of rabid tourists!

I put the cakes, in their adorable boxes, in garbage bags and sat them on the bed of ice. We had ZERO cake melt on the drive back and I put them both directly into a chest freezer. My personal cake? (I DID share it!) BEST ICE CREAM CAKE I’VE EVER HAD. Next level stuff. Super cute, delicious flavor combinations AND excellent textures.

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While driving to Stowe to visit The Roastery hosted by coffee and beverages hand picked by The Nomadic Movement was excited to see Ben & Jerry’s along the way. Like many people huge fan of their ice cream.

After hanging with the founders of The Roastery, Jordan, Kaylee, and lil’ Sadie visiting from Panama who make the best cafe’ drinks I’ve ever tasted anywhere stopped here from some hand packed Chunky Monkey. I can’t find it by the quart where I’m at currently. It’s been a few years since tasting my favorite flavor.

Took some photos. Skipped the tour since I was alone and would rather go with family and friends.

My first stop was the graveyard, highly concerned CM was retired. Since I hadn’t seen it in so long. Thankfully not.

As for parking, it’s free. And, there’s people working to guide patrons to spots available. I’ve read some people complaining. This is a hilly Vermont location. Lots of people visit. Before traveling here your research to know what you’re getting into.

Me, was excited, “😝, Ben AND Jerry’s! On the way back baby!” I wouldn’t care if I had to bully goat a cliff. Wasn’t leaving VT without a pint of CM.

I’d traveled to southern NY for a school reunion. Drove five hours starting at 6 am to go to The Roastery for a beverage and to meet the founders who happen to be visiting while I was on the coast.

Having chunky monkey is the cherry on top of an epic side trip. Then, back to southern NY to hang with my sis before heading west the following day.

Now, I’m even more stoked to drive to Northern Vermont. I get the best beverage and ice cream plus scenery all in one trip.

The only issue I noticed, it was very hot and a long line. It was obviously difficult for some people to wait. Maybe there could be a wider tented wait area to help the many patrons in line. The service goes fast, but with so many people it seems they’d plan better for the overflow in shaded space. Thus, minus one star for this after witnesses the heat issue on several...

We have been fans of Ben & Jerry's for over 20 years, so finally getting to see the place from which the ice cream comes excited us a lot. We love the ice cream. We understand that this company generally tries to make its products with high-quality ingredients. In addition, Ben & Jerry's has been in the national news on-and-off for over 20 years. We especially remember when the management tried a brand-new idea for its time: that the highest paid employee, the C.E.O., would not make more than 7 times what the lowest paid employee makes.

Having a long-time view that this company was both well run and well-intentioned, we were shocked by the lack of quality of the tour provided. The tour is advertised as lasting 30 minutes. However, you spend the first several minutes watching a video and the last several minutes eating ice cream (that you get as part of your tour ticket). The actual tour amounts to about 10 minutes and is a very limited view of the production floor. You do not get to see any of the cows that produce the milk, we found that omission surprising.

What was particularly distressing was our tour guide's lack of qualifications (I believe his name was Habib). We were interested to hear about what had happened with the management pay rule (no more than 7 times what the lowest paid gets). Habib did not even know have this policy had ever existed. It was embarrassing. In addition, we asked about why the company had maintained its roots in Vermont, given that it is now an international powerhouse in the world of ice cream. Habib was, again, clueless. There were other problems with the tour, as well.

The good parts of our visit were two-fold: visiting the flavor gravesite, where long-gone flavors are now buried, which was both interesting and numerous; Ben and Jerry's actually tells you the Calories for each of their luscious ice creams, which I found enlightening. We also noticed solar panels spread out over a field next to the...