Herrell’s Ice Cream

My fav was strawberry and sweet crème.
Was good while it lasted.
Not too horribly pricy
I think they ddni’t accept card when purchases were under 10 bucks.

I’m not sure why some folks don’t like this place. I may have gotten lucky and picked the absolute best flavor on my first visit … but whatever the case, I thought it was great.
I chose the chocolate pudding ice cream and I have to say it was thick, rich, creamy and delicious! Yum yum!

I went here once a few years ago in the middle of the night. I think I was having a drunken night at Harvard and thought «HEY, RUM ICE CREAM! HA HA HA RUM! I’M DRINKING THAT! I CAN EAT IT TOO!»
Oh, to be 18 again. Anyway…
I remember a long line, somewhat slow service, and kind of a dirty shop. I also remember paying an arm and a goddamn leg for a tiny little cup of ice cream.
But I also remember the exquisite rumminess of the rum ice cream, the sticky and not-​overly-​sugared peanut butter sauce, and they way they melded together in one little cup of wonder.
One FIVE-​DOLLAR little cup of wonder, that is…

The word on the street is that Herrell’s is closing, so I thought I’d give it a shot.
It’s pretty clear why it’s closing: «off the beaten path» location, very high prices, mediocre service, cash only, and a shop that is falling apart and had its last repair circa 1979. They are many other great options in the area that can fulfill your ice cream desires.
But I had to give it 3+ stars. Why? Well, the HOMEMADE whipped cream for starters! They have regular or chocolate — and it’s perfection. Sampled a number of flavors and they were all strong. Sundaes were tasty. The product at Herrell’s is great, but everything else about it is not. The «Herrell’s dollar» that they give you on the way out is a nice incentive to return.

This place is somewhat hidden, especially in comparison to the J.P. Lick’s and Lizzy’s nearby, but it’s definitely worth checking out. Although the shop itself is pretty bare bones, the ice cream is really good. We shared a large with two flavors, banana and sweet cream. The banana was really banana-​y and you could tell that they didn’t add any artificial coloring — the ice cream was a faded gray color, and there were many chunks of banana in it. The sweet cream was really pure and full-​flavored. One thing that I didn’t expect from the ice cream here is that it’s pretty dense, almost like gelato. When I was scooping bites with my spoon, the texture was evident as the pieces were coming off in really gooey, almost string-​like patterns.
I’ll be back for the sweet cream ice cream again, especially since Lizzy’s only has a lowfat version. Why would I go to an ice cream place and order low-​fat?!

ok it’s not the best place in town
but it is pretty damn good
and a black and white frappé with froyo and skim milk sounds really gay — but damn it hits the spot.

Holy hell, this place has gone down hill. How do you screw up making a milkshake? This chick disappears for like 15 minutes. Are you kidding me or what? It was the worst milkshake I have ever had. I don’t know if she used melted ice cream or what, it was so watered down.

It’s the place to end up after dinner at John Harvard’s or Phở Pasteur since it’s right around the corner. My girlfriends and I are crazy enough about Herrell’s to get some scoops of super fun flavors and classic stand-​bys in the dead cold of winter.

Herrell’s ice cream is gritty, with a weird aftertaste. I’ve been here twice, and twice was enough. But maybe one day I will go a third time to be charmed. Maybe, when I have enough discretionary income.
On the plus side, though, the jungle mural is pretty cool.

Charming ice cream place in Harvard Square. I love the high ceilings and the large mural.
A truly small small size was $ 3.85. Err…
Health bar ice cream was tasty.
Boomerang Bucks ($ 1 off the next ice cream!) is a nice touch!

I went here because my friend works here and it’s fantastic. No, I’m not biased.
I got two scoops, almond cream and cookies and cream, with chocolate «jimmies» (sprinkles). Oh my! It was so creamy that I had trouble spooning the ice cream. When I did, it will make a long ice cream strand that I have to gobble quickly or I will make a mess, which I did anyways.
The almond cream was an unique flavor and fantastic and the cookies and cream was perfect. The cookies were mushed in and big chunks were included too.

This is the only Herrell’s location I’ve been to, and I was not impressed. I had the chocolate, my friend had the strawberry, and they were both decent, but nothing exciting. I had to repeat the order to the guy working the counter about four times before he got it (all I wanted was a scoop of chocolate…). Overall: if you’re in Harvard square, skip this place & go to Lizzy’s.

The three stars are intended only for this Herrell’s location, and this is because many of the flavors aren’t available, the store has no ambiance, and the servers kept complaining about the fact that customers were entering the store and needed to be served. As a Herrell’s hot fudge addict, I wasn’t going to be deterred from ordering the sundae of my dreams by a pasty kid who wanted his pipe and some Pink Floyd. Flashing a flirty smile to the heavily baked grouch behind the counter, I began the journey to nirvana.
I started by sampling the Chocolate Buttercream, Cake Batter, and Purple Cow (black raspberry ice cream with white chocolate cows) flavors. You can sample as many flavors as you like, which is lucky for me, as I never know which flavor I’m going to want. Then, I ordered a variation on a chocolate overload sundae (which was so huge that I only finished a third of it), while my companion chose a pint of the peppermint ice cream. A heady cocoa wave soon crashed over me, but not before I savored each chocolate ingredient on its own, making sure that I was still on the right path to bliss.
Hot Fudge: 5++ stars (flavors include mint, almond, and orange)
Chocolate Buttercream: 4 stars (5 stars for frosting-​like texture)
Brownie: 4 stars
Chocolate Whipped Cream: 5 stars (incredibly thick and rich)
Maraschino Cherries: 2 stars (a bit mushy)
Peppermint Ice Cream: 4 stars (the flavor builds to a lovely finish)
Purple Cow: 5 stars (make sure you like black raspberry)
If you can, head to the Herrell’s in Northampton, which is magical. There you’ll find nearly 70 flavors, including vanillas, coffees, fruits, chocolates, nuts, candies, frozen yogurt, and soy ice cream. The shop is brightly painted, with a huge curving counter, cozy booths, and articles about the history of Herrell’s on the walls. Standing in line, you’ll learn that Herrell’s originated the smoosh-​in and that the owner is fiercely proud of his hot fudge (as he should be). I highly recommend Herrell’s ice cream, just not the Harvard Square location.

Hm. I think I enjoyed my last real ice cream cone ever here. It was a really good coffee, no smush-​ins because I don’t like *things* in my ice cream.
So, in the back of my mind, I credit Herrell’s with sending my body into some sort of milk-​fat shutdown. Now I can’t eat ice cream, and here I am, stuck in New England, where rich, creamy ice cream is pretty much standard.
Oh, well. Herrell’s is looking out for me. I had a yummy strawberry yogurt this time.
Good product and a good location — I can’t eat from a cone while I’m sitting down. It just feels wrong. I have to be walking, so I tend not to care about ice cream parlor ambiance, or seating, and more about neighborhood. .. this works. And you get a sense of why the prices might be so damn high.

Eek! I just don’t think their ice cream is that good. The flavors are, you know, the same ones you can find anywhere, and the quality is just average. Go elsewhere to find rich, creamy delicious ice cream or unique flavors. 2 stars.
I’m tacking on a 3^rd star because I like that they offer dairy free/​no moo/​vegan (whatever you want to call it) ice cream and «milk» shakes. Only two flavors– chocolate and peanut butter– but it’s something. I’d like to see them expand those options.
It’s kind of a dingy, not-​so-​nice location overall, so I have always opted for take-​out rather than eat-​in. It would take a makeover of the physical space, and an expansion of the menu, to get me to feel more enthusiastic about this so-​so joint.

«So, I’d give it 5 stars on ice cream flavor and texture (and the amazingly eerie/​wonderful vault), but zero stars for the non-​advertisement of their use of gelatin.»
They don’t use gelatin. I made ice cream for 5 years at this location and there was no gelatin in the base nor added.

Great hot fudge. And you can eat your ice cream in the old bank vault, complete with glowy underwater scenes painted inside.
A note to those with peanut allergies — the server went and got a new scooper to make sure that J did not die as a result of eating accidental peanuts.
Kind of pricey, so I like to save this for a once in a while treat.
Didn’t see any cleanliness problems when I visited.

Ahh my fun jaunts while at Harvard would end at Herrells, with a scoop of ice cream in hand… and sitting in the random but fun vault, dreaming the day away… l
It’s a Harvard institution, just like ‘nocs pizza :)

There are different ways to be good at ice cream, and Herrell’s way is to be good at sundaes.
The sundae bar is wickedly good. I don’t think any reasonable person in the sundae camp could argue with that. I myself am not really in the sundae camp but it’s just so damn obvious.
The underwater-​themed side chamber is also, well, unique.

The ice cream is so expensive and I’m not sure what I am paying for. They put chunks of candy into it that are fine but nothing special at all. The ice cream itself isn’t that good. So you are eating okay ice cream with generic candy in it and somehow charged $ 5 for a small? How? Really, avoid this place. Go buy some ice cream (at JP Lick’s!) and crush up some Butter Finger into it. That actually sounds really good… mmmm…