Maryland Dairy

Less than 2 to 3 weeks ago, I had some ice cream from the Maryland Dairy within the Adele H Stamp Student Union building (on the University of Maryland College Park campus), and ordered a two scoop icecream option. The person serving me the icecream was actually super nice to me and made me feel welcome there and was pretty fair in how much I was charged for the two scoop icecream. Both scoops tasted delish, with one of the icecream scoops being a Jordan Almond (a delish almost praline, butter pecan type of earthy almond icecream flavor) with the other scoop being called 1856 or was it called 1836 (a delicious strawberry shortcake tasting icecream).

In the 70s, long before fancy ice cream brands, the Dairy at the University of Maryland was the place to go. It was near Richie Colosseum by Route 1. I haven’t been back since I graduated and just thought it was gone. While walking in the Student Union, I was pleasantly surprise that a shop existed. I was happy to savor it again 30 years later.

This is a must visit when you are near College Park. Fresh, rich, and full of fat, the way ice cream should be, and you get to check out co-​eds while you’re there.

After two months at UMD I finally ventured to the dairy with my lab. I was surprised at the size of the place as I had originally thought it was just a small ice cream shop attached to the visitor center. To my surprise the place is large with a ton of seating and even serves food and coffee in addition to the famous ice cream.
I am a person who is absolutely terrible at making decisions. So of course this plus the fact that every flavor looked delicious and the flavors had no descriptions meant standing in front of the case debating within my mind for an obscene amount of time.
I finally decided to just get what I usually get at ice cream places, plain coffee ice cream. The ice cream was good of course, what isn’t good when it has 14% milk fat in it? I also tried a few bites of two other flavors. One was some kind of play on rocky road (had rocky in the name… don’t remember the name exactly though) and it had nice chunks of add ins but it was so sweet that there was no way I could eat more than a few spoonfuls. I also tried a friends rainbow sherbet. I am a huge fan of sherbet but this combination was just plain weird. Individually, the orange, raspberry, and line flavors were all really good but together, not so much.
Overall, I think this place is more of a novelty and a tradition for students. Personally, I’ll stick to froyo.

Responsible, in part, for the Freshman 15 — it’s really, really good ice cream. My absolute favorite was always the pumpkin spice ice cream. My roommate and I would save it in our freezer for as long as we could!

This is some of the best ice cream I have had in this country/​world. Until I had the ice cream here I would have said that Haagen Daz was the best ice cream that I’ve had in the US. I know that this may sound odd, but the best ice-​cream I have had in the world comes from unsanitary street carts in India. The ice cream from there has a softness that is similar to true Italian gelato.
The UMD dairy ice-​cream combines the softness of gelato with an additional richness component due to higher fat and milk solid content.
Do not miss the opportunity to try this place. I’m even tempted to give them my first 5 star review (for food). But I’m still holding out.

**Confessions of a Terp**
Dear Dairy,
Ice Cream has been a part of Maryland since 1924, yet sadly enough, Unilocal does not mention your famous presence at the University of Maryland!
Well so here I am, writing a review for you, dear dairy. I am sure you have stolen a million hearts and accumulated even more fans over the past 80 years or so! So far, I have not heard of a single ‘true’ terp who does not love UMD ice cream! It is made in Maryland, and lovingly sold by you.
Conveniently located at the UMD visitor center, you are by far the best companion/​place to hang out with on a lazy summer afternoon. You have amazing specialty flavors, honoring many terp traditions and people. The latest is the ‘Mote Choco-​moco-​Latte’ dedicated to President Mote who retires this year! They add new flavors almost every year, my favorites are the ‘final exam cram’ and ‘midnight madness’!!!
You are a delightful old fashioned place with benches outside, nice warm people and a clean interior. When people attend an orientation session for UMD, you are the first place they eat on campus!
So all you people reading this, head to my dear Dairy the first thing tomorrow!!!
I will miss you dear dairy immensely. sigh!