On the Farm

On an exploration to find the best soft serve ice cream in the area, I bookmarked On The Farm. I was interested in trying it as a dipped cone after seeing a few delicious looking photos from some friends. We went as a group of 5 expecting some awesome ice cream.
Sad to say, those who had the hard ice cream thought that the flavors were overly sweet and said it would be more kid friendly. A friend and I had the vanilla soft serve with cake batter dip and the vanilla soft serve with chocolate dip. By the time the dipped cones were handed over to us at the pick up window, it already began to melt. Within 3 minutes time my cone was melted down to ice cream soup… meaning a large puddle of vanilla on the table I sat at. Not only my dipped cone had that effect but also my friend’s. I’d say only 25% of the actual ice cream made it to my mouth. The cake batter and chocolate dip was also very thin.
We left disappointed and wanted to go elsewhere to satisfy our sweet tooth. I’m not sure what went wrong but that poor ice cream just went to feed the table and the ground. We were the only people at the stand on a weekday around 1pm. If you do go here, take advantage of the Unilocal check in offer of 10% off ice cream order! Service was quick and they had no problems taking the Unilocal offer but I’m hoping they’ll get it right if I do end up coming back and giving it another chance.

Farmati please!!! For those of you that don’t know, a farmati is this place’s version of gelato which is Italian ice and soft serve. Mind blown. We elected for piña colada shaved ice and vanilla/​chocolate twist. Wow. Amazing. Didn’t try the food on this visit but I will. They have plenty of outdoor seating and apparently have a full menu of burgers, fries, chicken sandwiches, etc.

Good summer place for a cheap soft serve cone or sundae. The hard ice cream isn’t homemade so I would stick with the soft serve. The kiddie size is plenty big enough for me.

The summer is a better time of year because that means we get to go to on the farm. I’ve been venturing out on different food options and been very happy with everything I’ve tried. I really like that they have really delicious pasta salad /​coleslaw to go with their delicious fries as well. There’s just something about the burgers here too that just always hit the spot.
Most recently I had a strawberry shake which I’ve been thinking about all week. They use really awesome strawberries which has made it my go to shake choice.
Be sure to try the soft serve flavor of the week. They are really awesome.
On the farm is by far my most favorite ice cream stand in the 518 and I can’t recommend it enough.

They now have gluten free buns for the burgers and gf cones! The cones are a little smaller but a smaller cone is better then no cone. We found that the GF buns were pretty tasty considering they are gf. I am so glad that they offer these choices now as this means we can stop by for a treat. Wish the hot dog buns were gf too, but maybe next year :-)

The best ice cream in upstate NY hands down. Make sure to try the banana and peanut butter soft serve.

This place sucks! !!! The place itself is opened until 9pm and we got there at 7.50pm, there were a few people ahead of us so we stood in line for about 10 minutes. When we got to order we were told the grill was closed. …it was 7.59pm at that time, I explained to the rude young lady that we had been standing in line for a few minutes already but I could clearly see the grill was off and already cleaned. She went in the back and came out after a minute saying sorry but grill is closed, I advised her she should update her sign to advise grill closes at 7.45pm but she couldn’t have cared less. We left. Won’t be back either. Just make sure you make it there by 7.30pm if you want hot food… horrible customer service.

This is like the world’s greatest miniature golf course, but without the miniature golf course. Decent snack food stand, with the ice cream a bit pricey ($ 3.45 for a medium soft serv). Water ice, sherbet, and Perry’s hard ice cream available.
It’s not really the food but the eat outside milieu. There’s a bunch of old farm machinery artfully displayed around, and a number of inhabited bird houses. Lots of picnic tables, with an awning for ducking out of the sun and rain.
The farm I think is gone, but the lot is an opening onto some of the last greenspace in this part of Latham (private property; but the Latham Ridge Woodspath starts to the rear, access at the end of Grove Ave.) so more power to the owners for keeping it «On the Farm».
I realize mini golf is in eclipse right now, but I do look at those green spaces on either side of the stand and all that awesome farm equipment and it’s hard not to think of how awesome it would be to start putting through the thresher and plows.

Still a great place! Prices did seem to go up but still reasonable. $ 4 something for a medium twist cone with sprinkles. They also serve «fast food.»

This place was perfect for what we needed. My bf and I showed up on Mother’s day looking for a quick lunch that wasn’t our usual Chipotle stand-​by.
The food was moderately quick for a busy day, the tables were clean and they have Perry’s (which had a nostalgic touch since I’m originally from outside of Buffalo where the stuff is made).
I got a grilled chicken sandwich and my date got a spicy chicken sandwich and we split some waffle fries. Waffle Fries were meager (sad face) but crunchy and perfect. My sandwich was much more than I would expect from a road stand place. I got the «dill sauce» on the side which was awesome… I think it was just mayo, sour cream and fresh dill. Perfect for the sandwich and the fries to dip.
I tried a sip of my bf’s strawberry milkshake and it was gross, but I hate strawberry flavored stuff and it just tasted like fake syrup to me. I guess 4.20 or w/​e it was for the shake seemed extreme. (At that point buy a pint of ice cream at the store YOU KNOW?)
Maybe all milkshakes are this expensive now? I’m midly lactose intolerant so I don’t keep up on this stuff. Maybe I’m turning into and old person that thinks more than 2 dollars for an ice cream cone shows that there is SOMETHING WRONG with society.
But, regardless, the food was well priced and I’ll go there again and recommend it to others.

This place is a fantastic! The burgers are amazing! The prices are right and the
portions are large. I wish that they were open year round.

The food is ok. The ice cream is pretty good. Portions in both categories are huge. Right next to it or maybe part of it is currently a flower sales area, but later in the summer it becomes a farmers market into the fall. The farmer’s market was there last summer, but seems to be missing this year.

So I am perplexed by all the high star ratings — are people nostalgic for the good old days like 15 – 20 years ago when I was a young tyke and thought On The Farm was the greatest thing since sliced bread?
So I have the same gripe with this place that I have with several other ice cream places — go out on a limb and try to make some hard serve ice cream because the Perry’s ice cream is absolutely disgusting — like vomit inducing disgusting. I also don’t find the soft serve to be very standout here. Food is greasy, and service can be spotty — sometimes its alright, but other times rude, but in general its not fantastic.

Great Ice cream as others have noted. While it is just a little bit pricey for ice cream, its definitely worth the price. Very fast too. If you’re ordering soft serve it almost feels like someone in the back is making it before you even pay.
The portions are very large, a «kids» size is about the size of a soda can, and for the sundaes you can get several different toppings.
I don’t order from the grill often but the food is pretty good there as well.
A tip, if you’ore interested in trying something special like the hot fudge brownie with ice cream, try ordering a sundae instead and asking for what you want as a topping. You can get ice cream with brownie and chocolate syrup (practically the same thing) for half the price.
Make sure to get a punch card when you go! You can turn it in for a free medium after 10 items (not transactions).

excellent icecream, i didn’t try anything off the extensive menu but will definately go back. and (time sensitive) the local classic car guys are doing car shows on friday in the summer. so get there before labour day

On the Farm has great soft serve ice cream. The kind of soft serve that leaves me wondering «why doesn’t all soft serve taste this good?»
I wouldn’t necessarily eat lunch here, or order any of the fried things, but every time I am in town I try to go by On the Farm, remember 1986 (when they opened) and smile at the fact that the soft serve tastes as good as it did then.

Honestly, I’m more of a hard ice cream kind of guy. But when I’m in the mood for soft serve, I drive out of my way to make it to On the Farm.
Why? Because not all soft serve is created equal.
We found this out last summer when I conducted a tour of five different seasonal soft-​serve stands. The results of which can be found at the link below.
But what makes On the Farm stand out is their use of a fresh mix instead of a shelf stable one. The results of using a premium product are readily apparent, as their vanilla tastes like vanilla, their chocolate tastes like chocolate, and the texture of their soft serve is delightfully dense.
Changing special flavors means you won’t burn out on the classic chocolate/​vanilla swirl. But if you are not a swirl fan, the vanilla here is the better of the two. It’s harder to get a good vanilla soft-​serve than you might think. Far too many have nasty artificially vanilla aftertastes, and others have scarcely any vanilla flavor at all.
On the Farm has a clean and distinctive vanilla profile, which is miles above what you will find at that place that advertises on the radio all the time, or even the most beloved soft-​serve stand in Albany.
The good stuff is here. Now you know.

Best ice cream in area. Burgers are really good but kind of cheap meat. The owner should know sometimes they shut the grill down 15 minutes early. He told me I can order until 8:30 pm on weekday. Ridiculous of the teen workers! I drive all the way out there and they already shut down the grill. Keep your hours consistent!

A very popular drive-​in restaurant serving ice cream treats (waffle cones, cups, sundaes, shakes, malts, floats, & flurries) and hot food (burgers, hot dogs, steak sandwiches, fish frys, clam rolls, & chicken tenders). Hershey’s hard ice cream and Pepsi fountain drinks are served here. The food and ice cream here are pretty good.
Especially on the weekends, the wait in line can take a while since there is only one order window and one pickup window. Ample picnic table seating available nearby.