New Bedford’s Frates Dairy Was the Best for Ice Cream

There are culinary treats from your childhood you will never forget.

For example, I always remember root beer floats at Del's Drive-In, the clam-less clam cakes at the Dartmouth Drive-In, the raspberry lime rickey from Pete's Luncheonette at Shaw Street and Ashley Boulevard, and ice cream from Frates Dairy.

Frates Dairy, located at 2840 Acushnet Avenue in New Bedford's North End, was the place to go when you had to have ice cream – and go we did.

No matter how far from Frates we lived – we moved a lot – or how poor we were, my parents made sure we got to Frates. I can even recall late evening hot fudge sundae runs when my mother had a craving.

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Frates not only served great ice cream made right there on the premises, but the place was shaped like a giant milk bottle, the kind the milkman left on the stoop each morning.

The Frates family operated Frates Dairy from 1930-2001. The place changed hands at least once before G&S Pizza took it over in 2005 and decided to keep the 52-foot-tall milk bottle.

I've often wondered why they didn't paint a face near the top of the bottle to make it look like an Italian pizza chef. The bottle cap would make a great chef's hat.

Going out for ice cream with the family in the 1960s was a much different experience than it is today. For one thing, there were fewer places to go. For another, there were only a handful of flavors from which to choose.

My father's favorite flavor was frozen pudding. My mother loved maple walnut. My taste alternated between pistachio and chocolate chip.

What was your favorite Frates ice cream flavor?