Dairy Dome

I love Dairy Dome and their froyo, BUT, I am disappointed and it drives me bonkers that they turn off their soft serve «flavor machine» at 9pm on a Saturday when the shop closes at 10pm. I can only assume that they do this so that they can get out of there faster at the end of their shift. It’s frustrating enough to send me to a different ice cream shop.

Got a blackberry soft serve that came to a crazy $ 4.50 total or so. Tasted like garbage so just threw out.
Taste test before you buy!

The worst ice cream I have ever had! Strawberry soft serve and a regular twist and a water for over 9.00 and it was gross! The place is the dirty and the staff isn’t friendly– won’t be back!

Love comming here and now bringing my son. It is great that there is more outdoor seating than there was a while a go

Love this place! Aside from being cool because it is a converted old time gas station, they also have a dome that might might as well be the State House. Oh yeah and they make their own ice cream. Seems like every home-​made ice cream place around here is Richardson’s repackaged, not these guys, it is the real deal. Cool building, cool and creamy home-​made treats, check it out!

To me this place is an ice cream place. I got a coffee frappé and it was either mostly milk or their coffee doesn’t have any flavor. I kept sipping it thinking I was mistaken but my wife took one sip and said it was lousy. By then it was half gone so I didn’t bother bringing it back up to the counter. If you try this place just make sure to speak up if you think yours isn’t so good.

I recently used Dairy Dome to cater a party at my home. The food was delicious — many guests commented on how good it was! We had a tray of chicken francese and a tray of eggplant parm, which each came with a tray of pasta; and we added on a few loaves of fresh baked italian bread. We opted for the delivery service, which was a reasonable charge. It arrived on time and hot! We’ll be using Dairy Dome in the future, and I’m sure many of our party guests will as well.

After hearing a lot about this place all over the place, from Unilocal and Phantom Gourmet, to local sites and blogs, I decided to make the trip to Stoneham for an ice-​cream fix on a nice summer night. Accompanied by the girlfriend, the ride from Somerville was quick and parking was easy: perfect.
We stepped in, pretty excited and I immediately noticed that this place has a lot more than just ice-​cream; they have a full Italian-​style deli there serving Boar’s Head sandwiches and all kinds of Italian goodies. Meh, I was there for my sweet tooth. I totally focused on my mission and ordered two scoops: one of vanilla and another of mint chocolate chip.
After paying what seemed like a fair price, I was given my ice-​cream in the cup and left to eat outside. No seats were available so I decided to stand by my car. Couldn’t do that either, there was a skunk nearby and it smelled bad. I got into the car, blasted the air-​conditioning, turned on some tunes and ate away.
Honestly the ice-​cream had nothing special. Once again (and just like about every single time) the Phantom ‘Fraud’ Brothers artificially create a buzz about an average place. Actually average would have been nice… my ice-​cream tasted like freezer burn. It didn’t taste like it had been made in the last decade. The mint chip was decent but the vanilla was barely edible.
Service was slow and the person behind the counter seemed very confused; not a very good experience. I was expecting average to good and left very unimpressed, what a shame.

I love Dairy Dome haha! I’ve been there probably 4 times. Ice cream quality is really good, portions are generous, and prices are reasonable. Service has always been good and friendly whenever I’ve been there, but I can see how it might be inconsistent (teenagers serving, sometime being distracted by their friends hanging out).
I wouldn’t go TOO far out of my way for it, but I always go there when I’m in the area (usually getting roast beef at Royal or Liberty Bell)!

Me and my girlfriend just left Diary Dome. First, the girl making my Peanut Butter Sundae made it with the wrong ice cream. She asked if it was ok, and I asked her to make what I asked for. She then made my girlfriend a Banana Split and forgot the bananas and asked if she could just put them on top. My girlfriend said yes. They then tried to run my credit card through for my $ 12 of ice cream. The machine said «no paper» so the girl couldn’t figure out why it wouldn’t work. Turns out it was because it had no paper in it. They had to call a manager to ask where the paper was stored and then spent 15 minutes trying to put it in the machine. After that, they could not get the card to run because it wouldn’t get a dial tone. They called the manager again (why would a manager actually be at the store anyway?) and they asked me for another card. At this point, me and my girlfriend have been done with our «quick» ice cream for like 5 minutes. To no one’s surprise, the machine still couldn’t get a dial tone so they asked me to pay with cash. If i had cash I would have already paid with it and left. The manager on the phone demanded my name, phone number and address to make sure I didn’t screw them out of $ 12. I don’t plan on going back; good luck to the manager hunting me down.
Great ice cream, awful service and even worse management.

This place is great. Great food, service, and prices. I wish it was closer to my work so that I could eat here everyday. The Tuscan sandwich, macaroni salad, and corn chowder were great today! Last time I had the peanut butter frozen yogurt which was awesome

I view the dome mostly as an ice cream place. For that they are pretty good. Best local place for soft serve, they have some good hard ice creams too. Don’t know if I would travel a distance to try it, but since i like it more than the other places in Stoneham.
The last few times I have gone they didn’t have the flavor my girlfriend wanted and their dip was «off» an hour before they closed. The service could be better, but it’s mostly the local high school kids… what can be expected? its the dome… a local legend.
I will say that the Mayo family (owners) are super friendly and gracious.
Since they started offering food, my family has had a few of their italian style take home meals. Good for something quick thats not a pizza or sub, but not the best meals and a little overpriced.
Lastly, a great place to get a Christmas tree! My family has gotten ours there for as long as I can remember.

I loved this place as a kid. The Hawaiian Ice is still my favorite. I still stop by when I’m in town. Love this place!

There are a lot of options at the Dairy Dome … maybe too many. They have hard ice cream, soft ice cream, yogurt, bakery items, candy, meals, catering, etc. I think a great ice cream shop should focus on the ice cream. And honestly, I’ve only had the ice cream (okay and maybe one of their insanely big whoppie pies once as well).
The flavors were fine, but nothing worth writing home about. They offer 36 (or close to) flavors of soft serve, but honestly, the flavoring is very faint and they all taste sort of the same. The servings are large and the prices are reasonable. It’s ok if you have a serious ice cream craving you need to take care of fast, but otherwise, I’d recommend making the trek somewhere else for a better ice cream experience.

The owners are facing an identity crisis. I’d say about 3 years back this place did ice cream & some pastries… once the new owners came in and tried to make it more — catering. hot foods etc and the whole set up is just not very appealing.
It’s nice that they hire young kids to work the counter — give them some work experience, but in my experience we had to slowly give our orders or else the kids would mess it up and take forever.

I’m not a huge fan of this place.
I don’t know why.
It was recently mentioned on Phantom Gourmet. Their website is horrendous.
My dad used to take my mom here when she was pregnant for ice cream. Yah, it’s been here awhile…
Their meals are OK for what you pay for. You get a lot — enough for 2 for dinner with enough for leftovers for my lunch the next day. Not bad food — they cook it up for you right there. Kinda nice. But no better than those frozen-​bag meals. You know those things? I like them.
We had ice cream too — some fried-​dough sundae which was ridiculously hard and messy to eat. Nice idea on paper, bad execution.
The place is a madhouse in the summer. It was busy when we ate there and they were overwhelmed and had no clue about ringing us up. Lame. Also it’s super-​super-​ultra-​hot in there with the sun blazing in through those front windows that have NO SHADES. Ow.
I would maybe get dinner there and bring it home. We may get ice cream there sometime soon.

Did I maybe squeak in an extra star because The Dairy Dome was my first job? Maybe…(guilty)!
Ah, the memories of «The Dome». We would go here after my little league games (only if we won), and we would all line up to get the soft serve cones or mini baseball caps filled with soft serve twist and jimmies (or sprinkles).
As I got older, I decided «hey, wouldn’t be too bad working here»…and it wasn’t. It was a great, flexible job that worked around my school and sports schedule, and lots of my classmates worked there too!
Owned and operated by locals, this place was always packed with people. When it wasn’t peak ice cream season, they would sell XMas trees, wreaths, etc… and then take a winter break and open again in the spring.
Recently, they’ve added a catering business. I’ve gone in a couple of times when visiting the ‘rents in Stoneham, and it’s just not the same! They’ve added the catering business, and I never see the lines of people like I used to. The ice cream I have gotten when I’ve been up that way is just as good as it used to be, but the variety and choices seemed to be limited to what they used to offer.
Overall, still good, but should be better considering the competition!

Oh man… The Dome. It’s been right where it’s always been ever since I was itty-​bitty. Once spring arrives, you wait to see that banner. That magical banner that tells you when the Dome will re-​open it’s doors for the season. Literally down the street and around the corner, it was the lifestyle to come here after the family dinner (and dousing yourself in Deet! thanks mosquitos!) and stand in line for (as a little one) what felt like FOREVER. While you’re waiting, you sidle up to the glass and press your face and hands against the case. ‘Cause that’s the job of a kid. You can hear your feet suction to the sticky floors, making that awesome sound.
My favorites was always a Hawaiian Ice. Lemon! Yeah. Better than an Italian Ice, better than a Slushee. We’re talkin’ Lemon icey-​slushy goodness topped with vanilla softserve. The epitome of brain freeze. You taste it and you just know… these two flavors were meant to be together.
These last few hot days remind me of the days I spent cleaning my neighbors’ yards for a few extra bucks to afford a tasty treat. Hard to believe my childhood ice cream stop now has subs, jams, and crazy amounts of other stock.
Recommended: Banana Boat. It’s literally a three flavor sundae a top a delicious banana catamaran.
And X-​Mas trees @ Christmas!

So many choices: hard or soft serve ice cream? What flavor? Candy coating? I decided on blackberry soft serve with a chocolate dip in a cone.
Maybe mixing flavors into vanilla soft serve makes the ice cream TOO soft, because I made a mess trying to eat my cone. Much ice cream and some of the chocolate coat was lost to my lap and the ground (luckily we had opted for sitting outside). I don’t think I’m too challenged, as my boyfriend also had a rough time eating his soft serve, as did another group who came after us. The blackberry soft serve had a vaguely fruity flavor, but I wouldn’t be able to identify it as blackberry if I hadn’t ordered it.
Luckily, the Dairy Dome has a pretty clean restroom that customers can use to wash off all that stickiness from a rapidly melting ice cream cone.
I love my soft serve ice cream, but only in my mouth. Not on my hands, clothing, or worse yet, on the ground (I don’t follow the 10-​second rule when it comes to ice cream).

The Dairy Dome is INSANE. We got a chicken parm spuckie, a meatball parm spuckie, a chicken salad pita, and a piece of cherry cheesecake. Never in my life have I seen so much food for less than $ 25.
Everything was incredibly fresh and delicious and the servings were gigantic! We ate all that over 3 days. I almost called them to just say «Wow. Great job.» With the portions that big, I have no idea how they’re making any money. You have to go!