Downriver Ice Cream was just what we needed, after spending an entire day at Crane Beach! It was about a 7 min drive away from the beach and was well worth the stop. Pretty packed the day we went, but luckily the line moved fast so we didn't have to do much waiting. Unfortunately the day we went, they were out of a bunch of flavors, mostly the fruit flavors that we typically gravitate towards. We ended up getting some ice cream to try anyways and it was yummy & creamy. We ordered one with strawberry + butter pecan, and another with willy wonka explosion. I really enjoyed the strawberry + butter pecan; strawberry had a bunch of strawberries in it & butter pecan was subtle but you could definitely still taste the butter + pecan. The Willy wonka explosion is perfect for if you're someone who loves chocolate candies like M&Ms, butter fingers, & snickers. The staff was very kind, they've got their own parking lot that's free to park, and a cute little seating area to enjoy your ice cream! Will definitely remember to come back the next time I'm in the area and try their fruit flavors! read more

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Can't find my photos but, we stopped in here after a day at crane beach! Very close by probably 5-10 min drive from the beach and I guess everyone else had the same idea haha This has the cute mom and pop ice cream shop feel. Order window, a ton of flavors to choose from (too bad the 3 flavors i wanted were out of stock that day) but i felt the ice cream was a heavier creamy style, tons of flavor and something for everyone. It's ice cream so any sweets for me in moderation! Def want to come back to try the sorbets! read more

We stopped here on our way back home to get ice cream for the kids. They have a large selection of flavors and the ice cream is the best I've ever had! Service was great as well! read more

DownRiver Ice Cream - Best Ice cream in the Rea! - Ice Cream & Frozen Yogurt Near Me - Essex, Massachusetts

Perfect location when you're leaving Crane Beach! Just at the end of the road is this cute little walk-up ice cream joint. The ice cream portions are large and the ice cream is fantastic. Love the funny/cute flavor names. The chocolate chip ice cream had the perfect amount of chocolate chips that weren't too big or small. They have a ton of flavors and even one for your puppy with a biscuit! They also have frappes & sundaes and a ton of toppings. Found from their website: mix formula of only five ingredients: Cream, milk solids, pure cane sugar, a very small amount of corn syrup solids - which give our product its "chew", and an even smaller amount of Guar as a natural stabilizer. Out of respect for the dietary requirements of our kosher customers, we no longer use gelatin. There is outdoor seating all around with greenery and flowers and a nice little sunken sitting area. Watch out for the mosquitos once the sun starts to set! Very small parking area available read more

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Walk-up stand with a variety of unique flavors and a few little seating areas by the tall grass or benches beneath trees near a stream. Friendly service, prices and portions on the smaller side, whipped cream is The Real Deal. read more

DownRiver Ice Cream - An assortment of unique flavor combos - Ice Cream & Frozen Yogurt Near Me - Essex, Massachusetts

I absolutely LOVE ! This place. I can have almost all the icecream except maybe 2 or 3 flavors. I have a gluten allergy, I never get a selection for ice cream. This place I can just about have read more

DownRiver Ice Cream - An awesome rainy day!! My large corruption and creamy pecan! - Ice Cream & Frozen Yogurt Near Me - Essex, Massachusetts

Amazing ice cream and the most beautiful yard with trees that shade separated groups of chairs with tables. The landscape is covered with a variety of floral bushes and flowers everywhere! Great place to relax and enjoy the best ice cream around! read more

I am an ice cream snob. I wait all year, refusing inferior substitutes, until DownRiver opens. The great assortment of standard flavors is special but the specials are often an intriguing combination of creative design. It is my great pleasure to introduce friends to DownRiver. I am sorry that the Ipswich River is obscured by the overgrowth of invasive Fragmities but it helps me remember to be an advocate for nature as well as for DownRiver. Sandra W Marblehead read more

Some of the best ice cream I ever had what a little place off the beaten track but the variety of ice cream and I got the bean ice cream and so pecans. It was absolutely delicious. You gotta give this place a try if you're a ice cream lover, you'll be in heaven read more

I love yum it is so fricken good the service is great and the employees are so kind they are yoated sigma alpha

nowhere to sit unless you want sun & mosquitos, maybe even greenheads/ horse flies girl at counter was nice ice cream was kind of bland but not too terrible parking was a bit too crowded read more

Delicious ice cream that is of premium quality. I got the Kung Fu grasshopper Frappe and it was out of this world! It was so thick and creamy and tasted amazing. Will be back. Most of you read more

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Some of the best ice cream I've ever had! And the unique flavors keep me coming back to try them. They never disappoint! Right now my favorite is Mexican chocolate. OMG!! So good. read more

Man, this ice cream is GOOD! We live a few towns over, but were in the area hiking one afternoon. Trusty Yelp sent us over to DownRiver (thank you all!) and I can't wait to go back again soon. Their list of flavors is HUGE - if you are overwhelmed like I was, head to their website where they give a detailed break down of each flavor. Not only was the ice cream amazing, but the servings were gigantic. We each got one scoop and could have shared it with 3 other people. Make sure you come on an empty stomach! read more

A little bit of a line and limited parking, but worth the wait. Solid portions for the price and many flavors to choose from. Outside seating options are a nice plus. read more

Delicious home ice cream with local quality ingredients. Mexican Chocolate was a perfect balance of cocoa, cream, and heat. Really pretty spit too. read more

Great ice cream variety. So much to choose from and great service. Fun place to go. Easy parking. Easy to find.

Wonderfully friendly place to eat an amazing ice cream and even lounge around and read a book! The atmosphere is great, unpretentious, and very friendly. The ice cream is delicious and made fresh. The proprietors are friendly, fun people. read more

Something's not right this year. I've gone twice and the texture of the ice cream is way off. It's like it melted and re froze? Or perhaps the base had water added to it and made it icy? Not sure but she's lost me as a customer. Too bad after such a good run. read more

I've been a couple times and their ice cream is very good. I love their fun flavors most of all, though!! My go-to is usually something with coffee, but theirs didn't wow me the first time, so the second time I went with Snail Trail (vanilla with chocolate chips and peanut butter), which was yummy. Would definitely stop by again, nothing is better than some post-beach ice cream!! read more

DownRiver Ice Cream - Snail trail - Ice Cream & Frozen Yogurt Near Me - Essex, Massachusetts

What a great treat after a trip to the nearby beach! Their ice cream is dense and creamy and they offer a huge portion for a great price with no up charge for getting a waffle cone. I got their Baby Mill River Mix which had chunks of toffee and swirls of fudge in coffee ice cream. The ice cream itself could have used a stronger coffee flavor, but it was overall very delicious. Their staff is super friendly and they are very quick to greet and serve you. They're also dog friendly which is always a plus in my book. You can order a cone for your pup which is topped off with a dog treat. Food: 4 Value: 5 Service: 5 read more

DownRiver Ice Cream - Baby mill river mix - Ice Cream & Frozen Yogurt Near Me - Essex, Massachusetts

Great flavors of ice cream off Rte 133. Cool little seating areas around the building. Fast and friendly service. And they accept cards.

Always a great experience. So many creative flavors. They recycle. Ice cream containers and straws are often bio-degradable. The staff is kind. Great place to go with kids and a nice family experience. Sometimes buggy in august. However, I prefer DownRiver Ice Cream over everything else in this area! read more

This ice cream is simply the best in the area. Every flavor I've tried is amazing. Some of my top Picks are oh snap, for ginger lovers and snail trail with peanut butter and chocolate swirl in vanilla. In the summer they often have ice cream specials and to another amazing special flavors are blueberry, and honey lavender read more

I love this place. Only giving 4 starts for their lack of froyo options. The dirty Joe is by far the best coffee ice cream I've ever had. It had Oreos in it too! Very cute location with nice places to sit and enjoy the outdoor gardens. Dog friendly and they have doggy bones :) read more

The best ice cream in the north shore hands down! Located near crane beach, this gem is worth the ride to experience their luxuriously creamy delights In an array of amazing flavors! The line moves fast and the servers are always polite; the portions are generous. read more

The ice cream is okay and the location is chill & good vibes. It's just average ice cream imo, nothing special in terms of the product itself. Staff have always been friendly. read more

Stopped from our way back from a great seafood lunch in Gloucester ... in search of homemade ice cream so decided to try this place based on the Yelp Review. My two friends and I sampled a few of the flavors and decided on Pistachio in a waffle cone for one, Salt Caramel with Choc. pretzel pieces in a cup for the other and me, the Choc. ice cream with brownie chunks in a waffle cone. We all thought the ice cream was OK, we've all had better but found the ice cream VERY sweet and not too creamy. Many Yelper's mentioned the bugs and they were right. It was about 5 pm and there were many flies and mosquitoes. Although there was outdoor seating, we opted to sit in the car due to the bugs. A nice, creative selection of flavors and a bonus that their cone option is a waffle cone ... but a little too sweet for our taste. Not horrible but not 5 stars for us. read more

The black raspberry ice cream is absolutely incredible, I will be dreaming about it for the next week

I see that almost two years later, still no bug zappers. Please please please do a courtesy to your guests and get some damn bug zappers. Glad to see three sugar free flavors but I need to call tomorrow and ensure it wasn't maltitol used to sweeten the ice cream, as I've been having a bad gut reaction. Tried all three sugar free - the maple walnut is the best. Still an excellent product. read more

Not a fan of this place. They 100% rely on their location to drive sales not the quality of their ice cream. It is an expensive, tourist trap for out of towners coming of Cranes Beach. If you want good ice cream from real locals go to Capt Dustys in Manchester or even Woodmans down the road. Not a fan. read more

Fantastic ice cream. Great service. I love this place. They have great flavors and generous servings.

Perfect way to end a day at Crane's Beach. Maybe the best reason to go to Crane's. Any excuse to go here is a good one.

I will prefice this by saying this is our favorite ice cream spot on the North Shore. Good ice cream. For years I have always gotten the two scoops while my wife has gotten the single scoop. Many times I look at the difference between the single and double scoop before we have eaten them and have trouble seeing any difference between the two. In fact, the single scoop cup is 8 oz. (by volume) while the double scoop cup is only 2 oz. more at 10 oz (by volume). I have finally had to convince myself that it isn't worth paying more for the double scoop when the amount appears to be the same as the single scoop, it's just in a slightly larger cup. I only wish I had weighed both servings before we ate them. read more

DownRiver Ice Cream - Single and Double scoop cups - Ice Cream & Frozen Yogurt Near Me - Essex, Massachusetts

This place is OK but I don't think getting served a scoop of ice cream should take 20 minutes on top of the 20 minutes I waited in line. I've never seen such slow service. read more

Such an amazing spot with the best ice cream around. The service was incredibly helpful, friendly, and kind. My only complaint is that there was no option to tip the employee who helped me when I paid with a credit card. The girl behind the counter was funny and had a big smile on her face while giving ice cream recommendations. I really wanted to leave her a tip but there was no option for a tip when I paid with my card. This does not seem fair to me to as they should have the ability to be rewarded for great service! read more

Best ice cream place around that offers unusual exciting flavors. I say that as not a huge ice cream person.

Yes, the portions are huge. We ordered the baby at $4 and basically split it. It's like a portion and a half. The ice cream was good, but not amazing. There were ice crystals on our scoop of coffee and toffee ice cream - like the kind you find on your ice cream when it has sat in the freezer for too long. It's a cute place - you order at a window (CASH ONLY!) and they have some seating in the back on a lawn. No bathrooms. read more

Waited 30 minute in line because there was only one person working. I ordered jerry Cherry and it was the worst ice cream ice cream I've ever had. I love cherry ice cream but this one tasted like really bad cough syrup. My friend got deer tracks which was pretty good. There was a really cute sitting area. read more

Went for a scoop after a day at Crane Beach at the height of the season in July and was quite disappointed. The ice cream texture was more icy than creamy and almost tasted like it had freezer burn. Will likely not return. read more