Abbott's Frozen Custard - Arlington Center

Super nice folks!! Ice cream was delicious and creamy. Filled my pregnancy craving for banana splits. Will definitely be back!!

The ice cream sandwiches are super good, and their flurries are incredible! A sweet place to stop in Arlington!

Looks like the place is coming together. Would of gave it a five star but the girl gave me a watery milkshake with a chunk of ice cream in the middle. I didn't have time to have it fixed otherwise would of said something.

This is such good ice cream! Custard is thick and rich, creamy. The flavors are great and I like the buy three pints for $20 deal. Good thing I don't walk over more often!! (This time, they were training and the staff was really inefficient and SLOW!!! I hope service improves soon!)

I love Abbott's across the board, it's so delicious! This location is conveniently located on Mass Ave and it's always well-stocked with fun flavors. My family and I just came home with kettle corn, blueberry, and vanilla "gumbo" -- vanilla custard packed with all sorts candy and peanut butter sauce mixed in. Yum!! Staff are friendly and welcoming, there are always new flavors to checkout, and there's a courtyard outside where you can enjoy your custard outdoors. Highly recommend!

This review is not a reflection of the product because the frozen custard is delicious. It’s because this place is never open! I live down the street and have walked there 3 times this summer and all 3 times it was closed. The store hours on google also are not accurate. Please increase the store hours so I can actually give you my money, buy your delicious ice cream and I’ll change this to a 5 star review.

I love that we have such a great locally owned ice cream shop in Arlington Center! Lots of the flavors are great (definitely try the dairy free fruit ones too!). The waffle cone pieces in certain pint flavors didn't work unfortunately (soggy), but most of their ice cream is excellent.

Went for a late night treat. Ice cream was delicious. Tried the gingerbread. Tamarra was my server and did an excellent job of offering me different kinds to try and gave me a background on how fresh all the ice cream was. Great experience, will go back for more.

Came here after a lovely dinner nearby. It's a very small, quaint ice cream shop. They only have 5 flavors. I think they serve different flavors everyday. There was vanilla, chocolate, chocolate almond, strawberry . They have milkshakes, frappes. They sell cookies and cakes and ice cream to go. I had the chocolate almond on a cone and it was good. I love chocolate so I didn't mind. They don't have chocolate jimmy's, only rainbow sprinkles, which I don't like. The prices were not that was expensive. They have kiddie, small, and large. The kiddie was very small but it was enough for me. So with not a lot of choices or tables and chairs to sit, but it's cute for satisfying a sweet tooth when not much is available to choose from. It is clean. And it's nicely decorated. Stop in if in the area. You might not get your favorite flavor, but you will find something.

Don't bother calling. Their phone is either unplugged or the number is out of service. There is no way to know what flavors are available unless you show up in person. The first time I went I was surprised to find all four available flavors contain chocolate: it was chocolate, a peanut butter chocolate, almond chocolate, and some kind of cookie with chocolate. Pretty laughable if you don't like chocolate, which was exactly what I did when I left empty handed. I got lucky today and was able to see strawberry on the menu. Unfortunately it was given to me with brown streaks which clearly meant the scoop used was not cleaned before they served me. I don't expect a deep clean but at least rinse the dang utensil, couldn't you? When I walked in I did see an employee pick out random stray toppings that fell into the other cups with his bare hands and then pop them into his mouth as a snack. Not a great experience and unfortunately the taste also didn't redeem my visit either.

After eating at the pasta bistro next door, we decided to come here for ice cream. We arrived a bit late so some of the flavors were taken, but I got a brownie with strawberry ice cream and it was yummy! Good portion as well. The hubby ordered chocolate covered bananas and he enjoyed those as well, overall it was great! And the service we received was great as well.

I'm not sure if this was a joke or a scam but either way how could you make someone pay $30 for this?!? (6 pack). It's disappointing that a local business could do this to its community. Maybe I'll go back if I feel like getting financially abused.

This place is so good! Frozen custard has eggs in it and kept at a slightly warmer temperature than ice cream. The result is a delicious frozen treat that is dense and rich. So good! Here it is made daily. There were about 6 flavors when I made my visit. They can do flurries, shakes, sundaes which all have a variety of toppings to select from. There were also some other treats to purchase. I got a scoop of oreo peanut butter, and it was so creamy and rich. Yum! I will definitely be back again. There are a couple of places to sit inside to enjoy your frozen custard.

The custard was absolutely amazing but the service from the employee Henry was even better. Super generous and kind employee, need more like him around Arlington!

Extremely disappointed. Doors were locked and they wouldn't serve a whole ten minutes before closing time. Just bad service, c'mon y'all.

Extremely disappointing. We stopped on a hot afternoon excited for an Abbott's custard (from Rochester NY where this is popular). I got a black raspberry cone and my wife a chocolate cone. Had a very, very small portion of ice cream that barely covered the top of the cone with an opening that showed none in the cone. Took me less than 10 seconds to eat the meager amount served. NOT RECOMMENDED if you want ice cream. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED if you like to eat a cone without ice cream. Will never return.

Nicole was so helpful! We had a large group with a wide variety of orders,. Nicole was so patient and her recommendations were spot on!

Came here with my dad and the people working were so friendly and kind, and so patient, and the ice cream was delish. We loved it!

While the custard was creamy enough, it was served at such a high temperature that it was 10% melted and quickly melted more. Also the chocolate flavor is very very subtle and they generally have limited flavors (which makes sense if it's going to hang out so close to the melting temperature). It wasn't necessarily bad, but is probably only worth a visit if you're already in the area and want very soft ice cream.

Whenever I come here, I have a very nice experience! The selection is awesome and the staff are all very nice. Most recently, I came in the other day and got cookies and cream and one of the workers, Natalie helped me out with my order. She was very kind and friendly and my custard was excellent! It is also a very clean store and the line always moves quickly. I cannot say enough about how much I recommend it here!!!

Not Allergy Friendly. Well for starters if you're allergic to egg, this is not the place for you. But the other challenge as we learned today - they can't guarantee that each flavor hasn't been cross contaminated. We were told by an employee - They don't clean the machines between making flavors. So the flavors that are GF may not be actually GF. Disappointing. Rancatores is the better way to go if you have allergies

Will never go again. I got served a melted mess. I would have them tell me it wasn't ready then got the mess I got.

I came in about 2 weeks ago, and a man named Milton introduced himself. He then proceeded to stick his hand in the gummy bears and shoveled them into his mouth before serving me my custard. He didn't use gloves and there no hand washing involved. He then asked me how I was and to see if I was above the age of 18. When I processed to explain to him that I was 17 he seemed disappointed and turned to his co worker and said he wished I was 18. I then looked around the store, above me there were swarms of flies and custard splattered everywhere. Fortunately, the custard tasted alright. And the other workers seemed nice. I wouldn't recommend teenage girls coming here if they want to keep themselves from being hit on by a middle aged man.

Maybe it's because I'm from Boston but we were taken aback by how nice everyone was when we visited. The custard is so good!! We brought our family from the Midwest which is known for preferring custard to ice cream and they approved!

Me and my boyfriend love to come here because the service is great and the frozen custard is even better. Our favorite is the black raspberry (although lately it's been sold out when we visit). You can't really go wrong with any of their flavors

Just tried to get custard at 8:50pm. Door was locked. The young kid sweeping the floor was not interested in opening it. So much for being open until 9.

Pretty bad experience the first time I stopped by this place. I just noticed the sigh outside the shop and a few people hanging around talking to employees through the door. I'm usually a fan of frozen custard so I asked the lady standing in the doorway if customers should come inside or just order from the sidewalk. She said to order online. Bear in mind this shop is about the size of a closet and you could easily converse through the open door which has a barrier between customers and worker. I asked if I can just tell her what I'd like to order verbally and she gave strange reply. "Yes, but my computer is down right now so you have to wait about 25 minutes before i can take it." Huh??? I just asked if I can just tell you the single item I'd like to purchase and you said it's OK, but wait 25 minutes until your computer is on? What's wrong with this picture? Anyway she went about her tasks which didn't seem too presing (nobody else was being served at this time) and ignored my interest in buying - standby for this shocker - a single scoop of frozen custard! Holy one- notch-up-from-an-ice-cream-cone Batman! That's quite a complicated order you are trying to make here. Don't you know it takes a computer to do ll those calculations and dip a spoon into a vat of frozen sweet stuff then accept your $5.00 cash in exchange? That should take about 60 seconds or less. Needless to say I didn't hang around for 25 minutes in hope this lady would shake off her weird attitude and simply drop a scoop of frozen eggs and milk in a cup, take my $5., and possibly (though I doubt it) say thanks and adios. Buying a scoop of frozen yogurt should not be as complicated and tedious as applying far mortgage. It' an ice cream place. Drop the haughty attitude, scoop the product and take the money. It's not really that hard, right? Is the custard good? Who knows? I couldn't get any. And really who cares? I like to support small businesses in the Arlington area but with customer service this bad I don't care if they fold or thrive. If a new owner takes over I might try the Abbots again. Or maybe not.

For the last 5+ years every time someone asked me if I wanted frozen custard, I answered with "no - I don't really like frozen custard". This opinion was based on 2 experiences at a place down the street that used to be named after a frozen cow ;) It turns out that place just really doesn't know how to make frozen custard, or alternatively they have never tried their own product. This in contrast was absolutely amazing. The level of silkiness in the ice cream (custard:)) is indescribable. The one thing I wish was better is that for the frazzle cups, the top lid they add was filled. Its left empty which for one defeats the point of the lid and then makes it hard to scoop. Other than that, it was great!

I do love frozen custard. I got a cup for $4 at the beer garden in Arlington Center where they had a stand. Mouthfeel is good, very creamy. Taste, no chocolate taste and it was too sweet for my tastes, YMMV. The young woman doing the scooping was very nice.

Do not order anything chocolate covered here like the turtle or the chocolate dipped Oreo ice cream sandwich. They are covered in a wax-like substance that tastes nothing like chocolate and balls up in your mouth even if you chew it. So gross. The plain frozen custard is decent.

It's super disappointing to have to give a bad review. But the recent horrific service has pretty much ruined this place for me. Both locations in Arlington have gone way downhill. The heights location seems to be staffed either by people that seem annoyed to be their, or people that just don't want money since there have been times where they should have been open...but weren't. Employees inside, ignoring the people outside...and instead of opening the window to explain anything...they just make a gesture indicating they're closed. The Broadway location seems to not care at all about quality. The custard tastes good, but it's being served as a half melted glob that's dripping over the sides of the cup and is generally served without any care. My husband was picking up 2 cups and was served 1 with custard smeared all over the outside of the cup and while he was getting b napkins to clean it off...the other half melted glob had overflowed the cup and dripped all over the side of the second cup. The custard was THAT soft direct from the case. The person working made no effort to recognize the poor product quality...or offer a solution for the HUGE mess this order was making. I really hope this can get turned around and they go back to having smiling, friendly staff and a product with a much higher level of quality.

I absolutely love Abbott's. The other night, I met the owner. He set me up with a peppermint oreo sandwich and it was absolutely what I needed to get me through studying for finals. He also recommended the eggnog oreo sandwich and gave it to me on the house when I was a little bit skeptical... he was absolutely right. My boyfriend and I love coming here to grab some custard, and it is our favorite treat. If you're looking for something tasty in Arlington where you'll be treated like one of the neighborhood, this is the spot!

They've gotten a little better about fruit custards - their Black Raspberry actually has flavor! - but you still need to be very explicit/clear about what you want. I asked for a chocolate, got chocolate custard no syrup. The server graciously offered to redo it... and made me a black+white (chocolate syrup + vanilla custard). -sigh- Another time I asked for the brownie sundae and got a normal hot fudge sundae, when I mentioned they gave me some brownie bites, which are... not the same as what they have pictured for a brownie sundae.

Stopped by the Arlington Center location this afternoon to get a custard to go. I opened the door to see one customer was inside with no mask. A manager (owner?) walked over to her saying "Oh, I lost my mask" as though that's a reasonable thing for a food service worker to casually say. She seemed puzzled as to why I wasn't I wasn't going in to order saying that the custard was ready (Not much of a selling point as the store was open so why wouldn't it be?) I told both women that they needed to wear masks but they stared at me like I was crazy to not want to be in a small space with two maskless people. So I left, never to return. Frankly, the hygiene was always sort of sketchy in that store but I really didn't want a custard with a side of covid.

I want to give the custard here 5 stars however the service not so much, very rude and not friendly at all which is sad. Have to find a new custard place, sorry but if the service was better we would return. I gather they were racist judging by the fact they said "hi how are you" and smiled at other families coming in but my interatcial Asian/Caucasian family were treated poorly and talked to rudely. Not aging that was the case exactly but it felt like it. People are people, shouldn't have to be only white and non interracial to be deserving of good treatment. I would have passed through this without a review but our 7 year old asked us why they are rude to us and not everyone else coming in... such a shame.

Abbott's is the greatest- SO CREAMY!!!! Quality toppings, friendly service- love love love it there!

Excellent custard! Silky smooth texture, and the vanilla was much less sweet than I expected, a very pleasant surprise. In good weather, sit outside on the nearby benches.

Very nice tasty but portions are not so great 2 scoops clearly looked like one in a cup and I did question it. Unfortunately didn't even reach the rim. I'm disappointed I was looking forward to trying it. Will give them one more try before I avoid them totally. Staff very friendly and polite.

I love the texture of the ice cream because it reminds me of gelato, but all flavors I have tried here are too bland for me. It kind of tastes like soft serve but with gelato texture? I just wish there was a gelato place around the area with good flavors, not just bland vanilla and watered down chocolate.

Very smooth, delicious custards. But the service isn't consistent - the portion of my small cup depends drastically on the scooper, often employed by teenagers (just superficial judgment)

Delicious frozen custard! Brand new clean shop. Friendly servers! I had a kiddie size cookies and cream. I'll be back for more!!

We have tried to support this local store but Abbott's staff is rude and just not worth it any longer. Now we drive to CB Scoops.

So I'm reviewing both the heights (3 stars) and the center location (5 stars). I would have given both 5 stars based on all my previous encounters before last week. I told my 2 year old she could have a special treat last Friday night so being so well behaved that day. She was so excited to get chocolate custard /ice cream. We get to the heights location at 6pm and my 2 year is in her Pjs and her mask patiently waiting to order at the door. The woman isn't looking up or acknowledging us at all so I say excuse me - she tells me her machine is down so she can't take payments and we could come back in 25 minutes or go to the center. I'm with a two year old, in her PJs before bed. I don't have another 25 minutes. Now I realize they are running a business not a charity, but she couldn't just give a two year old a tablespoon of chocolate for free? Like a sample size? It's not like a toddler needs more that a mouthful or two. We had Apple Pay, credit card, and cash but she couldn't take any of it. My two year old was crushed and couldn't understand why she couldn't get her treat. Knowing we are minutes away from getting ready for bedtime, but also from a meltdown over not getting her promised treat, I packed her back up in the car and drove to the center location. I was able to get her chocolate ice cream there and she was so happy. The center location was also having some issues with the computer, but the Apple Pay was still working and he could just manually enter the payment. Perhaps going forward the heights location could do something similar with Apple Pay so they don't lose business. While getting my daughter back into her car seat I saw at least 6 people turned away because the machine was down.

Came here for the first time with two friends this past weekend. We each ordered the Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Flurry. When the (clearly un-trained) teenager handed us our Flurries, they didn't look ANYTHING like they were advertised. They were served in a 12oz cup with a rounded top (presumably for the whipped cream and cookie dough toppings as shown on the menu), but when handed to us, were only filled up 1/4 of the way. I called attention to our mostly empty cups and his reasoning was that when the flurries were blended, the ice cream all compacts to the bottom (still did not explain why the menu photo did not reflect this logic at all). I requested he fill the cup up to the top, as pictured, with custard (he hesitantly agreed). He handed it back to us with the cup just about 1/2 way filled (still no whipped cream or toppings). Since we clearly were not going to win this debate, I requested he put the whipped cream on top. Even with the mound of whipped cream he put on, our cups still were not filled. While the custard itself was delicious, the deceit between what was advertised and what we got was unacceptable. Point of the story - save yourself the $6 and get a prepackaged option instead.

Ice-cream is good. Turtles are a yummy treat. But in terms of being open when they say they are going to be open? Yeah, that sucks. When they are supposed to be open till 10, they are MIA with the lights on at 8... waited for one person to reappear at 8:30 to close down despite waiting 30 minutes to come back from a break. The only response? We close at 9 tonight - despite all their signs and online hours saying 10 - and it still only being 8:30. When I call during business hours, no one answers - even when they aren't busy at all. Just popped over tonight at 7:30 - and guess what. Doors locked, lights out - when everything posted says they are open till 9. I get business is tough right now - but its a lot harder when you're not open when you say you're going to be.

Delicious custard, great location. They leave there music on all night though, it's loud, you can hear it walking by the storefront. This has nothing to do with the quality of the business, I just think it's weird.