J M.
Yelp
So you want something to take your mind off the sweltering inferno and the stop-and-go traffic of a summer commute on Route 210? The solution is simple: pull off at Hovermale's and grab a cold treat, then walk back to your car, crank up the a/c, and dig in. The bliss will begin immediately.
This place may be a somewhat shabby-looking local institution, but it features frozen custard that is second to none in the entire region (and way better than the soft-serve offered at that other local institution, a few miles further down the road, that shall remain nameless). The menu isn't vast, but it's more than adequate. Pick from three sizes of cones with the usual vanilla, chocolate or vanilla-chocolate twist options, three sizes of sundaes with seven choices of topping, and five flavors of shake, plus malts, floats, and three slightly more ambitious novelty items. There are also fountain soft drinks (served with paper straws, yay!) and, for the few and the brave, several non-dessert items involving warmed-over meats on a bun.
Okay, so the place has neither tables nor pleasant ambience--you can snarf down your goodies in the car or just stand there in the parking lot and stare at the chain-link fence and listen to the cars go by while you stuff your face. But the employees are friendly and efficient, the prices are refreshingly modest, and the soft-serve really is delicious. Because this is an ice cream stand, not a restaurant, the customer experience is open to the elements, a serious advantage in the age of Covid.
Hovermale's is closed on Mondays, and they shut down for the season way too early, long before Mother Nature is done throwing hot weather our way in this age of climate crisis. But six days a week, for five or six glorious months, they are the happiest place on the 210 corridor.
One more thing: if you're seriously hungry, first go to Smoke Shack a few yards down the road and snag some barbecue, then double back to Hovermale's and end your meal on a luscious sweet note. Some might call that decadent, but I know better and so do you.