Bethlehem Dairy Store

I have been coming to «The Cup» since I was a kid and it’s still as fresh, creamy, and delicious as it was then. All of the ice cream is made on the premises, which is why it is so fresh. There are so many flavors of hard ice cream it’s hard to choose and now they have hard and soft frozen yogurt, soft serve ice cream, and galato too. The portions are generous and served in a cup, multiple cone options (cake, sugar, cookie, pretzel, waffle), or milkshake. They also have tons of flavors prepacked for take home as well as ice cream sandwiches and other treats. All of the ice cream is made on the premises, which is why it is so fresh.
The scoopers are local high school students who are always helpful and smiling.
The only annoying thing about the set up here (and what causes incredibly long lines) is that instead of having the line start by the ice cream, so you can see the vast array of flavor choices, it goes the opposite direction so you can’t see anything preorder. This causes a longer wait time than necessary. Especially since they have many seasonal flavors.

— No Common sense setup
— two scoops = 1 flavor?
I like everything about this place except the setup. It lacks total common sense. 95% of the customers, including myself, don’t know what we want and would like the chance to walk past the flavors to decide. The setup here however requires you to place your order at the register as soon as you walk in. The downfalls to this are 1. people who have ordered are now standing in front of the coolers waiting for there order blocking any chance of the next people in line from seeing the flavors. 2. The line is out the door and into the parking lot because no one is moving down. 3. People who have ordered are now trying to exit through the same door. 4. customers must listen to all the other customers in line complain that they can’t see the flavors. I could go on and on.
It only takes common sense. Put the register on the other end and take orders near the back door after the customer had the chance to walk past all the flavors and then then exit through the the back door. Or make the rear door the entrance and start of the line so the same thing can be done in reverse. How can the owners and employees not see this problem and correct it. One would think after just one day working here you would realize this problem.
PLEASE DO SOMETHiNG !!!
Also…what’s with the rule of only one flavor for a small even tho a small is 2 scoops. Almost every time I’m in here I here a customer ask for 2 flavors only to be turned down. I’m sure there is a reason but I can’t seem to figure it out.

I stopped by with my family for the first time yesterday! My family loved it! They have so many options available and it was delicious. The only thing lacking was the service. They were very rude and pushy but other than that great Ice cream!

Best ice cream in the Valley! The lines can sometimes be long since this is a popular spot, but it is worth it. They have a wide variety of ice cream and delicious fries that compliment the ice cream well. Staff is friendly and helpful. Milkshakes are amazing!

Had heard about this place. Just hadn’t ever tried it. At MusicFest 2015, in Bethlehem S. Side Steel Stacks they had a presence. This was a chance to see if they can live up to this Unilocal reputation. YES. Extraordinary ice cream. And while a single scoop was $ 5 they stacked two huge scoops into this cup. Needed no more food after that. What a delightful surprise. The people here were nice. Truly some of the best ice cream you’ll ever enjoy.

Amazing!!! Had a milkshake and hot fudge
Sundae… Ice cream is homemade and wonderful, service is great local high school students
Can’t wait to go back again tonight!!!

My family and I come here about twice per month. They have a Great selection, really good ice cream and great value for the money. It can get really crowded but the line usually moves fast. My favorite is the mint Oreo. Two thumbs up

Awesome! I was craving ice cream and it’s open until 11 pm. Hooray!!! Visiting from California for a lacrosse tournament. So much fun.

One of the best places to get a milkshake.
They really do make amazing ice cream, I had been craving one for so long and so many places had disappointed me with how thin they were. I was looking for a classic thick milkshake and I found it!
My go-​to cookies and cream flavor.
The employees are young, I’m guessing high school students, who are super nice and friendly. They are very quick at moving through customers but doing it in a friendly-​professional way. It’s great having good service and good desserts! There are tons and tons of flavors to choose from. Hard ice cream, soft ice cream, cones, and they have sugar free hard ice cream options (not something I want but good to have!).
I love their red spoons. Random, I know, but it’s awesome.
Lots of seating and parking is ample. I am sure this place is crazy busy in the summer and I can understand why. Definitely a place to visit for a good milkshake!

So much deliciousness in one place. I don’t even know where to begin. Lots of ice cream choices and I don’t think I’ve ever had ice cream there that was less than amazing.

Easily the best ice cream place in all of Bethlehem. Worth waiting in the long lines during the summer for sure!

Very townie but a great little spot.

Always an Forever the best ice cream in the Valley. My grand parents went on dates here. We’ve been coming here since I could walk and i Hope there is Never a time we can’t walk in and say hi to Mr. Mowrer!

While the ice cream is good, there’s more to why people visit a dairy store and that is called customer service. After a long day at work, my boyfriend helped me do a lot of heavy lifting and shoveling in the garden. To reward our efforts, we decided to make the half hour walk to the Bethlehem Dairy Store on Linden St.
Why? We already had pints of gourmet ice cream in the fridge. We went, because it is nice to be served at a pretty establishment, nice vintage look with all the neon lights. Looking for the atmosphere of days gone by, where a pleasant interaction between server and customer, fresh made ice cream to cool you off on a hot summer night, where you can eat inside in air conditioning or outside on a bench watching the traffic drive by.
But this is what we were «treated» to… Twenty minutes before closing on a FRIDAY night, all chairs were up on the tables except for two lounge type chairs. After quite a hike uphill to get there, I was out of breath with my heart racing. I asked my boyfriend to order mine while I could sit for a moment to catch my breath.
The tall young skinny girl with long straight brown hair and big brown glasses, who plainly heard me, barks out in a loud command tone at me «WHAT CAN I GET YOU???» No smile, no courteous demeanor.
I ordered a small cone with two flavors. She BARKS out, «YOU CAN’T HAVE TWO FLAVORS ON A SMALL. YOU HAVE TO ORDER A LARGE!» Funny, how I’ve always ordered that before and got it, (there are two scoops that go on a small cone, so what’s the problem with making them different flavors??) … but okay, maybe they’ve changed the rules. The problem is that the rules on courtesy haven’t changed. There are much nicer ways to express yourself than the attitude and tone that screamed «Hurry up and order NOW, because „I“ want to go home.»
I immediately picked just one flavor feeling rushed and totally unappreciated for my business. She picks up a dish and then turns again and says Dish? I said no, I asked for a cone. She makes a squished face and then grabs a cone, never presses the ice cream down into the cone, so at the end, there was no ice cream to enjoy at the bottom.
Now my boyfriend’s turn. He asks for a soft twist. She again barks back. WE HAVE NO SOFT ICE CREAMS. My boyfriend’s eyebrows went up; he was stunned. She barks again, WE TURNED OFF THE MACHINE. TONIGHT WE’RE CLEANING THE MACHINE. (Hello? You are posted open till 11 pm, why are you turning all the ice cream machines off before closing? I just called King Cone in Whitehall to see if this is common practice. The sweet and bubbly girl that answered the phone said they never turn off their machines before closing, because that’s when they are open and serving customers.) Now, it is quite possible that they let the soft ice cream run out, in preparation for cleaning the machines… but that is NOT what she implied.
So, of course, he then had to look over the menu to select a hard ice cream flavor. No small feat, if you’re unfamiliar with all the flavors. She impatiently stared at him with this attitude of «it’s all about me, will you hurry up?» The other workers were pushing brooms all around us, making US feel like we were in THEIR way. No one smiled at the customer. There were at least ten people who came in at separate intervals after us, after we sat down outside, so to be sure, we were not there right at closing.
She then BARKS back, I DON’T THINK THAT ICE CREAM WILL WORK. IT JUST CAME OUT OF THE FREEZER AND IS TOO HARD. Now get this, the ice cream he chose is directly in front of her, and it has a BIG pile of softened ice cream that was scooped from the bottom of the previous container on top of it, AND she was able to make his cone. If she learned to look and listen and think how NOT to be negative, BEFORE she chooses to bark like a rabid dog at people, she could’ve actually made a tip. What a concept!
Our trip there was ruined. I couldn’t really enjoy my ice cream. $ 8 for two cones of what we didn’t really want or expect, and an extra helping of rude self-​serving narcissistic behavior. Bethlehem Dairy Store — Major Fail… you need to TRAIN your workers in customer service, AND! you need to train the other workers to notice when their co-​workers are behaving badly as well, but then again, the entire troop was focused like a cleaning brigade. Nice to see teamwork, but your customers come first. I noticed there wasn’t much friendliness in the other workers as well; they seemed just as annoyed they had to take breaks from their cleaning to serve.
In the future, we’ll travel to King Cone when we are in Whitehall. At home, we’ll head to Hotel Bethlehem or Nuts About Ice Cream, because those owners would never allow this kind of brusk and rude behavior. For late evening, we’ll give the Bethlehem Parlour a shot on Broad Street next time. Late night, we’ll stick to what we have in the freezer than pay for bad treatment.

Great place if you’re looking for a local ice cream shop in Bethlehem. Plenty of flavors to choose from. I had the Peanut Butter Cup, but there was little to no peanut butter. Kind of disappointing, but I’ll be sure to try something different next time. Place was packed when I got there, but the line moves relatively quickly.

Best ice cream in the Lehigh Valley. The best. Peanut butter swirl is real satisfying. My wife had the Almond Joy cone and she loved it.

Ice cream is great! We love to buy local. Flavor Selection is amazing! The only down side is the workers are not very nice to the customer, went today as a treat for myself mans the lady behind the counter was rude and seemed annoyed to be serving me. I guess when your paying top dollar for ice cream it’d be nice to be greeted with a smile and appreciation for your business!

This may arguably be some of the best ice cream I’ve ever had. Stopped in this past Saturday during a snowfall and was instantly transported to a different time. This place is a throwback to the 1950s with a doo-​wop look and old fashioned way of doing things. There were a ton of different flavors to choose from, including ice cream, frozen yogurt, and italian ice — all homemade! I had a waffle cone with a scoop of sea salt/​caramel and a scoop of bing cheery — I’m not sure which was better but they were both pretty darn awesome. I also tired the lemon italian ice and that was also great — I’ll get ice next time I go back. This is a must try if you are in the area!

Unfortunately the Bethlehem Dairy Store is close to home.
Fortunately it rocks because I LOVE ICE CREAM!
I’m not going to go overboard because where I grew up in Jersey I’ve had a couple of places like this close by, BUT! i’ve never been to a dairy store that I love more than The Bethlehem Dairy Store.
Plenty of the best flavors to please anyones taste buds. Sometimes they add a flavor and sometimes they retire a flavor. My current favorite is the almond joy or the mint chocolate chip in a waffle cone. And I have to cover it with the brown bonnet (the hard chocolate shell that is poured on). Great sundaes and they have italian ices too.
You may have to put up with lines out the door but it moves fast. The staff is young, mostly high schoolers, but they are consistently friendly in the midst of the chaos surrounding them. And the price is right. I never felt like i’ve spent too much.

Pumpkin Cheesecake ice cream. Need I say more? Homemade fresh and delicious. I buy by the half gallon (it is a real half gallon unlike store ice cream) and they will always pack a flavor for you if it isn’t in the glass case.
The servers there are also really nice, they let me try a million flavors before my indecisive self can make a decision:)