Abbott’s Frozen Custard

2 stars for service. Teen girls seemed to have no idea what they were doing. Screwed up my husbands order twice for lack of paying attention and walking off before he finished asking a question. We ended up leaving with a cookie ice cream sandwich that the was cut in half instead of a custom ice cream sandwich with half of one flavor and half of another. He felt bad so paid for it anyway (and it was NOT good). Then he got a cone but while he was asking for a sugar cone they walked away again and gave him the plain one. C’mon.
Custard itself was pretty good though. 5 stars there.

I had never tried frozen custard before going to Abbott’s a few years ago and I’m sorry I waited so long, particularly since I went to school not far up the road! It is simply amazing; similar to ice cream but just a little different. And now, any time I pass through Needham or Brighton and have the time, I definitely swing by Abbott’s. It is so good. They also have other treats featuring their custard, such as cookie sandwiches.
Also, they do catering! They’re very quick with estimates and have excellent prices. There haven’t been many mentions of their catering on Unilocal but that’s because they’ve mostly been doing corporate catering. Call the Brighton location if you’re interested in getting their catering service.

Loved it, great selection of custard to have a variety of different ways, cup, cone, sundae, shake. Had the peanut butter sundae with vanilla custard, fantastic. Small quaint shop, real cool pictures on the wall. Great selection of ice cream pies and ice cream sandwiches.

Stunned with this small, little shop.
Tucked in Needham Center, on Great Plain Avenue, lies the first frozen custard place in Massachusetts.
It’s really a great place to go for frozen custard (a sequel to ice cream, yet thicker), and definitely a place to stop if you’re in Needham Center (which is ok… Wellesley center is MUCH better though!). Anyway, the girl working here was very kind and offered samples and and explained the process they have. Everything is made daily and homemade, which is good. They have different flavors, and are open year round, which is amazing (as no where else in the immediate area is, I think…). Anyway, great place. Highly suggested.

We tried Chocolate, Purple Cow, Peanut Butter Lite. They were all very flavorful and the Kiddie size was plenty. The lite was lacking the ultra creamy texture of the others however so I would go for the original next time (I only chose for the flavor anyway). The service was very friendly and helpful. You can special order ice cream pies. They have cones, sundaes, floats, smoothies, Nutty Buddies, cookie ice cream sandwiches and homemade ice cream turtles.

Get the chocolate almond. There’s a good reason it’s one of their three regular flavors.

A favorite of ours in Needham! Friendly staff and excellent frozen custard. Definitely worth a stop on a hot summer day. Try the Mexican Sundae!

My husband and I stopped by here after eating at Sweet Basil next door. My best friend from high school was originally from Wisconsin and always raved about frozen custard, so I was excited to finally try it. The girl behind the counter was friendly and let me taste a few before I decided (coconut didn’t have much flavor, but black raspberry was delcious). This was wonderfully thick and creamy. A real treat! My husband chose butterscotch which was too sweet for my taste, but he finished it very quickly.

Cute place, good location. Average prices. good homemade waffle cones. Friendly staff. The custard was perfectly smooth but neither the chocolate or vanilla had much flavor. It is not as good as Ritas water ice or the places I’ve been out of state. What a shame

Abbott’s custard is simply amazing. Creamy, rich and smooth. They have multiple flavors daily. Custard sandwiches, shakes, cakes and more. Service was super friendly and fast.
As a small cone costs $ 4, subtracting one star.
I can’t wait to go back.
Update:
After many visits I’ve decided to add the fifth star. The custard is worth every penny!

My teen girls and I LOVE Abbott’s Frozen Custard, and make excuses to go if we are anywhere near Needham. Lately there’s been a lot of popularity of Frozen Yogurt places (which I can’t stand!!!), but Abbott’s Frozen Custard is SO delicious, super thick and smooth and creamy… omg I want some right now! It’s always a chore to explain to Newbies what Custard really is, (original ice cream recipes use egg yolk, this is custard), but I like to feel I am enlightening the world and enjoy getting each new person to love Frozen Custard and see that it’s better than Frozen Yogurt.

Great frozen custard. About 8 flavors daily and plenty of toppings. The waffle cup was a little undercooked and tasted doughy but the ice cream itself was great

Probably the best frozen custard I’ve ever had. And they have frozen custard pies to die for.

Great quality product and strong customer service. I am always able to get cakes on short notice even with special requests. Yum!

After my first visit here, which was lackluster, I avoided this place for a long time. However, I decided to give it another try, seeing that my next trip to Rochester is uncertain.
Maybe it was just the kid I had to deal with the first time but things have been significantly better my last few go-​arounds. The portions are more in line with Rochester stores and the custard still has that rich creaminess that you’d expect from Abbott’s on Jefferson in Henrietta or at Charlotte Beach… or whenever in Rochacha.
I went for the peanut butter sundae the last visit and it’s loaded with crumbled peanut butter cups and whipped cream. Maybe if I had to complain, I’d rather have more custard than the other two things but it was still pretty good.
For $ 1.50, a wheel, which is pretty much an ice cream sandwich, is a good deal. The chocolate wafers that act as the «bread» was really hard when I first bit into it and everything was rock solid. It softened after time, however. Eat it on a super hot day.
Various Rochester products such as Zweigles (yum) and Country Sweet Sauce (blech) are sold here as well.

I reviewed the Brighton location but decided to review Needham too, since I’ve been there a bunch too. I love them both!
If you’re unfamiliar with frozen custard, then know it’s NOTHING like the «custard» you have for dessert (in pies, etc.). It’s more like ice cream or frozen yogurt (and not as common in New England as it is in some other regions of the US).
You should also know that Abbott’s is a nationwide chain. Flavors are pretty standard and limited — what you’d expect from a national chain — but all the flavors I’ve had have been wonderful. I usually get a hot fudge sundae with 2 random custard flavors. Service is always wonderful, too, as is owner Mary Pat. I love Abbott’s for what it is, and I go there whenever I can (sometimes I run there, get custard, and take the bus home)!

Love it… much richer than ice cream. Very decadent! Even their «lite» versions are pretty darn good though. My husband is from Rochester and that is where I first tried Abbotts… on the lake :)
I was so surprised to see one open in my hometown. So when I bring the kids to see their g’parents…we always stop here! My parents, oddly enough don’t care for the frozen custard. they are more Brigham’s sort of folk. Go figure!

I heard about frozen custard on one of those travel shows called Ice Cream Paradise last year. Ever since seeing the program I have set out to sample frozen custard before I die! We set out to find ice cream and lo-​and-​behold we found Abbott’s Frozen Custard in Needham. The store front is tiny and has a chalkboard with today’s flavors. We tried the coffee with a bit of hot fudge and a vanilla (as you can never go wrong with vanilla!).
What is frozen custard you ask? It’s sort of like soft serve ice cream BUT BETTER, MUCH BETTER! It was creamier, smoother, denser than soft serve! If you are a fan of soft serve ice cream, you will love frozen custard! The servers are real friendly. Can’t wait to go back and get more!
BTW, they have frozen chocolate covered bananas!!!

I’ve heard of frozen custard, but had never had the opportunity to try it before, so I was pretty excited when the birthday girl made a special request for a frozen custard birthday cake.
Therefore, this review will span over 2 separate days — day 1 when I placed the order, and day 2 when I picked it up and we went at it.
Day 1 — I called Abbott’s at 781−444−9908 and left a message in the morning about my wish to order either a cake or pie, and received a call back from the owner, Mary Pat, maybe two hours later shortly after noon. She was friendly and helpful, asking me the number of people this would be for. For 6, she said either a pie $ 17 or small cake $ 22.50 (7 inches, which actually can serve 8 – 10) would work. I asked if she could handle the flavors we were thinking about: Banana, Coconut, Mango, Peanut Butter. She said yes, but that her peanut butter was actually vanilla custard base with something swirled in (I forget if she said peanut butter or peanut butter cups or what). Pies are generally a single flavor, while the cakes are two. So, me, being the lover of variety that I am, selected the banana coconut cake with their normal layer of cookie crunch sandwiched in between. Doesn’t that sound good? I mentioned that I had heard (thanks Unilocal!) that she has chocolate covered bananas… any chance some of that could be used as a garnish? She wasn’t sure, but she’ll see. It isn’t like my heart was set on it, so that was fine with me. They only have street parking and store opens at noon on the day of pick up, so till then… (four stars for now, just to keep the current rating as it is…)
Day 2 — street parking wasn’t hard to find since a car pulled out a few storefronts away AND left me half an hour on the meter — nice! Abbott’s has a window out front for take-​out, and the store itself is small and long with the counter to your left. I don’t recollect any seats inside. Two teens were inside manning the shop; with no other patrons commanding their attention, they packed my cake quickly enough. A card was slipped into the cake box window instructing me to take the cake out of the freezer 15 – 30 minutes before serving. I took a peek into the box — the cake was sprinkled with shredded coconut and surrounded by a ring of chocolate dipped banana slices. Nice!
Okay, I like cookie crumble centers, so the thick layer of crumbles were a nice treat — and a nice surprise to the rest of the diners, whom I did not give a head’s up to. Both the coconut and the banana frozen custards were nice and creamy and smooth and with great flavor. But between the two flavors, banana was better. The birthday girl said it was a little easier to cut than past ice cream cakes. The only negative was the short brown hair I found in my slice. I’ll keep the four star rating.

I never knew the difference between ice cream and frozen custard was eggs! I really can’t taste the difference anyway…
The place was very good! My friend ordered a Mexican Sundae and I ordered the Old Fashion Float. It was YUMMY! I really liked the Mexican Sundae though, especially with lots of peanuts. I’d definitely come back and taste their other flavors.
Quick service and friendly workers! Thanks for having us.