Lears Old Fashioned Ice Cream

Stopped here after we got lobster rolls at Red’s, and let me say, I was underwhelmed. They had a great selection of unique flavors, but charged for samples. Who charges for samples? It’s not like the ice cream is laden with foie gras, caviar, or gold shavings.

First off, I’d like to put it out there that Lears ice cream isn’t just your regular treat, it’s a meal. The ice cream is as thick as it comes — I found myself chewing my ice cream a couple of times. The texture is really like nothing else I’ve had, and the flavors are really nice. My husband and I used to live in Wiscasset and stumbled across this place right when it opened… their Needham flavor is what hooked me. We probably don’t make it in more than once a year, but last year I tried their Maine Jane (molasses and peanut butter, just like the classic Mary Jane candy) and it was awesome… seriously, it tasted just like the candy. Their straight up peanut butter is also really good. My husband said the maple walnut flavor is the one that sticks in his mind as being the stand out.

When in Maine, eat Lobster in everything. Tried the Lobster Ice-​Cream, and it wasn’t too bad. Quite heavy and sweet, tasted more like a combination of vanilla and salted caramel.

Well, we went back earlier this spring and were disappointed to find that the Lears have sold to another family. The ice cream was still delicious, but the size was quite disappointing as it decreased SIGNIFICANTLY! A small used to be a couple of generous scoops but this time it was just one paltry scoop. :(so sad. Maybe this was because it was just about closing time? I’ll give it one more try before I make my final decision on whether it’s worth stopping for.

I’m not a huge fan of ice cream. It’s not that I don’t like it — I usually gravitate more towards cookies or cakes. That said, I’ve been converted!
First the folks there were delightful, polite, and very gracious. When I discovered they had TWO of my more favored flavors, I went all-​in and ordered a scoop of rum raisin and a scoop of maple walnut. Without being overly effusive in my praise, this was absolutely the best I’ve ever had! Creamy, chewy, flavorful without being overly sweet. Both flavors were the perfect balance of everything!!!
Seriously, I will go out of my way now to get back to this place. I’d give ‘em six stars, if I could!

Come all the way from NJ to have its home made ice cream. My daughter ordered orange creamsicle, my wife and I had coffee and vanilla. So creamy but not too sweet. Good for guys trying to limit sugar intake. Very friendly environment too.

We were already pretty stuffed but we decided to give it a try, as it was right next to reds eats which is supposedly the best lobster roll in Maine.
The owner was extremely helpful and super sweet! They have samples for 25 cents which are big enough for two people to try. We tried many flavors including lobster ice cream which wasn’t bad and seaweed which my friend ended up choosing for herself. I chose pumpkin Oreo to keep in line with the season. I would definitely recommend this place its great. The small cup was 2.75 which was pretty big as well.

Good ice cream. But 25c for a taste is ridiculous. Sorry, taking our business elsewhere.

Hands down have to give this place 5 stars for the quality of their ice cream and most definitely for creativity! Tried a majority of the flavors and I would have to say that Lear’s ice cream is undeniably rich, flavorful, & savory! You MUST try Lear’s if you are in the area! I mean come on… How many ice cream shops do you know serve LOBSTER flavored ice cream?! You won’t regret it!
Big bonus: all the flavors are homemade and the owners are extremely pleasant and sweet people!

Lobster Ice Cream! Amazing! Buttery, sweet, salty heaven with small flakes of lobster. So yummy! Plus the staff is as sweet as their delicious creamery!

Tried lobster ice cream and sea week ice cream for the first time today! The effort this family puts into the ice cream really shows in how delicious everything is! Came with a big family from New York and the people who worked there we soo friendly and eager to get us to try the ice cream taste of Maine! I would go back all the time to make sure I can try all there flavors! Sooo unique!

Around the corner from that awful Red’s. Long line, grumpy and ungrateful service. But excellent ice cream!

UPDATE !!! I returned down east to Maine again this year on Vacation and was happy to find Mrs Lear on duty and dishing out the best ice cream on the entire east coast. I dived into a beyond generous helping of mouth watering Wild Maine Blueberry as I stood on line at Red Eats next door. The ice cream was so good that each bite would be accompanied by Mmmmm’s and Ohoooo’s moans and groans of pleasure, the person in front of me in line happened to be this attractive girl and her friend from Boston (who I had never laid eyes on before) she said to me «that must really be good» I said you have no idea, it’s INCREDIBLE .! Being a hopeless romantic I asked the nice girls to hold my place in line, I went back got two new spoons and when I came back these two complete strangers helped me finish off the last scoop. It was a beautiful thing on the sidewalk in Wiscasset Maine. All thanks to Lear’s Ice Cream.
The family that runs this small business is a perfect example of what makes America great and Maine such a loved vacation destination and a great place to live.
I cannot recommend this small family run enterprise enough. Highly recommended. TEN BIG STARS.

The best ice cream I’ve ever had!
mango– It was not that sweet but very creamy and light. It was only @2.50 for a huge scoop.
pumpkin coffee– once again, creamy and there was a great balance in pumpkin and coffee.
I would go back to Wiscasset to eat at Red’s and this place.

This is a new business that recently started. It’s a family business that has been able to gain a small foothold in to the market. They have heavier ice-​cream than the local competition (heavier means higher quality in the ice-​cream world, Haagen-​Daz is very heavy), particularly Round Top (which I love).
Lear’s is tasty and the owner-​operators are friendly and are happy to talk about the process of designing flavors and making ice-​cream. They’ll also let you sample up to three things gratis, with Lobster ice-​cream being the only exclusion.
As for Lobster ice-​cream it’s something they make that is found only at Lear’s. No one else carries it or makes it. From the description I was given Lobster ice-​cream has real lobster chunks as well as other flavorings to create a non-​disgusting Lobster dairy product. I did not try it as I’m not a fan of Lobster.
Although I did not have the Lobster ice-​cream I did have their Pistachio. It was green as can be and had properly shucked and chipped Pistachio nuts in the ice-​cream to provide it with a great texture. The flavor was not too overpowering, nor overly salty as can sometimes be found. It was near perfect, but it wasn’t perfect. It was a bit too creamy, and the flavor could have been a little bit stronger. The reception to their other flavors by those I was with lacked any enthusiasm for the ice-​cream. I’m not a fan of either of their flavors so I will not comment beyond my selection.
I will considering going to Lear’s again, definitely over the Round Top counter at Red’s Eats. I won’t go out of my way to go here though, it’s good, but it’s not ‘that good’.

Lobster ice-​cream is great. We came to Maine three years ago and first visited them, and I am happy to see them again. Same high quality ice-​cream, the lobster one is a new product and I liked it. Staff is nice and friendly.

The lobster ice cream is DELICIOUS and the staff couldn’t be friendlier. Hit this place up after a lobbie roll at Red’s!