As the weather starts to turn toward summer, all the local ice cream shops are opening back up. Tad’s Dairy Barn may not be as well known as some others in the area, but it is one of those hidden gems that if you try once, you will be going back time and time again. Located in Spring Mills across the street from Potomack Intermediate School, this unassuming ice cream shop is serving up banana splits, milkshakes, sundaes, and blasts, their take on a Blizzard.
Price 💲💲 out of 5
All of the pricing at Tad’s is more than fair, and the portion sizes are massive. You definitely get your ice cream fix while you are here. They also offer many of their items in various sizes, so you can just get a little snack, or your full intake of dairy for the day!
Ambience 🧑🍳🧑🍳🧑🍳 out of 5
As the name would imply, Tad’s is a barn on the side of the road. There is nowhere to sit indoors, but there is a nice covered seating section next to the barn. On nice days, it is a perfect place to sit and enjoy your ice cream. However, during colder or rainy periods, there really is no where to go outside of your car.
Food 🥩🥩🥩🥩 out of 5
Let’s get down to the various frozen treats we got to try:
Chunky Monkey Oreo Split – what a crazy concoction. This starts as a traditional banana split, with vanilla ice cream, banana, whipped cream, and a cherry on top, but instead of pineapple sauce, this has peanut butter and crushed Oreos. What a delightful treat!
Black Raspberry Rice Crispy Shake – apparently this has a bit of a cult following, as multiple people in our group ordered this. I am not a fan of rice crispies, so I did not try this, but everyone else loved it. What an interesting flavor combo.
Strawberry Shortcake Sundae – this was your traditional strawberry shortcake in sundae form, with vanilla ice cream, shortbread, and tangy strawberry sauce. Really solid and refreshing dessert.
Oreo Shake – I love that their milkshakes aren’t so thick that you need to wait 30 minutes to drink it. That is my number one complaint with milkshakes. These are smooth and creamy and packed with flavor. The Oreo one had Oreo bits throughout.
Peanut Butter Shake – again, a perfectly smooth and creamy shake, packed with peanut butter flavor. This was my favorite item I tried.
Smore’s Delight Sundae – this sundae was absolutely smothered in hot fudge, crushed graham cracker, marshmallow fluff, whipped cream, and a cherry. I refused to try it as I hate marshmallows, but others said they nailed the flavor of Smore’s in this one.
Experience ⭐⭐⭐⭐out of 5
All in all, Tad’s Dairy Barn is such a great spot to get ice cream and just relax. We went there on a work trip to end the day, and there is not better way to end the work day than relaxing in beautiful weather with a shake, sundae, or banana split. Hopefully there are many more trips to Tad’s Dairy Barn in our future!