The Greatness of Hoyer's Ice Cream Stand

As you know, I went home to the tri-state area this past weekend for some R&R with my parents and the dog. We thought about making a trip to the city (that's NYC and not DC, Chicago, LA, SF, or ANY other city in the world for the uncool), but decided to do a little marinated steak BBQ with fresh corn from the local farm (yes, there is one "farm" in the NJ suburbs), and then we were going to hustle up 9W for some great soft serve ice cream from Hoyer's in West Haverstraw. The steak and corn were great, but we had to get moving if we wanted to get our dessert in time. It also gave my parents a chance to get a real feel for my new car.

We got onto route 9W and all of its wonderful curves and hills. It's a great road to drive, but has always been a deadly road since it's not exactly lit for the most part and some people don't know that speeding around a blind curve at night isn't the safest thing to do. Nevertheless, I stayed at the speed limit and it was a problem-free trip. Now it was time to eat. I didn't bring my camera for this trip, but these pictures I did find definitely do the trick. It really is your quintessential summertime ice cream stand.

The stand does not have a single menu board, but rather pieces of paper listing your options. Sure, each of the papers with a different ice cream float description are found a few feet from each other, or the toppings list is 4 windows from the hard ice cream flavor list, but who really cares? If there was one big menu, Hoyer's would become too corporate and lose the 1933 mentality/experience that makes it so great.

We got there around 8:45 and it seemed like the lights were being turned off a little after 9 so to play it safe, get there before 9 and you should be fine. Upon our arrival, the 3 lines seemed a little long until we realized that people weren't in line, but trying to make the impossible decision of what to order. My choice was simple, safe, and always outstanding - chocolate and vanilla soft serve swirl with rainbow sprinkles on a waffle cone. It's okay if you need some time to salivate. It tasted great and really can't be beat. I thought about ordering the hard ice cream since my parents were also going soft serve, but there's no need to mess with a great and reliable flavor. Only if I started making more than one trip each summer for ice cream would I consider experimenting with Hoyer's soft serve perfection.

Michael Hoyer says not just anyone can make a soft ice cream cone as tall and perfect as his. He piles his trade at Hoyer's Ice Cream on Route 9W in West Haverstraw.
(Vincent DiSalvio / The Journal News )/The Journal News (Aug. 5, 2003)

Hoyer's Ice Cream is really worth the drive up (or down 9W). It's hard to beat taking a ride (with a new car) on a fun road that runs along the Hudson River and goes through small "upstate" towns (some folks call anything outside of NYC as upstate) on your way to some great dessert. I can't find an exact address for Hoyer's, but it's off of 9W in West Haverstraw and is on the left-side if you're traveling northbound. It's the place with the long lines and great taste.