Out on Clark Street Road in Auburn, Reese's Dairy Bar is the kind of seasonal ice cream stand that exists in every corner of upstate New York, except this one actually makes everything from scratch. That distinction matters more than you might think. While most soft-serve stands pour from a pre-mixed bag, Reese's produces its own hard ice cream, soft serve, hard and soft sherbets, sorbets, Italian ices, and ice cream cakes, all made in-house. The 2025 FLX Finest Gold for Best Ice Cream and Frozen Yogurt confirmed what Auburn locals have known for years: Reese's is operating on a completely different level.

The range is impressive. On any given visit, you are choosing from a rotating selection of hard ice cream flavors alongside the soft-serve options, plus seasonal specialties that reflect whatever Reese's is experimenting with that week. The ice cream sandwiches are a particular standout, built with the same housemade ice cream that goes into the cones. When you can taste the difference between something made on-site and something shipped in from a factory, there is no going back.

Auburn sits on the north end of Owasco Lake, slightly off the beaten path compared to the Seneca and Cayuga wine trails, which means Reese's draws an almost entirely local crowd. That is part of its charm. There are no tourist buses pulling up, no Instagram influencers staging photos. Just families, Little League teams, and regulars who have been coming since they were kids. It is the platonic ideal of a Finger Lakes summer tradition.