Steeped in Tradition Avondale Dairy Bar

By Martine Mackenzie with Avondale Dairy Bar

The Avondale Dairy Bar is an iconic landmark in Niagara whose mission is to keep the Dairy Bar an institution that people love coming to. They serve only the finest ice cream and are always about using the best quality ingredients in every one of their creations. Their passion shines through in the finest of dairy products, flavourings, ingredients, toppings which culminate in the most lovingly prepared treats.

But Avondale Dairy Bar is more than an ice cream parlor. A visit there ignites an emotional attachment based on the surroundings, tradition, and nostalgic memories. It becomes a personal escape “out in the country” where the fully engaged staff makes every visit as memorable and delicious as the last.

All of Avondale’s ice creams are made fresh daily on the premises, painstakingly made with love and care, the old-fashioned way. All ingredients are blended into the ice cream by hand. This is not a large-scale automated factory-style ice cream, and they stand by the promise of never lowering the quality of their ice cream to the bare minimum government standards as most large ice cream companies have.

Their menu offers a variety of banana splits, ice cream sundaes, old-fashioned sodas, floats, and milkshakes. Ice cream scoops are also a favourite to enjoy on your favourite cone type. All products are made the oldfashioned way for you to enjoy with only the BEST ingredients, and lots of them. Their secret? They use a 15% dairy butterfat base which makes their ice cream smooth, creamy and utterly decadent.

Owned and operated by Ray and Deb Sheehan since 1986, The Avondale Dairy Bar looks forward to celebrating its 70th Anniversary in 2025. You can’t visit Niagara without a stop here to savour a treat, while sitting on one of their many picnic benches under the summer sun.

You’ll love the background of a working dairy farm with about 90 Holstein cows (Stewart Haven Farms), cornfields, and vineyards.