'All you need is love & ice cream': Taunton's home of giant sundaes wins best ice cream

TAUNTON — It takes more than just a tasty product to be voted number one ice cream shop in the greater Taunton region.

“It’s our staff that makes this what it is,” said Jimmy Gracia, co-owner of Tom & Jimmy's .

In an online poll conducted by the Taunton Daily Gazette, Tom & Jimmy's won in a landslide. In all, 9,350 votes were cast for 10 popular restaurants/ice cream shops in the Taunton area. Of those, Tom & Jimmy's received 3,830 votes, or 40.96% of the votes.

Maybe the large message painted on a picket fence near an outdoor seating area at the Taunton ice cream parlor says it all: "All you need is love & ice cream."

Locations in Taunton, Middleboro and West Bridgewater

It’s been 16 years since childhood friends Gracia and former Mayor Tom Hoye went into the ice cream business by opening a shop in a strip mall at 306 Winthrop St. They eventually moved a bit further west on Route 44 when they bought a parcel of land at 337 Winthrop St. that once had been used by a retail fence business.

Since then they’ve expanded their ice cream empire to Middleboro and West Bridgewater. The latter location, for now, is the only one of the three that’s not open year round.

Tom & Jimmy's specialty sundaes

Their most popular menu items at any given time of the year — including winter — are their $8.99 specialty sundaes that include three scoops of hard ice cream infused with a cornucopia of extra toppings and ingredients.

The biggest fan favorites in that category, they said, are a signature peanut butter cup, hot fudge, whipped cream and cherry sundae known as the T-Hoye and the more understated brownie sundae.

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They stock as many as 60 ice cream flavor choices and also sell soft ice cream made by the HP Hood company in Lynnfield.

Other menu items include ice cream cakes, sherbet, frozen yogurt and a non-dairy version of ice cream.

The non-dairy desserts, Gracia said, are “really taking off.”

Retired Rhode Island College professor Mary Bell Howkins of Dighton had just ordered a coconut, chocolate and almond ice cream cone.

“I’m a good customer,” Howkins, 79, said, as she left some change in the tip jar.

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Del’s Lemonade franchise business to boot

Gracia and Hoye, both 55, are also licensed franchisees with Rhode Island-based Del’s Lemonade. That allows them to sell the company’s frozen lemonade at their shops as well as at corporate events and private parties.

Loyal customers and employees

Hoye — who now serves as Bristol County’s probate register — and Gracia — who runs a Monadnock spring water distributorship in the city — said they’ve witnessed, not just generations of customers, but generations of employees who have remained loyal to their business enterprise. Two long-time employees of note, they said, are Deanna Duncan, a 16-year veteran, and Jillian Joyce, who has worked at the Taunton shop for a dozen years.

Different brands required for ice cream 'palate'

When Tom & Jerry’s opened for business in 2008 they only sold Bliss brand ice cream made in Attleboro.

A couple of years later they began selling Maine-based Gifford’s Ice Cream. All went well until February 2023 when a fire devastated that company’s production facility.

Gifford’s stayed afloat by working with other ice cream manufacturers, including one in Florida. It wasn’t until three months ago that the company returned to full production capacity.

“And there are some flavors that still aren’t available,” Gracia said.

During the 18-month interim, Hoye and Gracia filled the void by buying ice cream from Warwick Ice Cream in Rhode Island. And they already, for at least five years, were buying some “unique” ice cream flavors from Hershey’s Ice Cream in Pennsylvania.

“It depends on who has what we need for our flavor palate,” Gracia said.

Inflation a constant factor

Hoye and Gracia say they’ve always strived to offer a tasty product at a reasonable price, but they said it’s inevitable that they occasionally have to raise prices.

“The price of everything has shot up,” Gracia said, including paper products and plastic spoons.

Hoye said small business owners, since the 2020 outbreak of the Covid pandemic, have also seen a steady rise in “unseen costs” including insurance coverage and workers’ compensation.

Will there be a fourth Tom & Jimmy’s?

Tom and Jimmy’s received nearly 41% of the vote in the Taunton Daily Gazette poll. Second place Seafood and Cones in Raynham received 24.5%.

Gracia and Hoye said this isn’t the first time Tom & Jimmy’s has been voted number one by Gazette readers.

“We’ve been very fortunate, truly blessed,” Gracia said, looking back on their success and the loyalty of their customers and employees.

He also said that they eventually may open a fourth Bay State location outside of Taunton.

“Stay tuned. We’re always looking,” Gracia said.

This article originally appeared on The Enterprise: 'All you need is love & ice cream': Taunton's home of giant sundaes wins best ice cream