Dairy Freez: inside one of the 'coolest' places in Essex County

A few weeks ago, my friend Michael visited me from Detroit. After dinner, we both had a craving for something sweet — but it was late.

Most dessert places in town were already closed. We were going to call it a night but then I remembered an Essex County institution: the Northridge Dairy Freez.

If you haven't heard of it, it's a small roadside stand that sells ice cream and hamburgers on County Road 34. Located between Essex and Cottam, the Dairy Freez has been around since 1954.

"My grandfather was a welder, and he loved ice cream. So he decided that he was going to build this roadside stand," explains Arlene Reaume, who owns the Dairy Freez with her husband, Mike.

Her grandfather, Clarence "Click" Wright, started with just soft serve and shakes, but quickly expanded into hamburgers with great success, attracting customers from all over Windsor and Essex County.

With business booming, Wright built a residence next door, a place that Arlene and Mike call home today. 

It's a good thing they have such a short commute — running the Dairy Freez is demanding.

"We're usually out here by nine in the morning until midnight every day, 1 a.m on Friday and Saturday," Reaume explains. "We don't change our hours — spring, summer or fall — because that way people know we're always open."

Their season runs from the third week of March to the last Sunday in October.

When asked why he chose the rather remote location, Reaume chuckles. "I don't know. [My grandfather] called it 'God's little acre' and that was it."

Perfecting the Boston cooler

Oddly enough, I first heard about the Dairy Freez through a Detroit-based online forum.

I was on the search for the best place to find a Boston cooler, a regional drink that blends vanilla ice cream with Vernors, a popular local brand of ginger ale.

Creamy and gingery with a hint of carbonated fizz, it's apparently named after Boston Boulevard, the street in Detroit where it was first served.

On this online forum, a user mentioned that the best place for a Boston cooler isn't in Michigan, it's actually the Dairy Freez in Essex County

They were totally right. 

According to Reaume, they Dairy Freez has been serving it since their second year in business, when a customer encountered it on vacation and requested they make it.

Order one with a hamburger and fries, and you've got a classic taste of summer in Essex County.

Where is it?

The Northridge Dairy Freez is located  at 368 County Rd 34 - between Essex and Cottam. From Windsor, take Highway 3 east to Cameron Side Road, then turn right at 34.

If you're lucky enough to get a spot in the main front parking lot, all you have to do is keep your lights on and a carhop will come and take your order.

Otherwise, you can always walk up to the stand and take your order to the landscaped picnic area out back.

In line with the mid-1950s feel, the Northridge Dairy Freez is cash-only.