Granite State Candy Shoppe & Ice Cream

Great candy and ice cream shop! The staff is always super friendly and helpful. Very good value for the quality of their products. They have standard and unique ice cream flavors. Well worth a visit!

Have your coins ready for street parking! Selection is terrific and the employees are always pleasant! Love the chocolate covered gummy bears. Those aren’t easy to find! Typical candy store prices but as long as it’s not an everyday event it’s justified! Everyone needs a treat now and again!

Love this place! The chocolate and sweets selection is very good! The people working here have great product knowledge and definitely pay attention to what customers are most frequently buying as their recommendations are usually spot on! I’ve been in here three times and there was a different person working every time and all of them were very friendly, polite, and helpful. Great product and great staff! If you want to improve anything, offer more coupons and deals for some freebies. It’s a quality product deserving of a higher price but motivational tactics such as savings will surely drive sales. Great job GSCS!

A friendly staff and a large variety of quality candy, ice cream, and home made fudge anchor this Elm St store, but the prices are over the top because of the downtown location. You can get the same quality elsewhere for less.

Kiddos wanted to get some ice cream and I saw a coupon in the Spectrum bogo. Coupon said 30 toppings to choose from we got there it was maybe 15. The girl behind the counter didn’t seemed to thrilled to be there kind of rushing us. We were the only ones in the store so I am not sure what her problem was. Probably won’t go back because my wife didn’t like the service and its pretty pricey. Only upside kids liked it but honestly what kids don’t like ice cream.

Customer service was great… Prices were average. My dark chocolate toffee sea salt bark was well worth the money… thank you :)

The candy is pricy for what it is, especially when there’s other candy stores very close by. However, I do have to say the service is great – the girl behind the counter was very helpful in helping me choose chocolates and avoid me getting an allergic reaction.

Best malted frappé ever. A frappé for foreigners is a milkshake with ice cream.
Malted Mondays are the best.

If you can find street parking near here this is a nice stop either for a quick ice cream or to grab some sweets. They have a very nice candy selection with an emphasis on chocolates. The chocolate is a nice quality and they offer gift and snacking options. I was dissapointed with the nut selection. They had peanuts, shell pistaccios, cashews and mixed nuts. I bought some roasted peanuts and they were very large nuts but the flavor was a bit stale and uninspired. Stop by if you are in the area but I would not make a special trip.

I want to give this place five stars, but I can never get service! The chocolate is pretty good, but they always seem to be understaffed (one person working there). I went there simply to get a few little munchies and couldn’t do it. Making one of their ice cream sundaes takes a staff member so long that they neglect all other customers in the store. They didn’t even acknowledge our existence and we left empty handed. I guess they don’t know anything about customer service!

This is just a review for the ice cream, based on a singular experience. I cannot vouch for their chocolates other than that they look tasty.
I dropped by the GSCS on a long Tuesday afternoon because I was in the mood for some ice cream. The ice cream started at $ 3.75 for a «kinder scoop» (a small scoop), which would be a bit pricey if not for the $.50 more ($ 4.25) for two kinder scoops or a single regular scoop. From there, the escalation gets steeper ($ 5.75 for two scoops, with the usual premium for turning the scoops into a sundae. They also have some incredible looking waffle cones, floats, frappes, and a decent selection of toppings and sauces. Personally, I found the single scoop option to be plenty of ice cream to get your fix and you can come out with some change for a $ 5.00 bill. But it’s your call.
I decided to settle on a single scoop for Lura’s Coconut, which was simply ice cream flavored with coconut purée and coconut shavings. Since it was Tuesday, their «Toppings Tuesday» special kicked in and I received a free topping (I chose pecans). They had roughly half of their advertised flavors (online) available, but they do clearly state online that the menu rotates, so it’s to be expected. They have a rotating special usually based on discounted ice cream products or freebies with certain levels of purchase.
I received a little more than I expected, which was definitely a plus, and the ice cream was strong. It was creamy, substantial hard ice cream with a definite, but not overwhelming, coconut flavor. You could feel the shreds of coconut, and the base felt like it was mixed perfectly. The pecans were solid if unspectacular. The cost came out to just under $ 5.00, and for what I got, it was a fair value. I suspect that if I received a standard serving, I might be a bit disappointed, but I still have half my container to save for later. Don’t be afraid to ask for a sample if you’re not sure what flavor you want, they welcome it! Most of their flavors are based on a handful of base flavors (vanilla, chocolate, peppermint, coffee, etc.) and then dressed up in production, so you won’t find a ton of really unique flavors. However, what they do and how they get creative is impressive.
The shop itself was pretty charming. A few tables outside and in the corners allow for a wide open floor with a gorgeous display case for the chocolates and a separate ice cream counter. The employees were welcoming and patient, and it’s clean. The store front is on the block with Portland Pie, Queen City Cupcakes, Moe’s Italian Subs, and Lala’s Hungarian Pastry, which makes it one of the best food blocks in the city.
In the end, you’re paying a premium for a good product. You’re not going to get as much ice cream as you might at Goldenrod, but you’re getting a tasty alternative and is certainly a worthy competitor to Ben and Jerry’s for Elm Street’s best ice cream place (there is a lot of overlap there, though I think I prefer GSCS since it feels a little less cheesy).

I saw that Granite State Candy Shoppe opened today and stopped in to check it out. I tried the samples that were out, coffee oreo ice cream, and a small 4 piece box of chocolates. The atmosphere is nice with friendly service. The coffee oreo ice cream was great just like you’d expect. It had lots of oreo. I sampled the mocha chip and the salty caramel. The mocha chip was sweeter than the coffee oreo, and the salty caramel had a very unique flavor! If I buy 8 ice cream cones I get one free. I took the 4 piece box back to my work, but there was no indication on the box which chocolate was which, and I couldn’t tell what the circular chocolate was. The inside was yellow but it didn’t have any lemon flavor just sweet, sticky, and taffy-​like. There was another that was coconut, and another that was orange both incredibly sweet. I wouldn’t recommend those particular chocolates. The milk chocolate and dark chocolate exteriors had a decent taste. The milk chocolate exterior was very milky. The caramel that was included in the pack was the best of the bunch by far. The other sample chocolate and swiss fudge I tried was sweet for me, of course this is my personal taste.
In general, this is a good place to stop if you’re in the mood for ice cream. I didn’t love the chocolates I tried this time around, but they seemed to have a good selection inside the case. I wish GSCS the best of luck in their new Manchester location!
Edit 10÷11÷12: I have been back in a couple times and feel that they are incredibly understaffed and have deducted a star for poor service. I’ve walked in twice without being acknowledged at all, so I walk right out. A hello or at least some sort of nod or acknowledgement that I have entered or that you’ll be with me soon would be great. If you want your candy or ice cream quick, this is not the place to go.