A relative newcomer to the Bergen County ice cream scene has made the top ten list of finalists in the 2016 NJ.com N.J.'s Best Ice Cream Shop competition. Ice Cream by Mike, open since 2014, has earned a coveted spot on this list of "highly recommended" New Jersey ice cream shops.
The N.J.'s Best Ice Cream Shop competition kicked off in June when NJ.com and celebrity New Jersey food critic and author Peter Genovese asked readers to nominate their favorite ice cream shops. A total of 275 ice cream shops, stands and stores were nominated; all were placed on ballots, broken down into four regions – North, Central and South Jersey, and the Jersey Shore. The top five vote-getters in each region, plus one late add-on, made up the list of 21 semifinalists. Genovese then selected 20 more, for a total of 41 semifinalists. Over two weeks, Genovese visited all 41 ice cream shops, then picked the ten finalists, and revisited each one. More than 55,000 people voted.
owowcow in Lambertville is the overall winner of this year's competition. The following ice cream shops fill out the top ten list: The Bent Spoon, Princeton; Cookman Creamery, Asbury Park; Das' Creamery, Budd Lake; Ice Cream by Mike, Hackensack; Latteria, Swedesboro; Milk Sugar Love, Jersey City; Royale Crown Homemade Ice Cream and Grille, Hammonton; Springer's Homemade Ice Cream, Stone Harbor; and Torico Ice Cream, Jersey City.
Ice Cream by Mike is located at 163 Main Street, Hackensack, New Jersey.
