We All Scream for Emack & Bolio’s
Since we’ve been talking about summer birthday parties lately, I should mention that in addition to trying out a swank pedicure this week, I also took my kindergartener to a party at the Uptown Emack & Bolio’s. Yup. It was a big week out on the town.
We’ve been to birthday parties at the Delaware Ave. store—now known as Emack & Bolio’s Downtown—before. That’s such a great place—the tin roof, the picket fence, the Christmas lights strung between trees. For a winter party, you’re inside, of course. Which is still fun, but a little tight when a bunch of kids are jacked up on make-your-own ice cream sundaes. For a summer party, the yard at the Delaware Ave. would be fun. You’d just have to make sure those jacked-up kids don’t go outside the picket fence (where people might be jacked-up on things other than ice cream sundaes).
The Uptown store on Western Avenue (Guilderland Town Center Price Chopper Plaza) has more open space inside, but no outdoor garden. The party we went to was big. There was a whole class of kids there. But it didn’t feel crowded—and the staff seemed pretty laid back considering the whole place was overrun with five- and six-year-olds on sugar highs. They played a pin-the-cherry-on-the-sundae game and later a hot potato game with an ice cream cone (stuffed, not real—though most of the kids licked it anyway as it made the rounds). When they got out, they got to make their own sundaes, which I thought was a clever way of avoiding tears and possible fistfights. E + B’s let my friend (the hostess) bring in her own food to serve for dinner, and there was time and room for a craft project, too.
All in all, I’d say it’s a good option for a birthday party venue. In winter, I’d do Uptown. In summer, I’d try Downtown and move inside if the weather doesn’t cooperate. But no matter when your party is or what end of town you’re at, kids are always ready to scream for ice cream.
