Saranac Lake

The PIckle Store

Sure, this tiny and quaint shop on Broadway Street near the left bank of the river serves up a variety of your everyday pickle, but how about pickled carrots, grapes, garlic-stuffed olives – even strawberries? Yes, we’ve got that here, too. They’re all displayed in large tubs and available for sampling before the owners hand-pack your jars for purchase.

Lake Flour Cakery

While you may not be in the market for a wedding cake – the particular pastry in which owner Nancy Moriarty specializes – this storefront, set beside Lake Flower on River Street, is still worth a stop for the various made-fresh-daily cookies, gourmet cupcakes (think concoctions like butterbeer, chocolate mint, and something called Chocolate Overload), cream puffs, and raspberry truffle brownies.

Origin Coffee Co.

When you need good coffee after waking up at Hotel Saranac – and we mean good coffee, sourced from Africa and Central and South America – you only have to stumble a few steps to this cozy cafe on Main Street for the gourmet coffee creations of your groggy dreams. It’s the kind of place you could also while away an afternoon with a good book at one of the wooden tables.

Donnelly’s Ice Cream

Located in front of a former dairy barn and milk processing plant beside Route 86 roughly five miles north of Hotel Saranac, this white wooden stand pretty much looks the way it did when it was first founded by current owner Peter Donnelly’s aunts in 1953. The creamy soft-serve ice cream is the same too, coming from a vintage machine that makes just one flavor a day (usually chocolate, raspberry, or strawberry), always twisted with a ribbon of vanilla.

Lake Placid

Adirondack House of Jerky

Set in a storefront that resembles something akin to your nana’s cluttered house, this husband-and-wife-owned operation on Lake Placid’s Main Street features all kinds of preservative-free cured meats, including their number-one seller, the teriyaki beef, in addition to some exotic options like boar, alligator, python, and kangaroo.

Adirondack Popcorn Co.

Located on Lake Placid’s Main Street is perhaps the best-smelling store in all of the Adirondacks. Not only can you sample the countless popcorn flavors – including everything from birthday cake and salt and vinegar to dill pickle and maple bourbon bacon – but you can watch the staff make and dress it before funneling it into tins as large as 6.5 gallons.