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    Carl's Ice Cream Factory

    3.4 (72 reviews)
    Open 10:00 am - 9:00 pm

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    Michelle A.

    We killed some time looking at Route 66 things in our tour book. They have homemade ice cream. I sampled peach, pumpkin and almond joy coconut. I chose a small dish of coconut. Spouse had a cheeseburger. It was a neat place.

    When I pulled into the drive-thru, I waited about 2 minutes to be greeted or acknowledged. I have worked in food service before so I wanted to be patient. After 5 minutes of radio silence I finally said, "hello" and then a full minute later a rude, disgruntled voice replied, "what". Like I was inconveniencing this woman to do her job. This was the older middle aged lady with short wavy brown hair. I placed my order, receiving curt, annoyed responses while ordering. Then I noticed how gross that kitchen was. Dirt and dust everywhere, the candy eyes were sitting in a plastic hardware container above the register - uncovered, looking so dusty. A second older woman was working too, just as rude and annoyed at the woman who took my initial order. Keep in mind, it wasn't busy at all. Both of the ladies hands were noticeably dirty and gross. I saw one wipe her forehead where sweat was and then package my burger to go. Vomit. Just nasty. I've heard horror stories about the cleanliness of this place but today I saw first hand the quality of the employees and the cleanliness of those said employees and the cleanliness of the kitchen. Unacceptable. I threw away the food. This establishment should be embarrassed. Never going back.

    Muffler man - good photo op!
    Madison M.

    Great place to stop for a snack / treat! Expansive menu with diverse options. My mom got a chocolate soda which she really enjoyed! My dad got the chili cheese dog which he liked as well. I got the BBQ sandwich, fries, baked beans and Cole slaw - I'm pretty picky and like to try a variety anytime I'm at a new place. The BBQ was fantastic (reminded me of the BBQ sandwich at Dairy Queen in the early 2000s of anyone else misses those - RIP). The fries and beans were really good, but the Cole slaw is vinegar based and none of us cared for it. The restaurant is in a pretty random area, but there is plenty of parking, even for larger vehicles like our RV. Historic Route 66 is nearby, and the ice cream muffler man out front here fits in well! Nothing spectacular but worth a stop if in the area in need of a snack!

    Raspberry soft serve in a cone
    Lexi H.

    Tried the soft serve (raspberry) and it was delicious! They LOADED my cone up! My fiancé got their "blizzard" equivalent and it was also good! Lots of flavors to choose from. We haven't eaten any food from here but their menu is HUGE so many options!

    Strawberry lemon soft served- delicious!
    Irina F.

    Ice cream is delicious! We got strawberry lemon soft served. It very different texture, more like whipped ice creams.

    Strawberry soft serve on a cone

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    1 month ago

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    22 days ago

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    2 years ago

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    2 years ago

    Great food and ice cream. Nice place to take the kids when I'm in town visiting. Service is good too.

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    3 years ago

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    4 years ago

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    2 years ago

    Love the classic food and nice, clean atmosphere. Service was great. Milkshakes are the best in town.

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    3 years ago

    Line was really long but the woman running the counter was doing great and keeping her cool. Can't beat ice cream on a hot summer day!

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    5 years ago

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    3 years ago

    Like Dairy Queen but with a drive thru. Like DQ, I got sick from the ice cream. I ate the toppings and tossed the rest in the garbage.

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    4 years ago

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    3 years ago

    Do not have good customer service. Drive through takes forever. They close their kitchen sometimes up to an hour early.

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    7 years ago

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    4 years ago

    Amazing quality goodies in both food and treats. Huge portions, great for carry out or dine in.

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    2 years ago

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    8 years ago

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    4 years ago

    Unique flavors. Great taste. Huge ice cream portions. 50's diner atmosphere. Highly recommend.

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    3 years ago

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    3 years ago

    Carl's Ice Cream is the best in town!! Great family friend space with indoor and outdoor seating.

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    5 years ago

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    16 years ago

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    4 years ago

    Great hamburgers cooked to perfection! Chocolate ice cream sodas are the best made with premium "hard" vanilla ice cream.

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    Carl's Ice Cream Factory

    Carl's Ice Cream Factory

    3.8(28 reviews)
    2.0 mi
    $

    Review Visit: June 10th, 2015…read more Carl's Ice Cream.... Home of the Creepy Ice Cream Cone. Those eyes. Those ice cream eyes still haunt me to this day. They will never leave my memory. Nor will the decent ice cream served here. During one of my many trips to explore Bloomington-Normal, I decided to start trying out the ice cream shacks in the dual city. Twin cities. Hyphenated names. Whatever you want to call them. I used some Google-fu to look up places to grab the sugary snack and Carl's was one of the first results. My girlfriend at the time said that it was good enough for her, so we punched the address in to the GPS and headed that way. Upon pulling up, I was startled by the feeling that I was being watched. After getting out of the car, I had to look around and see what was causing that feeling. It was then that I locked eyes with Carl. The incredibly creepy ice cream cone on a pole that is staring down on you. Trying to ignore that, we shuffled to the front of the building and looked over the menu. Looking at their current online menu to help refresh my memory, I am surprised to see them offering only ice cream and ice cream-style treats. Most ice cream shacks offer not only a ton of different frozen dessert items but also a multitude of food items as well. Not Carl's. They just have ice cream and ice cream-related products. We eventually figured out what we wanted and placed an order. I remember getting my usual (peanut butter malt/blizzard/shake) and being just slightly disappointed in the flavor and lack of a wow-factor. Not but a year later, we ended back here by some stroke of luck and I got a cone of ice cream. It was mutli-colored (as seen below) and I remember enjoying that more than I did with my 2015 choice. Back to 2015, I remember us standing our and enjoying the nice snack after a long day of exploring. I just couldn't help but feel that Carl, the ice cream mascot, was looking down on us. Like a chef watching a VIP eating their signature meal to see their reaction. All in all though, the place was pretty good. More-so the second time around. The second trip would've scored a 4.75/5. I am still surprised they don't offer non-ice cream options, but maybe The Carl doesn't allow them to serve anything but ice cream. There is a second location in Normal, Illinois. They seem to have a 'muffler-man' statue that was repurposed in to a man holding ice cream. I have yet to visit that place but hopefully his stare is less soul-piercing than Carl, the Ice Cream Cone's.

    Love Carl's! My fave is the "Almond Joy" - coconut ice cream packed with almonds and chocolate. But…read moreall their "hard ice creams" are good and they have lots of flavors. They also have the soft serve, sundaes, and other novelties you'd expect. There's something for every family member and the prices are reasonable. The servers have always been nice and fast, even with a crowd there.

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    Carl's Ice Cream Factory
    Carl's Ice Cream Factory
    Carl's Ice Cream Factory

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    The Mystic Kitchen & Tasting Room - The Salty Caesar Flatbread

    The Mystic Kitchen & Tasting Room

    4.7(116 reviews)
    2.3 mi
    $$

    This place was really good but my judgement all the way until we got our food was mixed. Very good…read moreYelp reviews but we were able to walk in and be seated immediately on a Friday night. The menu was several pages but only one page with food, drinks were the remainder. We got the dipper appetizer and I had the Sassy Chicken Thighs. Both were good and the thigh was boneless. My wife had the loaded potato salad, asparagus, and broccoli which she enjoyed. My son had the Steak Sliders with the potato salad which he really enjoyed. I suppose when the chef can master a menu there's no need for multiple pages. I misjudged and would definitely come back if I'm in town again.

    Great atmosphere, and great food at Mystic Kitchen tonight. A couple things that you really need to…read moretry for yourself. The spiced apple Margarita was delish, tasted just like apple pie. The Salty Caesar Flatbread was exceptional, romaine, herb chicken, bacon, tomatoes, mozzarella, and parmesan all piled on a flatbread, you just have to try it. The Shaved steak sliders were topped with a horseradish aioli and really didn't need the au jus but it was a nice addition. And leave room for dessert because the Blueberry Cobbler was also something that you have to try. Served perfectly warm with just a small scoop of ice cream. Kitchen was a little slow with some of the dishes but it was a great meal and a great experience.

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    The Mystic Kitchen & Tasting Room - Inside

    Inside

    The Mystic Kitchen & Tasting Room - Cashew crusted salmon

    Cashew crusted salmon

    The Mystic Kitchen & Tasting Room - Dining area

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    Dining area

    Carl's Ice Cream Factory - icecream - Updated May 2026

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