I'm new to Iowa and my neighbor told me this is one of the best places for ice cream. I've gone several times now. I love the chocolate ice cream as well as their fried pickles. They're always very friendly and helpful plus the ice cream is so smooth and creamy. Definitely recommend. PS the pumpkin flavor right now is amazing!!! read more

we are from Az here for the nationals rodeo. what a historic place this is!!! lots to choose from, and they have a pineapple soft serve that is dairy free; i ate it, and enjoyed!! service is great too!! read more

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Love supporting local! The ice cream is wonderful and fairly priced. It almost made it home, but was too tempting so I had to take a couple bites on the way. Service is friendly and efficient, a pleasant experience every time I visit. read more

Favorite place in Des Moines to get a big shake. Wish it was open year round, but I understand most people are not looking for ice cream often in the winter. read more

Super fast and friendly services! Prices are very reasonable Not many places have crunch cones so I love Dairy Zone for that reason! read more

Dairy Zone - Chocolate crunch cone - Ice Cream & Frozen Yogurt Near Me - Des Moines, Iowa

Unexpected stop and it did not disappoint! Decided to stop by this cute little ice cream place. Sadly there kitchen was closed around 8:30. Not sure what the kitchen hours are but they offer sandwiches and fries, burgers and many other things. I got a small cone and my husband got the brownie sundae which was okay, it had a cosmic brownie so too sweet for my taste. We spent around 6 dollars on two things. They offer shakes as well. They also have a walk up option to order or you can do a drive thru. Cute place read more

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Excellent tasting food!! Good prices!! The owner used to be my babysitter! Support for the few East side places left!! read more

Unexpected visit that did not disappoint. We were out running errands and kids were hungry and we wanted to try something new. Pulled and was stressed about how long the line was and how small the parking area was. Pleasantly surprised how fast the line moved and our food was ready. We ordered and they very quickly presented us with our ice cream. Dream come true to be forced eat dessert before dinner. Everything was delicious and prepped correctly. We will definitely be back. read more

What a great local staple to Des Moines! I've wanted to try this place for years but never had until this week. I was pleasantly surprised by the prices and the serving sizes. I ordered a butterfinger tornado and cheese cubes. Both were excellent and hit the spot. My friend ordered a krunch kone tornado and the shrimp basket. She really enjoyed her food as well. We went around 1230 and the drive up line was long. We chose to walk up and had quick friendly service. Can't wait to go back! read more

Dairy Zone - Cheese cubes and butterfinger tornado - Ice Cream & Frozen Yogurt Near Me - Des Moines, Iowa

Drive thru soft serve ice cream. Usually there is a line. Typical ice cream favorites, although they switch up dip cone flavors and blizzards daily. The fried pickles are spears and the best in town. read more

Went for ice cream. Came home with ice cream. I'd call that quite the success! It's COVID-19; we are in a world pandemic, but we are hankering ice cream. I hop onto trusty Yelp and through a combination of social media searches, find Dairy Zone's drive-through is ready and open for business. We make our way over to the East side of DSM, hop in line, and await our delicious ice cream. It did not disappoint! I enjoyed that my tornado was mixed well (no chunks of just plain ice cream) but still had good-sized chunks of candy in it (without them being pulverized into tiny bits you can't taste.) World pandemic or not, we will be back! Bonus: They serve food! I'll be back to try out that tenderloin. Rest assured. read more

Dairy Zone - Peanut Butter Cup Tornado - Ice Cream & Frozen Yogurt Near Me - Des Moines, Iowa

YUM YUM!!! This is a Eastside favorite. I wish they were open all year long. My favorite is the Tenderloin, large Fried Mushroom & Turtle Tornado. read more

Delicious ice cream, got a vanilla soft serve cone, super quick service even though it was packed, that's when you know it's good Nice vibes Coming here honestly just made my day read more

If you love amazing soft serve ice cream and good honest people, this is the place for you. Its super good.

Best home made ice cream hands down!! I'll recommend anyone!! Their ice cream does not melt like Dairy Queen at all

Street traffic can be difficult to navigate when this place is in full swing because it is so popular. Recommend the fried pickles when they have them & the tornados (like a concrete or blizzard). There's nothing unusual here, but service is usually quick and the soft serve based treats are consistent. Note hot food service ends an hour before they close for ice cream. read more

My first time here! One of their posts was shared on FaceBook and I just had to go see what the big deal was about. Opening day for the season could not have had better weather! It was a nice 52°. 1:45. This place was jammed packed! There's a choice between either the walk-up window and dining on the patio table picnic area or drive-thru. I opted for drive-thru. It's tricky. The lot was full and the line was into the street. I was not surprised. It moved quickly though and everyone seemed to have ample patience. My son ordered a butterfinger tornado and I had the banana split tornado. He said it was the best he's ever had. He's 12, so. My tornado was perfection in a cup! Yep, ate it with my spoon while driving. There's a lot of stop lights down University. It had chunks of strawberries and bananas all through it. Every time I had a strawberry on my spoon it was like an extra treat. Excellent all the way around. I bet this place is constantly busy all summer. As they should be. read more

Dairy Zone - Ice Cream & Frozen Yogurt Near Me - Des Moines, Iowa

i had gotten an ice cream cone and felt like it was a little bit too overpriced. but it was pretty good read more

This place is great on a hot summer day to cool down with a sweet cool treat! I've heard their appetizers are great too. I always go with a tornado either misled with rices peanut butter cups or ores! Either way you'll never go wrong with amazing ice cream! read more

Dairy Zone - Ice Cream & Frozen Yogurt Near Me - Des Moines, Iowa

First time here after living in DSM for 10 years. I enjoyed this place because it reminds me of the ice cream shops back home in Michigan. Prices are very good for soft serve. They also serve hot foods such as hot dogs and fried items. Cannot beat a classic waffle cone with soft serve twist. Quick and friendly service. read more

Peanut Butter Cup Tornado and a Banana Split Deluxe....mmmmmmmm.....great place for an after dinner treat! read more

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Great EASTSIDE tradition great Ice Cream & they got the Baseball helmet cups for sundaes. ;) OLD SCHOOL I have even seen the AE Diary truck go from across the street to the Dairy Zone to deliver milk so you know its good if they use AE Dairy you might say AE & DAIRY ZONE has Exceptionally High Standards read more

One of the best places for ice cream in the Des Moines area. Small mom and pop type of shop. Cheap prices and very good ice cream. All outdoor seating, and always busy. Parking is a pain, but always worth it for their tasty treats. read more

It is impossible to kick off Spring without stoping in for a delicious treat at Dairy Zone. The have cones from Kiddy (junior size) to large (forget the diet size) plus amazing specialty treats like a hot fudge brownie deluxe. The always have a special just check the marque sign! They also have delicious fried pickles. read more

long line (high demand) moves quickly, out of the way if your browsing the menu for the first time, about twenty people in line behind you are back again and know what they want! Fresh. Good. Addictive. You'd swear they have a pipeline under the street to AE Dairy and they get fresh ice cream squeezed straight out of the ice cream making machine. read more

2 words: FRIED PICKLES! I am so happy this place is open again. Driving by in the winter I crave the fried pickles! Seriously they are so good. Always cooked when you order them. It's so hard to wait for them to cool down to eat! I'll write up an ice cream review here soon. read more

Dairy Zone - Ice Cream & Frozen Yogurt Near Me - Des Moines, Iowa

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Love this place! I got the fried pickles with ranch to dip them in. Very pickle-y & just delicious! If you're a pickle fan you will love these!!! I also got a Twix tornado with chocolate ice cream. All superb! read more

The east side version of dairy queen. Their chocolate malt is awesome. They also have "tornados", and zone bars. If you support buying local this is your place, because not only is it not a chain they use Anderson-Erickson Dairy Products. If you are ever on east university, and it's summer give it a shot, and support your local east side business. read more

I've stopped by here a couple of times and they have great ice cream! Their ice creams taste real and sweet. The ice cream is well prepared and topped to perfection. I have tried their burgers here and it was okay, nothing special. They are sometimes busy and the drive-thru takes a few minutes. You will not be disappointed with this place! read more

An east side tradition! Great ice cream creations and really great staff of workers! The drive thru ordering is awesome and prices are cheaper than a chain ice cream place! Also great for an afternoon slush and fried pickle run! They also have a walk up window and a few tables if you prefer to people watch with your treats! read more

Dairy Zone - Butterfinger tornado! - Ice Cream & Frozen Yogurt Near Me - Des Moines, Iowa

Another Yelp review is what led me to this little treasure on the east side of Des Moines. My favorite ice cream place in Des Moines is Classic Custard but we have a close contender, folks! The prices are insanely reasonable. I ordered a small vanilla shake, small order of cheese curds, and a small brownie tornado.. all of that was about $10, plus a free puppy cone which was ADORABLE. What drew me in was the pictures of the brownie tornado. Which is made with a cosmic brownie! Which is only the best packaged brownie since human existence! I had to have it. To make matters even more delicious, the brownie tornado is perfectly blended with brownie bits all throughout the ice cream and then comes with a Cosmic square on top. I love this. If you go to other places, you get chucks of brownie here and there, this has it blended throughout. Genius. I saw they have a Twix tornado. I've been saying since day one, Why TH doesn't anyone make a Twix ice cream blizzard/tornado/hurricane.. whatever. Who doesn't love Twix? No one. That's who. When I come back, I will order more cheese curds because at that price I can't say no, and a Twix tornado. The summer is coming. Get some Dairy Zone. read more

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If you get several things there, check your bag before you leave... More than once,Ive gotten home n found. They didn't the whole order there.. Good food n shakes tho... They need to buy heavier grade cups for the shakes.. They flex too much, then the kids pop off n you have milkshake all over Yourself.. Ugh!! They welcome, well behaved pets... Mine loves going for a free puppy cone! read more

Great service and great ice cream. My dog was given a little cone as well. He loved it!

Not only is the line into the street but people fail to make a second line like the signs say. So people continued to cut in front of me. Second after waiting 25 minutes for ice cream I was handed my sundae UPSIDE DOWN in a bag. What a joke!! read more

This is now my favorite place for ice cream - I drive from West Des Moines; so what I'm saying is that this place is definitely worth the drive across town. The staff is always friendly and the speed of service is great. I have a new favorite Tornado (monster cookie, peanut butter cup, and peanut butter drizzle- it's so worth the extra time at the gym the next day ). read more

I have been coming here since I was a kid when my dad started bringing me here for the best chocolate malts in the city! It's not a big store but it is one of a kind, local, drive-thru and right across the street from the large Anderson Erickson Dairy factory(which supplies Dairy Zone). They also have food but I never make it that far but the malts and ice cream cones are amazingly tasty. I live on the West side of town but when the state fair is going on I always make a trip here and even when the fair is not going on lol. read more

Showed up at 9:05 p.m., stood outside the window for 10 minutes waiting for somebody to notice me. Want somebody finally noticed I was at the window, she just waved to me on and said they were closed. I told her the sign hanging right in front of me said they closed at 9:30 p.m.. She just, again, waived me on and said "yeah, we're closed. your staff would do well to actually operate within the hours that you state that you are open. The only reason I'm not leaving a one-star review is because I actually enjoy the food there.The only reason I'm not leaving a one-star review is because I actually enjoy the food there. I would understand if there were some extenuating circumstances that the restaurant was closed early, but to not even open the window and speak directly to me and just wave me on was extremely rude.Disnt appreciate it. read more

Only place we go for dessert in Des Moines! Best soft serve ice cream ever and the prices are super cheap! Love them!

Looking for the best place on the East side for ice cream and (fried) pickles? Conveniently located near Anderson-Erickson, Dairy Zone serves up delicious frozen treats and hot snacks in generous portions at reasonable prices ~ with a drive-through! read more

Very clean restaurant with friendly staff, reasonable prices, and yummy "mixers!" We were thanked for stopping in which is always nice. They had a case of ice cream cakes too. read more