The Chocolate Moose
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Great place, everyone is very kind and they have good ice cream. If you are looking for a wider variety of flavors, I recommend going to Hartzel's Ice Cream instead. It's just a couple blocks away, but this is a great option too. I always get the chocolate explosion but I use grasshopper ice cream instead. Definitely worth trying.
A Bloomington INSTITUTION. Unstoppable. Delicious classics from when I was a kid to new additions in 2025. Chocolate Moose forever. I love the addition of all of the vegan options too. Always a friendly staff. Love you CM!
I dream about their twist soft serve with rainbow sprinkles. I'm a small child, I know! I really try to order other things, but the heath wants what the heart wants. And this heart always goes back to twist soft serve with rainbow sprinkles. This place truly has it all though! You can get mix-ins, flavors of the month, food, shakes...the list goes on. The Chocolate Moose is a Bloomington staple and should be visited anytime your in town or frequently as a resident.
Some Universities have nearby iconic ice cream parlors that have been around for a long time. For me, Schubert's in Chico CA (since 1938) and Fenton's in Oakland (since 1894) come to mind. And during a recent trip to Bloomington, our daughter-in-law took us to the Chocolate Moose. The Chocolate Moose (since 1933) is located in newer digs (and still relatively near the IU campus), but losing it's neighborhood dairy drive in vibe. Yet, the inside and outside (weather permitting) seating were comfortable, the soft serve and scoop options covered the bases (Moose Dream for me), and the associated sundae selections were outstanding. We all thoroughly enjoyed our selections and look forward to coming back the next time we're in town. I enjoyed the historical pictures on the wall. I also appreciated the community vibe that places like this still project, even after all the changes over the years.
This Chocolate Moose (there is another location right by Indiana University) location has its own parking lot with free parking and also has outdoor dog friendly seating. My husband, our little girl dog and I stopped by here this past Thursday night, around 8:10 pm after having dinner. After looking over the menu board, I ended up ordering: One scoop of Black Raspberry, $5.13 after tax- The amount of this was actually a good size, that looked like it was made of 3 small scoops. I loved the flavor of the black raspberry as it wasn't too sweet and did not taste artificial. When we arrived, there was no line although we have passed it previously and saw a line outside. When we approached the counter to order, the employee was kind of odd. She just kind of stared at us and didn't really greet us or anything. This employee was rather young and made me think of someone possibly from high school. Anyways, the wait time for our order wasn't too long. When it was ready, someone would call out our order. What I didn't like was that this other employee called out of order and placed it right in front of a woman who was trying to get an employee for something. The employee should have either waited til we came up to the counter to get our order or to have placed the ice cream bowl away from the woman. There are 2 unisex restrooms in the back of the place, by the indoor seating. There is a door to go outside but please note that it is locked on the inside so if you want to come back in from the outside, you have to go back through the entrance of this eatery. Although we did not use this, there is a window outside that you can make an order if you do not want to go inside. I wished this place gave samples because there were a few flavors I was interesting in trying. From the ice cream scoop we had, I can see why this place is popular and also highly rated (an over rating of 4 stars with over 185+ reviews). Would frequent this location if I lived in the area.
I absolutely love this place. It has the best ice cream ever. It's so cute. I really do miss the old building that they used to have outside. I kind of made it more unique. It gets really crowded so just come during the day and not after dinner.
Can't complain one bit. Very good. This is an ice cream place but the food was legit as well. Especially late nights.
The best ice cream sundae I have ever had in my entire life. Period. The End. That is all.
The short version is that this is excellent ice cream!! We tried coming here years ago when they were closed for renovations and now that they've reopened we finally made it over. The homemade flavors all sounded excellent. I decided on the Moose Dream which is chocolate with chocolate sauce and peanut butter cups. It was wonderful. It had a rich chocolate flavor and the ice cream was smooth and perfect. The peanut butter cups were somehow not frozen solid which was amazing! The flavor was so much better than the versions of this where the chocolate is frozen solid. The waffle cones were fresh and crisp. Service was friendly and fast. The seating area has fun old photos to look at. I'm looking forward to coming back to try some other flavors! There is some parking that has kind of odd rules regarding when you can park there for the Chocolate Moose vs when you can for the adjacent cafe. In theory it looks like if you park there for the Chocolate Moose before 4PM you risk getting towed as the cafe seems to have the hours before then. Might be safer to find a street spot somewhere.
One of my favorite ice cream spots! We made a visit back to Bloomington and I had to make a stop to remind me of late night ice cream runs from undergrad. I got a small with black raspberry and lemon with cheesecake bites. The black raspberry is my fav flavor of all time! The staff is also always so kind and quick even when busy!
The ice cream was tasty, and there were a lot of options. This location has definitely changed from the simple stand it was years ago. Service was quick. Personally, I probably preferred the old setup, but it was a comfortable location.
Chocolate Moose has a wide selection of ice cream: homemade dairy or vegan hard ice cream or soft serve, available as a standard cup/cone or blended into shakes, floats, or sundaes. The vegan flavours are somewhat less interesting than the some of the dairy flavours, but still offers some variety: they always carry vegan vanilla, chocolate, strawberry, and grasshopper. You can also get any of the vegan flavours in your sundae/blizz/whatever, so this is actually a very good place if you can't or don't want to have dairy. Having tried all of the vegan flavours, I thought the chocolate was actually too cloyingly rich and sweet, but I really liked the others. The vegan ice cream is oat-based, which I prefer over the more common coconut. They also have a rotating selection of soup (with a few meat and a few vegetarian or vegan options available at any given time) in what I assume is a bid to stay relevant during the winter. The ice cream is still the main attraction for me at any time of year but the soup is worth getting if you want to make a meal of it, and it's nice to have something healthy to balance out the ice cream. I have tried the cream of asparagus and carrot ginger. The carrot ginger had shredded carrot in it instead of being a totally smooth puree, which I actually really liked. There is also some summery Americana food like hot dogs and mac and cheese, but I haven't tried any of that so I can't comment. The place has lots of seating inside and outside. It seems like they generally get very busy in the evenings but it's usually quieter during the day. The staff have been friendly in my experience. When I ordered a soup and sundae together, they offered to make the sundae and keep it in the fridge for me until I was ready to eat it, which was nice and thoughtful. read more
6 months ago
2 months ago
3 months ago
Great place, everyone is very kind and they have good ice cream. If you are looking for a wider variety of flavors, I recommend going to Hartzel's Ice Cream instead. It's just a couple blocks away, but this is a great option too. I always get the chocolate explosion but I use grasshopper ice cream instead. Definitely worth trying. read more
2 years ago
I dream about their twist soft serve with rainbow sprinkles. I'm a small child, I know! I really try to order other things, but the heath wants what the heart wants. And this heart always goes back to twist soft serve with rainbow sprinkles. This place truly has it all though! You can get mix-ins, flavors of the month, food, shakes...the list goes on. The Chocolate Moose is a Bloomington staple and should be visited anytime your in town or frequently as a resident. read more
Some Universities have nearby iconic ice cream parlors that have been around for a long time. For me, Schubert's in Chico CA (since 1938) and Fenton's in Oakland (since 1894) come to mind. And during a recent trip to Bloomington, our daughter-in-law took us to the Chocolate Moose. The Chocolate Moose (since 1933) is located in newer digs (and still relatively near the IU campus), but losing it's neighborhood dairy drive in vibe. Yet, the inside and outside (weather permitting) seating were comfortable, the soft serve and scoop options covered the bases (Moose Dream for me), and the associated sundae selections were outstanding. We all thoroughly enjoyed our selections and look forward to coming back the next time we're in town. I enjoyed the historical pictures on the wall. I also appreciated the community vibe that places like this still project, even after all the changes over the years. read more
5 months ago
This Chocolate Moose (there is another location right by Indiana University) location has its own parking lot with free parking and also has outdoor dog friendly seating. My husband, our little girl dog and I stopped by here this past Thursday night, around 8:10 pm after having dinner. After looking over the menu board, I ended up ordering: One scoop of Black Raspberry, $5.13 after tax- The amount of this was actually a good size, that looked like it was made of 3 small scoops. I loved the flavor of the black raspberry as it wasn't too sweet and did not taste artificial. When we arrived, there was no line although we have passed it previously and saw a line outside. When we approached the counter to order, the employee was kind of odd. She just kind of stared at us and didn't really greet us or anything. This employee was rather young and made me think of someone possibly from high school. Anyways, the wait time for our order wasn't too long. When it was ready, someone would call out our order. What I didn't like was that this other employee called out of order and placed it right in front of a woman who was trying to get an employee for something. The employee should have either waited til we came up to the counter to get our order or to have placed the ice cream bowl away from the woman. There are 2 unisex restrooms in the back of the place, by the indoor seating. There is a door to go outside but please note that it is locked on the inside so if you want to come back in from the outside, you have to go back through the entrance of this eatery. Although we did not use this, there is a window outside that you can make an order if you do not want to go inside. I wished this place gave samples because there were a few flavors I was interesting in trying. From the ice cream scoop we had, I can see why this place is popular and also highly rated (an over rating of 4 stars with over 185+ reviews). Would frequent this location if I lived in the area. read more
3 years ago
I absolutely love this place. It has the best ice cream ever. It's so cute. I really do miss the old building that they used to have outside. I kind of made it more unique. It gets really crowded so just come during the day and not after dinner. read more
1 year ago
10 months ago
2 years ago
2 years ago
Business owner information
Jordan D.
Hey Caleb. I was able to find footage of your visit and you were…
2 years ago
4 years ago
The best ice cream sundae I have ever had in my entire life. Period. The End. That is all. read more
The short version is that this is excellent ice cream!! We tried coming here years ago when they were closed for renovations and now that they've reopened we finally made it over. The homemade flavors all sounded excellent. I decided on the Moose Dream which is chocolate with chocolate sauce and peanut butter cups. It was wonderful. It had a rich chocolate flavor and the ice cream was smooth and perfect. The peanut butter cups were somehow not frozen solid which was amazing! The flavor was so much better than the versions of this where the chocolate is frozen solid. The waffle cones were fresh and crisp. Service was friendly and fast. The seating area has fun old photos to look at. I'm looking forward to coming back to try some other flavors! There is some parking that has kind of odd rules regarding when you can park there for the Chocolate Moose vs when you can for the adjacent cafe. In theory it looks like if you park there for the Chocolate Moose before 4PM you risk getting towed as the cafe seems to have the hours before then. Might be safer to find a street spot somewhere. read more
One of my favorite ice cream spots! We made a visit back to Bloomington and I had to make a stop to remind me of late night ice cream runs from undergrad. I got a small with black raspberry and lemon with cheesecake bites. The black raspberry is my fav flavor of all time! The staff is also always so kind and quick even when busy! read more
3 years ago
The ice cream was tasty, and there were a lot of options. This location has definitely changed from the simple stand it was years ago. Service was quick. Personally, I probably preferred the old setup, but it was a comfortable location. read more
2 years ago
Business owner information
Jordan D.
Hi Bella. I was able to find footage of your visit and you were…
My brother and I took a walk over to The Chocolate Moose ! They have blue moon ice cream - my fave ! So I had to get a waffle cone with sprinkles. Riley ordered a large shake and when you asked for a large, that's exactly what they give you ! They were a bit busy when we headed over. You can go in or order from the sidewalk. Either way, give them some patience ! read more
We were out checking on Abell Nursery and decided to check out the Chocolate Moose. We ordered using Doordash. The shakes were so thick and delicious you needed a spoon (provided). My wife chose a BLT on a wheat bun. I ordered the pulled pork sandwich. Both sandwiches were exceptional. We ordered a muffin to eat for dessert with dinner. We will try this shop out again with the heat of Summer. read more
I know folks LOVED the old A-frame "landmark" building that the Moose used to be in, but the new digs are SO much nicer! You can sit inside and eat your delicious ice cream (and currently, they have Girl Scout cookie flavors!) and watch the world go by. Visited today for the first time since the old building went away and enjoyed my Thin Mint cookie Blizz. The counter person wasn't the friendliest I have encountered but she was efficient. It is sort of weird that they go in a back room to make your Blizz, you used to be able to watch them being made. However, the Girl Scout cookie Thin Mint ice cream was super good. The new space is really nice. Plenty of seats and lots of light. They have wifi but I didn't see the password anywhere and was sitting too far from the counter to get up and ask. Cool photos on the walls. The joint was mostly empty on this wet and warm February day but I can imagine this Summer it will be packed. Definitely worth a visit. read more
7 years ago
This place is like a landmark for the town of Bloomington Indiana. A icecream specialty restaurant with homemade, soft serve (icecream & frozen yogurt). This place is simply special. I myself am a icecream freak to say the least though. I absolutely love icecream!!! This place is Dairy Queen x100. You can get a "Blizz" which is a blizzard with whatever ice cream your heart desires with whatever mix-ins your heart desires and the best part about it is you can get it in a 32oz cup If you love icecream as much as I do you'll get 2 In the pictures you'll see I got their Thin Mint Icecream with Oreos & Brownies If you ever visit Bloomington or live near by like I do you need to visit or make it a staple in your life. read more
7 years ago
My boyfriend and I have an ongoing battle because he is a Chocolate Moose fan and I am a Bruster's fan. However, he usually gets "blizzards" and I usually get homemade ice cream. I did get a Blizz this time. A Blizz is like Dairy Queen's blizzards. You get one stir-in but you can obviously pick more stir-ins if you pay more. For the ice cream base, you can choose from homemade ice cream or soft serve (the cost is slightly different). They have a list of the different kinds of homemade ice creams they offer that you can use as the base for the Blizz. Bruster's has more options in regards to homemade ice cream. My boyfriend and I both got a Blizz. He and I both chose the homemade cookie dough ice cream as our base. He got Reese's cup as the stir-in and I chose Oreo. You can tell that there was a lot of stuff in it. But all the stuff that was put in it kind of masked the flavor of the homemade ice cream that was the base of the Blizz. I also got a cookie. They have cookies and a dish of that the register. I didn't get a receipt so I'm not exactly sure how much the cookie costed, but from my mental math it was around $2. I didn't see the price on the menu. It tasted like it was from Baked (which they sell orphan cookies for $1 each; go to Baked's page if you don't know what an orphan cookie is). It was a very good cookie. read more
4 years ago
I must admit that I miss the old shack. It was a childhood treasure to me. Still, The Chocolate Moose is awesome with the new building. I've never had food from there, but the ice cream is great. The coffee ice cream is very yummy. I typically opt for my childhood favorite.. twist on a cake cone with rainbow sprinkles and eyeballs. :) read more
1 year ago
2 years ago
7 years ago
I LOVE THIS PLACE! I was in town for two weeks and dropped by The Chocolate Moose more than once. I recommend the moose dream, cookie dough, and black raspberry ice creams. They are VERY generous with their hot fudge on their sundaes, with free whipped topping and nuts. They also have some fun merchandise and baked goods. This place is always hopping but slightly calmer closer to close on a week night, which when I preferred to visit. They also have a parking lot very close to the shop. read more
Since retiring, I've done a lot of day trips which have allowed me to sample ice cream from a lot of places across Central Indiana and this is one of my favorites! Located on the east side of the street (Walnut which is one way northbound), they have metered street parking available along the west side of the road (inconvenient, but the east side is a bike lane.) I entered into this large shop with plenty of dining room seating (the old reviews must have been for a different location.) The order counter is on your left as you enter and on the wall is a list of their home made flavors (23 at the time of my visit). Note that they have a wide variety of snack options including soft serve ice creams and coffees too. I went with a bowl of Black Raspberry ice cream with Black Raspberry topping and a generous portion of whipped cream on that. Let me say that it was wonderful! The ice cream had a soft texture which made it easy to eat and creamy and smooth to allow the flavor to literally melt in my mouth. The topping was a nice balance of sweet and tart that enhanced the berry-ness of the treat. Great choice. The server was friendly and was able to get my selection to me in record time, so I could be on my way. They do have a self serve counter for picking up lids for the cups, spoons, and napkins to the right of the order counter. Review #1979 read more
2 years ago
I got the chance to visit this place as a quick dessert after brunch. I was on a trip and I wanted to enjoy a little. :) I saw that this place was a place you had to go while in town, so why not? First of all, it's a cute little, old fashioned stand. It doesn't look particularly clean from the outside but the inside looked all right (from what I could see). You walk up to the counter and there are signs with the menu. We got there around noon on a Saturday and there was only one person ahead of us. I sort of wanted to try to cinnamon but my husband didn't really like the idea so we compromised on the Brown County Coffee in a waffle cone (an extra $1) just for that special something. It was pretty big so I'm glad we shared, especially after the meal we had. The ice cream itself was creamy and there was a definite coffee taste. It melted a little fast though, since within 4 steps away, a drop of it dripped on hubby's shoe. The waffle cone was good - not all that sweet and I do love waffle cones. Is it really special? I'm still not sure. It's neat how it keeps that classic feel but I imagine with the lack of seating (especially with how they also serve hot food) and no AC in the summer months, there are some downsides. It does come with a small parking lot, though! The lady behind the counter was nice enough but nothing out there. I felt like she was just doing her job. I may schedule in a second visit to finally try the cinnamon flavor and maybe one other one. My first impression was decent, but no 'wow' factor. I am also intrigued with the Blue Moon but was iffy on the crazy coloring (I'm not all that into artificial colors... or flavors, for that matter). ...But if I'm feeling particularly spontaneous on my next trip, I may add that in as well! After all, I'm on my trip and I don't often get ice cream in a strange shade of bright blue. read more
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