Continuing my trek of "tried and true" Crystal Lake spots, I stopped here after an underwhelming experience at The Breakers. And dear reader, I should have kept driving down 14 and pulled into Julie Anne's. Look, I love nostalgia and old, quaint spaces. I remember going here as a kid and I'm sure I shared a frosty concoction and cheese fries with a girl I stopped caring about a long time ago. But this soft serve came up weaker than my memories. And I got a dirt cup blitz, peak nostalgia choice, but it just tasted cold more than anything else. I kept going back for more, expecting something different, but alas. Go to Julie Anne's. Go to the freezer where they sell cakes. Grab and oops out of the bottom and have a grand dessert at half the price. Oddity of the visit: woman walking down the line of people queued up, asking if we knew of any South African people living in Crystal Lake. Huh. read more

The Freeze closes at 10 and we arrived at 10:01. The awesome staff still served us with a smile and great service. There was a group hanging out front full of smiles, conversation, and laughter-great space for hanging on a summer night. I had the Turtle made with chocolate ice cream. It's creamy and the crunchy pecans mix perfectly with the caramel. read more

The Freeze - Join the Ice Cream Trail and enjoy The Freeze along with 7 other stops in McHenry. - Ice Cream & Frozen Yogurt Near Me - Crystal Lake, Illinois

This was my first time to check out the freeze and I was very pleasantly surprised. Service was very quick and all the people that work there were very nice. I really found it cool that they had lots of different Sundaes available and some were in a layered form in a cup and others were a more traditional sundae. Next time I definitely want to try out one of their unique sundaes some of the ones that stuck out to me was a coconut one and strawberry shortcake one. They all also had individual drawings along with what was in them to describe the sundaes, which I thought was really, really cute. I really liked that this place is not cookie cutter. It is just what I would've imagined an ice cream shop would've been like in the 80s and 90s, tons of personality. There was a good amount of seating around the ice cream shop that you could enjoy your treat at. I ended up going with a dipped cone and I chose the cake batter dip and it was really good. They had about 10 different things. You could dip the soft serve ice cream cones in. I will definitely be back! read more

The Freeze - Ice Cream & Frozen Yogurt Near Me - Crystal Lake, Illinois

Great Assortment of ice cream treats and food! Awesome Chili Dogs and Love the Kit Kat treat! So many dips for ice cream cones! Yummy!

small ice cream joint that makes delicious ice cream the swirl cone was delicious way better than dairy queen! despite the long line and crowd got through fairly fast. Definitely will be back again. read more

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I live next door to 'The Freeze', so you can imagine how many times I've purchased food here, from a snack or a cone to a full meal. And there is always a huge line. This is really just a hot dog stand, with an order window, a pick-up window, and no tables or chairs (unless you want to sit on the low wall nearby). The Chicago Hot Dog with everything, and the Frozen Custard (dipped or plain) are both great. But for me, this place has the best Onion Rings in the Northwest Suburbs. read more

Local Treasurer!!! The city of Crystal Lake should be paying The Freeze for all they do and what they provide. Always enjoy the products and service. read more

I like it. It was really good and the service was really good. They took my order and I ordered a Oreo blizzard. It was really good and I got there in a nick of time before they close at 9 o'clock and they said on the website they close like 10 o'clock, so good thing I got there in time to order my blizzard I'm sorry I didn't take pictures of the ice cream or what it looks like, but I ate it and it was really good! read more

The ice cream was delicious I do recommend I don't like how good the ice cream is and i got the gone fishing make sure to get extra ice cream and the cheese fry's I can't explain how good if I had a wish I would only eat there cheese fry's I'm mad at them tho bc every time I go there I gain abt 5-10 pounds from:ur local community Karen read more

The Freeze - Nuts - Ice Cream & Frozen Yogurt Near Me - Crystal Lake, Illinois

Great visit to The Freeze tonight. Was refreshing to get out for a little treat night. I was impressed with the level of organization and safety efforts to insure all visitors are safe. They have a great cue to help insure being distant. No the real reason for writing this review is the goodness we came for. Tonight it was a classic swirl cone for me. A dairy free blitz (like a blizzard) w m&m's was really good. coconut hints and was solid w the m&ms. I was surprised they had dairy free options on the menu so a good surprise and one the vegan community around town is excited to see. My son really enjoyed the brownie Sunday w vanilla soft serve ice cream and all the fixings. So good and didn't last long to top it off. Finally my other son had the cheese cake Sunday which he also enjoyed big time. Topped with fresh raspberries... it looked amazing and he said it was a 10 out of 10. Thanks to the staff for going out of their way to keep everything clean and tidy and organized. I would definitely visit some time... it's was refreshing to take our family for a visit to this classic treat stop in crystal lake! read more

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Crystal Lake's local ice cream joint. Open all summer and early fall. Park your car, wear your face mask, wait in line (there's always a line), stay socially distanced from others also in line. While standing in line, look at the menu, ice cream sundaes and ice cream flavors, dips, and sizes. Place your order thru the plexiglass and pay. Then wait for your order to be put out thru the delivery plexiglass. Now enjoy your treat! Inside is standing room only. Out front is a limited seating area on the stone wall. Otherwise, walking or stand while eating your food. read more

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Excellent food, service and ice cream treats. Is a walk-up service! Busy but worth it!! Stay open longer than a few months, like you used to... read more

It's ok nothing really exciting about it and more options would be better. We live in Crystal lake and only visited 3-4 times in like 3 years. read more

Excellent soft serve local ice cream stop. Very small location but has lots of outdoor seating around. Two parking lots so lots of parking. Super local ice cream if you're looking for local hot spot. read more

The best cheese fries in McHenry County! Our family has gone there for 45 years! It's a favorite for ice cream too!

I asked for a swirl in a cup and this is what they gave me Awful OkayChocolate Vanilla Swirl read more

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Great choices! Awesome selection of sundaes and toppings or dips. Good quality ice cream. Must try!

Cheese fries and ice cream what more can you ask for. This is a classic summertime staple and always hits the spot.

Delicious & huge soft serve twist! The best cheese fries! Huge selection of food & ice cream. read more

everyone loved their ice cream choice. staff was helpful. we would go back again when we are in the crystal Lake area. read more

Amazing variety of soft serve "sundaes". Great fries - be sure to tilt cup so the cheese will move up to the top layer. read more

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Uhh, can you say YUMMMM? This place is awesome. They have sooo many options of ice cream to choose from, I don't think I could get bored going here. I love that they have pup cups for dogs also. It's a great place to go in the summer time and bring your furry pets. They have outdoor tables but you can take it to go too. I definitely recommend this place! I can't wait to try the other flavors!! read more

The Freeze - Minty paradise - Ice Cream & Frozen Yogurt Near Me - Crystal Lake, Illinois

Have been going here for years and it's the best ice place around! I love there blitz and sundaes and there staff is always friendly! If your looking for a good place for ice cream I would 100% recommended the freeze! read more

Good service and fun combinations to choose from if you can't make up your mind with all the mix in possibilities. The ice cream itself wasn't good enough to make it a regular stop. But glad we stopped in, our dog liked the pup cup! read more

Popular place, line was long but moved quickly. Unfortunately when tried theirattempt at dairy free ice cream it was horrible. Very tasteless - the only thing that had taste was the cone. Surprisingly the chocolate coating on top was terrible. read more

As the other Yelpers wrote, The Freeze has always been THE place to go for a treat in Crystal Lake, truly a gem! Family-owned & operated, The Freeze has been around forever, and I had missed it when we moved away from CLk almost ten years ago. On our drive up north on Memorial Day, my husband & I stopped in for the footlong Coney Dogs & their famous chocolate milkshakes(not ice cream today, ha!). They make the best Coney Dogs, the chili never too salty. Their cheese is what makes the Coney Dog, I think, but still good without. I must add, it's better than Lafayette's in Detroit! Really! And you don't have to drive as far~ ^°^ You have to walk up to the window, there's no drive-thru nor much seating(plenty parking, tho), but totally worth the wait. The long lines, at anytime you visit during the summer months that they're open, gotta tell you they're doing something right. There may be 20-30 people waiting at one time, but the line moves fairly quickly, and you won't wait more than 10-15 minutes. In the meantime, you can enjoy reading the "menu" that's plastered all over the walls in rainbow of colors to reflect their flavor spectrum! I don't think I've ever finished reading their entire menu. :P Servers are always smiling and the prices are very modest. When in Crystal Lake, The Freeze is a must stop, easily accessible on Northwest Hwy(Rt. 14), just north of new downtown CLk, up a mile or so from my favorite Japanese steakhouse & sushi restaurant, Kyoto! Food/Freeze: 5 Service: 5 Price: 5 Seating: 3 (car) Final: 4.5 read more

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Nice old fashioned ice cream place. A true local favorite. Stop in if you're in the area and get a cone. read more

The Freeze - Ice Cream & Frozen Yogurt Near Me - Crystal Lake, Illinois

A Crystal Lake institution. Two words: cheese fries! No one makes them better than the Freeze. Cooked to order and piping hot every time. The Blitz is another highlight - ice cream mixed with various candy or toppings. So many options, you cannot go wrong. read more

The Freeze - Cheese fries! - Ice Cream & Frozen Yogurt Near Me - Crystal Lake, Illinois

I loved their ice cream and cheese fries were to die for! The beach bum is Amazon too. Great hard working staff. Delicious ice cream and food. read more

The Freeze is a Crystal Lake gathering place during the summer. You can always catch various sports teams Colin here to celebrate a victory or drown their losing sorrows with a nice cone of ice cream. I recently stopped by with my daughter to get a cold treat on a hot day. She got a small vanilla cone dipped in sprinkles (her favorite) while I was tempted by a cookie dough Blitz. It's a very small joint, but you order and pay at one window, pick up at the next, and enjoy your time outside while munching on your treats. Since the last time I've been here, which has been a long time (college, life, etc.), they started accepting credit cards, which is a clear bonus for those who prefer to pay with plastic. Prices are decent, but expect to pay a little more for your frozen treats. read more

Don't get all the hype. It was not great. It was very over priced. The ice cream is definitely a different taste than any I've ever had. Wouldn't recommend. read more

To quote Yogi Berra, "It's so crowded nobody goes there anymore" When I first moved to CL 3 years ago, LOVED The Freeze - small town icecream place you could walk up to and get good ice cream on a hot summer's day - It still is, I suppose..and in a vaccum, I'd probably make this place 5 stars..but we discovered another place that does it better and cheaper.....The Freeze isn't bad - but service is a little pokey, and it's a little more expensive than Dairy Mart in Huntley (but still not bad). I guess I'm not going to wait in a line usually 10 customers long, to wait 15 minutes, with nowhere to sit (benches on the side and retaining wall fill up fast) anymore when I can drive 10 minutes to Dairy Mart for someplace with more seats, better food, quicker service, and better prices. read more

Just stopped there tonight and ordered two small Blitz's with Reese's Peanut Butter Cups (think Blizzard from DQ). We were shocked at the $5.39 price and extremely disappointed with the lack of Reese's mixed in. Not only are the probably the most expensive in town, but stingy with mixing toppings into their ice cream! read more

The Freeze has a great atmosphere... feels like you are back in time at an old fashioned ice cream shop. Would be nice if they had some picnic tables or benches to sit on. Line is pretty much always out the door but moves fairly quickly. The dipped cones are awesome! I was less than impressed with my Blitz... hardly had any mix-ins, felt like I was just eating plain ice cream... definitely can get better elsewhere for less as I feel it's a little over priced. read more

Best ice cream in town! Trevor and Kolbe were super helpful and extremely friendly when I went in. Definitely worth a stop if you're in town! read more

Super hot girls here. And real tasty, smooth, high quality soft serve too. Lots of options.

Love, love, love their cotton candy dipped vanilla cone! Seriously, I crave it all winter long!

Our kind of place. A delightful stop for a refreshing bit of ice cream. No frills, lots of chills. Another throw back to better times. We look forward to our next visit. read more

It's all the food you can get at the fair, even when the fair isn't in town. Really a great small town staple in the summer. Never had a bad experience and I've been coming here for as long as I can remember. The food is always perfect and there's so many selections. You could come here every day and never get the same thing twice. Truly my favorite part about summertime! read more

Best cheese fries ever. Place is an institution. Needs landmark status. read more