I LOVE GENE's ice cream. Thick, creamy and custardy. I celebrate when they reopen each Spring, and…read moremourn when they close each Fall. Their staff of youth will bring a smile to your face, and if you request "eyes" on your cone, even your cone will be smiling backatcha!

Any time I am in the Downtown Bloomington area, I make a point to stop at Gene's Dairy Delight…read more Its a 50+ year landmark business in the Bloomington area, not just for amazing soft serve custard but for friendly fast service. You can walk up or hit the drive thru but always the same great service and wonderful soft serve. They have an extensive menu with something for everyone in your group! I especially recommend the strawberry lemon twist soft serve. Delicious and refreshing on a hot summer day. Highly recommend this business for yummy treats in the heart of Bloomington! Cash only so hit the ATM before you stop by and tell them Kate sent you!

We ordered a kids chicken strips and a basket of fries. While we waited patiently with our number…read more(12), other guests arrived and placed their orders. After noticing that people who ordered after us had finished their entire meals, I went up to the management and asked what happened to our order. I was then told that it was because I ordered chicken strips that it took over forty minutes to make such a simple order. Keep in mind that a family with four children who came in after us had already gotten their fries and were halfway done with their ice cream. Another table that had two gentlemen who also ordered after us had finished their cheeseburgers. I have been a professional in the short order cooking business for over twelve years in the past, and I know for a fact it does not take that long to make chicken fingers (even if they were made from scratch and not frozen). I usually buy the gift certificates every Black Friday, but that will never happen again. I will never return to this establishment. Please feel free to reach out to me to buy my unused $30 gift certificates at half price, but be warned---this place is poorly managed, understaffed, and desperate for a line cook who can manage a couple deep-frier orders in a timely manner. Although I prefer to support local businesses, there are far better alternatives in town, like Culver's and Gene's. So ends about twenty years of patronage and many good family memories.

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.

Great menu! Was trying to decide what to eat because it all looked good. Ended up getting a basic…read morebreakfast and a banana split yogurt for my husband that was so delicious. The bacon is amazing. The potatoes were so delicious and the bread that came with the meal was great too. If I lived closer, I would be there more often.

The drinks were amazing, and the atmosphere was cute and cozy. The person working at the counter…read morewas very nice! I would like to visit again as soon as possible!

Good food and home made desserts. Gift shop...Order to go or inside/ Outside seating...read more

My wife and I stopped by for the first time. We had a great experience. Food was amazing and was…read moreserved to us quickly. The place was very clean and well maintained. I would highly recommend this place for anyone looking to find a new spot to try!

All around great place - excellent coffee & food,, great service, cool atmosphere with unique…read moregifts. We recently hosted a baby shower here and it turned out perfect. Chloe and staff were great to work with. Highly recommend!

Not much of a sweet tooth, and I haven't been there many times, but in regards to their coffee I…read morewould say this is a good spot.

Absolutely LOVE Main Street Cookies & Cream. The ice cream is great, there's always at least one…read morenon-dairy flavor, and the teas and lemonades are ahhhh-mazing. This is a small business with big heart for their small town humans and we will support this establishment (and their new mobile one) as long as they're here! We love their gluten free bakery treats and hope to see more in the future!

I had the pleasure of stopping by this place. Great atmosphere and great ice cream! Please post a…read morephoto of all the locations you sell to. Thank you.

Great ice cream, menu changes seasonally, fall flavors like s'mores and pumpkin pie in fall, summer…read moreflavors in summer, and so on.

3.5 Stars rounded up to 4.0…read more A very unique dining experience in that this is in what was once a Methodist Church that was built in 1909. There are large stained glass windows and a beautiful interior with high ceilings. The employees are all friendly and polite. The menu is constructed in 3 categories of: "Tier 1" (main entree) "Tier 2" (sides) "Tier 3" (desserts) You order what you want from each Tier for a set price of $23.50. When the server brings your order out to the table it's arranged on a tower holding 3 plates with Tier 1 being the bottom one, Tier 2 the middle one, and finally Tier 3 (your dessert) the top one. It's rather impressive I admit. I chose The Rubie Panini for my Tier 1 choice. It's corned beef, swiss & havarti cheeses with apple & red cabbage sauerkraut & a creamy house-made horseradish-roasted red pepper dressing on light rye bread. It was delicious with just right amount of horseradish to give it a nice bite! For my Tier 2, I chose the Herb Infused Tomato Bisque Soup (GF). It's a savory infusion of tomatoes & aromatic herbs blended to velvety smooth, finished with a dollop of herbed cream cheese and accompanied by a cheesy crostini on the side. Although I found this tasty it was not hot - only mildly warm which was disappointing. For my Tier 3, I chose the Black Forest Pavlova (GF). It's baked meringue with dark chocolate pot de crème and brandied cherry sauce. It was quite sweet and delicious!! To drink I ordered coffee, black (tyvm). It was hot and very good and served in a very nice china cup. Sadly our server didn't come back around to check on our drinks so 3 out of our party of 4 never received a coffee refill until we had finished our first 2 Tiers and was well into our desserts. When she did finally come back with the coffee pot it only had about a quarter of coffee left in it. I ended up with only about a third of a cup (from the bottom of the pot). She said she would come right back with a fresh pot but by the time she did, everyone was finished with their dessert. A good experience with just some minor things that kept it from being a 5 star review. Hours are 11am - 2pm Tuesdays through Saturdays, closed on Sundays and Mondays. Reservations are suggested.

I would say definitely check this place out if you want a cute brunch experience! Being in an old…read morechurch building with beautiful high ceilings and stained glass windows, you couldn't ask for a prettier building. The server was very friendly and the food was well-priced, but I had to knock off a star for a few things. First of all, of the four desserts on the menu, two were sold out and the dining room was only half full at lunch, so, I'm not sure what happened there. Secondly, for a tearoom, the tea was just standard teabags in normal flavors. I guess I would've liked a little variety there. Third, the food was just fine. I ordered a sandwich which was just a BLT with pepper mayo, I think, but it wasn't that exciting. The potatoes were good for a side, though! Anyway, like I said, the atmosphere was my favorite part!