The ice cream was STELLAR! The staff were very friendly and attentive. The atmosphere was like walking into a time warp, in a super cool and retro way. Will definitely be tomorrow for more! read more

American Old Fashioned Ice Cream Parlor - Three scoops, but my fave was the top scoop: Deep Dish Apple Pie! - Ice Cream & Frozen Yogurt Near Me - Galena, Illinois

We loved this old fashion ice cream shop in the heart of Galena. The counter and the built-ins are all original and ask the owner/manager about the history and he'll give it to you. Delicious ice cream in generous portions. read more

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This joint is still the cat's pajamas. Friendly service and scrumptious ice cream. The treats so nice we had them twice--two days in a row. They just rolled out a new flavor called Muddy Boots: chocolate-covered peanuts and caramel ripple in malt-flavored ice cream. Wowza. read more

Don't hate me, but I'm not a fan of ice cream. However, I have kids that love it and I appreciate the old school vibes here. Likes of flavors and good waffles comes. read more

The four of us hit up the American Old Fashioned Ice Cream Parlor right after a late lunch at Charlie's the day before Easter. The two gentlemen working behing the counter were great! Very nice and personable. The shop serves Cedar Crest ice cream. Hard pack. And a brand I wasn't familiar with... It's made in nearby Wisonsin. https://cedarcresticecream.com/ They joked that the dairy farmer's give their cows beer and that made the Wisconsin ice cream better! Not sure how true that is. I couldn't find that on the Cedar Crest web site. Lol All of us enjoyed our ice cream selections (multiple flavors served in bowls and cones) and the old school parlor environment. A very nice little stop here in Galena! Was it a brisk Spring Iowa day? Sure... But time is relevant. It's always the right time for ice cream! read more

I called at 6PM to confirm their hours and was told they close at 8:30 PM tonight. We arrived at 7:50PM and the sign said open, but the doors were locked. Multiple employees were standing inside. They refused to acknowledge us beyond walking up to the door and flipping the sign to CLOSED. There were a few groups approaching the store and we were all turned away. We all eventually found our way to the Michoacana down the street, which was open and plenty busy. This place will run American Old Fashion out of business, and rightfully so. read more

This place was great. Old time ice cream parlor. What's not to like? Ice cream was delicious. read more

American Old Fashioned Ice Cream Parlor - Ice Cream & Frozen Yogurt Near Me - Galena, Illinois

So cute! Service was quick, accurate, and the two staffers tonight were super friendly. Portion size is perfect for a post-meal single scoop. There is plenty of outdoor seating. Parking is tricky as this is downtown Main Street in Galena, so we ended up parked about 4-5 blocks away. Crowded outdoor space on a Friday summer night, but the street is blocked off and we were able to find enough space to socially distance while we ate our ice cream. The ice cream shop only had 2 customers while we were visiting and everyone was masked, so that was nice. read more

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Great ice cream in this cute old shop. Enjoyed our stop and had fun. Nice treat for an afternoon shopping break

Absolutely adorable!!! The people who work there are so accommodating and the owner's energy is a gift to the world right now I had the maple bacon shake and my friend had a fresh waffle cone...both were great! read more

RUDE AND POORLY OPERATED. Came before closing (7:53, supposed to close at 8 as I confirmed over the phone) on 7/13 and doors were already closed. Tried to ask nicely to come in, as they should have still been opened, and was rudely denied by two teenage male staff. Customer satisfaction is nowhere near their priority, don't give them your business. read more

A very charming place to have ice cream & more. Very pleasant young ladies working there. Very friendly. This is a old school ice cream shop. I almost wanted to walk out as the ice cream is not homemade but a store brand. It was delicious. I had some kind of blackberry, black cherry & it was great! Gerry, my husband & I love the old time decorations & it takes me back to the past when I was a little girl going to places like this with my parents. We will visit again. read more

Cannot trust their hours!! They are non-existent! 95% of businesses in this town have no hours listed on the door and now I know why: because they close whenever they want! Walked here after dinner (7:30 pm) and the hours online say they are open until 8 pm and they were closed. Galena turns into a complete ghost town at 5 pm. Guess you can only eat ice cream from 11 am to 3 pm. What a joke. read more

We all really enjoyed our cream from here! They had unique flavors that I had bit seen elsewhere! I got pirates booty which was m&ms, fudge and caramel i think. Delicious! Others in my family really enjoyed theirs too! Cute space as well! read more

I'm not sure how this adorable spot doesn't have 5 stars on every review. Very sweet man helped us and the ice cream was delicious!

Came on may 13 with my daughter. Last time we came you where closed due to covid understandably. So I was determined to make it in this time. The young lady working was extremely professional and polite let us look and decide with out being rude or rushed we appreciated that. Ordered our choices paid and enjoyed our cones outside on this gorgeous day. Btw love the shop decor and appreciated the outside seating. We can't wait to come back thank you. read more

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First time there and very unimpressive. It wasn't busy at all, nonetheless we were treated rudely by a blond woman. we didn't ask for samples or anything... my wife and I simply wanted shakes. one chocolat, one vanilla. As I gave my wife of 24 years TODAY a hug, the blond woman kept trying to get our attention to make us pay.... she kept saying excuse me.. excuse me. again there was nobody in line so there was no need to rush the transacation. There were no pleases or thank yous. Just a transaction. on top of it... the ice cream was of low quality and taste like the cheap stuff from the grocery store. we won't be back! read more

I normally do not write reviews while on Vacation, but this could not wait. This is an ordinary Ice cream shoppe that has old decor from the 50's - 60's that make it seem like a nostalgic place to be, however don't be fooled by the appearance of it. Walk in and there is a somewhat small line in the place on a early Saturday afternoon. Out of the 5 employees working there, there was not one single adult in view to help orchestrate the mess of a line/ordering system. The staff was all high school students eager to leave so that they can go either play fortnite or go to their local Steak 'n Shake to have a date. The service was slow, the ice cream selections were low/out, and the prices were outrages. I ordered a turtle Sundae and was immediately told they have no vanilla ice cream. I didn't ask/nor did I care to know. The young lady proceeds to start making my order and when I receive the ice cream it is into a 16 oz clear cup!! I don't know why in the heck you would do that!! Portions were decent and so was flavoring, but at the end of line is where you pay and there was another young lady who just assumed that I had a chip based credit card and told Me I was doing so wrongly, and then proceeded to ask if I wanted to leave a tip!? Gthoh!!! Finally leave with the kids satisfied and all to then look over the receipt and see they have a credit card surcharge!! There was nothing posted as to this and another reviewer also mentioned it as well. Next time I will go to the local Walmart then to this sh^^hole read more

American Old Fashioned Ice Cream Parlor - Ice Cream & Frozen Yogurt Near Me - Galena, Illinois

We visited and had a wonderful experience! The ice cream was amazing! The ambiance was cozy and nostalgic with 50s and 60s music playing. The owner was VERY friendly and personable. He was very knowledgeable about the area and the history of the ice cream parlor. We will definitely come back! read more

Old Fashion Ice Cream Parlor Thought we were back in time. This ice cream parlor was delicious and tasty. Atmosphere reminds me of the old soda fountain. The waffle cones were made as we watched. Ice cream flavors were many to choose from. Each one was very delicious read more

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If you know anything about Galena, you know during the summer there isn't really a "slow" day. Even on a Monday there were plenty of people strolling around and enjoying the wide variety of shops. That said, the staff of two at the ice cream place was more than adequate to get the job done. It was how they did their job. I know that high school aged employees aren't always the most motivated, but they certainly need some managerial reminding on how to "pretend" to give customer service. Several customers were seated at tables and my friend and I were the only one's in line. I asked for a sample of a unique flavor I hadn't had before (ended up ordering it) and you would have thought I asked her to donate a kidney. My friend had the audacity to ask what the prices were, since she hadn't seen them. The other server replied, "They are posted right there." Sorry, hadn't thought to look in the one place where they are listed. We took our delicious ice cream and sat down to enjoy it. For entertainment we watched the girls serving others. To the Mom that asked if there was more vanilla (tub was empty) "Probably." (with out the snotty tone, it doesn't seem so bad). To every customer they gave the same look of disdain and never smiled or thanked anyone. Perhaps if they walked over to the Great American Popcorn Place and watched the young woman making caramel corn and giving out samples. She was smiling and very personable. So, go for the ice cream and realize that the ice cream isn't the only thing frosty and cold. read more

Nice little ice cream shop on the main drag through Galena, Illinois downtown. It is set up with sort of a narrow storefront but a very long and deep room. All the furnishings are old fashioned stuff and beautiful. The place is just steeped in the past, much as all of Galena is. The ice cream was also very nice - super premium all the way. We had a single chocolate and a double peppermint - both lush and creamy. If you have a mind for a sweet, come on down to the American Old Fashioned. read more

Super cute little shop with great selection of ice creams, sundaes, and drinks like shakes and malts. Their waffle cones are apparently housemade and were delicious- definitely tasted fresh and crispy. We got coffee and chocolate flavored ice creams (sorry forget the actual names!) and both were great. I especially loved it because it wasn't overly sweet, which in my opinion, is a rare quality of great dessert! read more

I stopped in here with a friend, on a very warm day. We wanted ice cream, and a woman leaving the store told us they had the best ice cream. The menu said they had homemade pies. They had cherry pie, which is one of my favorites. I had it a la mode, with vanilla ice cream. My friend got a banana ice cream cone. The ice cream was really good, and a generous portion. The pie, however, was certainly not homemade at all. It tasted like one of those cheap Hostess fruit pies you'd see at the grocery stores. It was mushy, and full of gooey, canned filling. I was wishing I had ordered an ice cream cone, instead. If you go here, skip the "homemade" pie. read more

Hubs and I were here for our second time in 3 years. The line was super long when we walked in and there was only one woman working. Poor thing. She was taking and making all of the orders, in addition to taking money. Geez. Pretty bad at 2pm during the July 4th holiday weekend on a Sunday afternoon. Kemps brand ice cream is what they sell here. I was pleasantly surprised as this is one of my most favorite ice cream brands. You can taste the good quality. I ordered a single scoop of cookies 'n cream in a waffle cone. Hubs ordered double scoops of cookie dough in a waffle cone. We were both happy and paid under $8 for both. 3/5 because it wasn't until a few customers after us that 2 more employees appeared from the back room to help the original girl who was working all alone. The line was non-existent once the other employees finally arrived. 3/5 because the employees wear no gloves when scooping the ice cream and handling money-simultaneously. Call me a germaphobe if you want, but I don't care too much for employees scooping my ice cream and handling my unwrapped cone while also handling dirty money. Ew. 2.5/5 because the trash in the restroom was overflowing. Overall, this is a quaint and inexpensive place to take a break. Cleanliness doesn't seem to be a top priority though. read more

This ice cream place was super busy. You couldn't tell where the line started or ended. My kids asked for bubble gum ice cream. Just 1 scoop in a dish without a sample. They took a bite as we waited to pay and it tasted terrible. I even tasted it and it tasted like cold medicine. I politely asked the cashier if we could get a different kind of ice cream. The owners were so rude and grumpy. They refused to offer us to exchange our flavors. I paid $15 for 2 scoops of ice cream that went in the trash and I had 2 very sad kids. Terrible unfriendly service! read more

BLUE MOON ICE CREAM! No, it's not related to the beer, but forever remains a taste of childhood. Back when my family would spend summers visiting the fairgrounds in Michigan, I'd look forward to this mysteriously sweet blue concoction. Still to this day, I can never figure out what it is- almond? cherry? fruit loops? Never did I think that I'd come across it until we stopped into this ice cream parlor. I came here twice while we were here and for that, I am a fan of this place! read more

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Yummy!!!! I loved this ice cream! This ice cream shop looks just like an old ice cream parlor with many varieties of ice cream! I had the scotcharoo ice cream which was butterscotch ice cream with chocolate covered rice crispies and bits of peanut butter! Tasted exactly like a scotcharoo! Staff was friendly and knowledgeable! read more

American Old Fashioned Ice Cream Parlor - Ice Cream & Frozen Yogurt Near Me - Galena, Illinois

Do you ever think: I wish I could take back those calories? Pretty low choice of flavors. Not homemade waffle cones. The malt and shake machine was broken. There's a 3% surcharge for credit cards that you don't find out until the cash register, even though there's a credit card sign on the door indicating they accept cards, but no mention of a surcharge. Wouldn't recommend, but it was the only sit-down ice cream parlor we could find. read more

We have always loved this place. This time we had the most horrible experience and service! Rude manager and young lady working. "We are trying to close" at 755. Poor owner doesn't even know they are shooing customers out and not serving many before their 8pm closing. read more

We stopped in after dinner and a nice evening stroll down Main St. We weren't the only people with the idea as the line was pretty long. They scoop Cedar Crest ice cream which is a small ice cream company out of Wisconsin. Tons of choices and I went "Mackinac Island Fudge" which is vanilla Ice cream with cherry and fudge and a butter fudge sauce. The ice cream might have been a bit old as there were ice crystals throughout the scoop. The ice cream was a 2 star. I have to point out the service, it was fantastic. The line was long and grumpy and there was only one young lady working. No matter how short and curt people were she was friendly and kind and worked to get the line serviced. She definitely helps the place get an additional star. read more

American Old Fashioned Ice Cream Parlor - Mackinac Island Fudge - Ice Cream & Frozen Yogurt Near Me - Galena, Illinois

A big disappointment! I tried to get ice cream here in the past and the lines were too long - not enough staff moving them along. This week we went back on a slow week day and decided to try it out. First disappointment is they don't give you a sample - I was surprised because pretty much any ice cream parlor will do that. I picked my old standby flavor and ordered a scoop in a cone. My second disappointment was that my scoop was actually the smallest scoop of ice cream I have ever been served. It cost over $3 per scoop and by comparison I usually get 2-3x this amount. The plus is the store itself is a throw back in time, so I did like that. And it was ice cold inside which felt great on a hot day... but I won't go back for an overpriced tiny scoop of ice cream. I'll go back to my regular choice - if you head across the street and (I think) South you will find the most divinely smelling popcorn shop ever.... if you can make it past the popcorn (and FREE SAMPLES) you will find they have ice cream in the back of the store. read more

great flavor choices - NY cherry (tart) and black cherry are their best-selling. Irish coffee was good but would've liked stronger coffee flavor. unbelievably huge scoops - single = 3. only downside is no sample policy. read more

Lovely, lovely ice cream shop. The name doesn't lie - this place is a throwback to the past. They even serve Green River from a real, old fashioned fountain. And the ice cream - yum! Probably 30+ flavor choices, a few sundaes, shakes, malts, and a few savory treats. The kicker - fantastic service. We wandered to the door at 8:59pm - one minute before closing. The gal working there agreed to stay open and scoop some cones for our party of 13! She could've easily shooed us away, but she welcomed us and served us with a smile. With 2 preggo ladies in our group, she could be considered a lifesaver ;) read more

We went while on vacation. The ice cream wasn't the best I've ever had, & the flavors weren't the most inventive, but everyone left with a smile, so it worked out. This was our final stop after dinner & a stroll so two of our party went to use the rest room. While the parlor itself is quaint, the restrooms need some serious TLC. If you're going for a cone after dinner, use the restroom at the restaurant before you leave. read more

My friends and I went to Galena for a leisurely girls weekend. What better way to enjoy the stroll down Main Street in the July heat than with an ice cream cone? We obviously stopped in the wrong shop. What a complete contrast to the charming atmosphere that Galena has to offer. The staff of high schoolers was dismissive and rude. We asked to speak to a manager and were ignored. You're much better off going to a grocery store and making your own ice cream cones. read more

When I walked in the front door I felt as if I had stepped back in time. There was an old fashioned soda fountain and an ice cream case. The kids that helped us were friendly and good at their job. As for the ice cream you could have a single or a double scoop in a cup or cone. I choose the waffle cone and had the Mississippi Mud. It was great and they even give you two scoops for the price of a single. This was a great place that fit right in with the main Street in Galena. read more

My husband and I stopped here for some ice cream on our first afternoon in Galena. He ordered a single scoop waffle cone of strawberry cheesecake yogurt, and I ordered a single scoop waffle cone of black cherry ice cream. We both sampled each other's ice cream, so we both got to taste both flavors. We both agreed that the strawberry cheesecake yogurt was good but nothing special. However, we both ADORED the black cherry ice cream. In fact, we loved it so much that, two days later, we stopped back in so that we could both get a double scoop waffle cone of the black cherry ice cream. It was absolutely heavenly. The ice cream wasn't cheap at $3.75 for a single scoop and $4.25 for a double, but it wasn't too expensive either. I did notice, however, that the prices listed for the other ice cream products (shakes, sundaes, banana split, etc) were a bit exorbitant. Also, please note that this shop does not accept debit or credit cards, so you'll need to have cash on hand. Other than a small sign on the cash register, we didn't notice any signs listing the cash only policy. read more

Incredibly good ice cream, this rivals Jeni's. I got the dark chocolate and some kind of berry ice cream. I asked for two scoops and the girl was super generous with her scooping. I asked her to put it in one of their cute old fashioned glass ice cream dishes and she happily accommodated. We ate our ice cream at a table inside by the window and I felt genuinely happy. It was just so good, I highly recommend! read more

NO SAMPLES!! What good is 37 flavors with no samples? Also, a lot of the ice cream looked caked into the tubs and unappetizing. They also didn't label their ice cream flavors, so I couldn't tell which was which. They did have a list of flavors hanging above. No credit cards accepted at all. Really? Super high prices. My goodness - almost $9 for a milkshake. If I were advising the owner, I would suggest to fix the business structure to make enough money to stay afloat - not jack up the prices to near-absorbitant levels for a mediocre product and crummy service. The lack of business is for a reason!! I bet you'd get more customers if you allowed samples. That was one of the main reasons we left. The staff - rude. Pay up for some nice staff. For one, she was slow, and finishing with the customers before me took quite a while. That's fine; whatever. But, then she was about to help the customers that arrived after me... Like 5 minutes after me. Please increase your observation skills if you're going to man the store by yourself. I next asked if I could sample a flavor, to which she snarkily replied that they don't do samples. (Mentioned above). Next, I inquired about the "Blue Moon" flavor. Now, just an FYI, I have had a blue moon milkshake at Red Robin before made with the beer called, "Blue Moon." I asked the gal if their ice cream was the beer flavored, thinking that was cool if it were. She replied in a VERY rude tone, "No! That's a childrens' cereal!" (She sounded as if the mere thought of a beer flavored ice-cream was abhorrent to the decency of the community and that I was an alcoholic lush for merely suggesting it!). Wow. After that, we decided to leave. No samples, no credit cards, and full-on judgement by the ice cream gal. Oh my. As a side note, the gentleman's small sunday who ordered before me looked good, although tiny for $5.50. At least she put (canned) whip cream and a cherry on it. read more