If you have not been to Brown Cow recently you are making a mistake. Lots of new flavors and I swear the ingredients are of a higher quality read more

I have heard about this ice cream parlor and stumbled upon it by happenstance; I didn't even realize this is where it was. They had some amazing looking ice cream cakes! And a great selection of ice cream to choose from. We were a bit in a hurry and I didn't want to mess with ice cream and a toddler on the move, so I got a hot chocolate for us to share. It's unlike any hot chocolate I've ever had--it's hot, but they make it with ice cream so that first sip or two is both hot and cold. It is delicious and delightful and may be my new favorite hot chocolate. As the weather warms up and we head out here for swim lessons and whatnot, I'll look forward to stopping by for ice cream, which is my favorite. And I'm definitely checking out their ice cream cakes because I'll bet the little ones would love it! read more

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Alot of changes since the new owner. The recipes for their banana split which now became seasonal for summer only and their root beer float has changed to just meh. Also they are too overpriced. I only paid $13 back last year. Now it's $18.14. I might as well go the Margie's ice cream parlor in Chicago by Western Ave and armitage or Oberweis which is cheaper and you get more. Ice cream is still fresh thus the 3 stars but their original ice recipes for root beer not using seltzer water and their banana split have changed next to the banana split being overpriced and seasonal when you have to call them to find out if they're there at ice cream parlor. Typical ambiance read more

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Classic ice cream shop serving scoops in glass dishes. Creamy, high-quality ice cream. The shop was lively but not hectic on an evening of a school break. Staff was efficient. read more

Its okay. Their stock basic flavors like chocolate are best. Tho they seem to be starting unique high quality flavors like orchard that are about average. Ill have to come back and try read more

We had an impromptu meet up after church with some friends that came to visit and we all decided on ice cream! I called the Brown Cow Ice Cream Parlor to see if they can accommodate our group of about 15+ peeps. The folks at Brown Cow didn't hesitate at all by telling us that they had a vacant party room in the back and said we were welcome to use it. And so we did! We came on Sunday night around 6pm and the place wasn't too busy when we got there. There were only 2 workers at the time and they did their best at getting our orders taken quickly and tried to accommodate making them quickly as well. I feel like our large party attracted a few more people afterwards so it ended up being a busy night for Brown Cow. Everyone seemed satisfied with their orders. I sure was. I got the peanut butter chocolate ice cream and it was rich, creamy, and so good! The place was perfect for our large group and there was so much space and seats in the party room. We all enjoyed our time together and our tasty ice cream treats! read more

Brown Cow Ice Cream Parlor - Ice Cream & Frozen Yogurt Near Me - Forest Park, Illinois

Brown Cow has always been a favorite of ours. Since we have first come, the service has always been excellent and welcoming. On our most recent visit the manager, Bennet, was extremely kind and redeemed a birthday voucher for us even though we were a day late. Apart from the service. The ice cream is DIVINE. Waffle cones are fresh and crunchy and the array of flavors has something for everyone. With the old school interior design and music, it's enjoyable to devour your cone in store. read more

Brown Cow Ice Cream Parlor - Top: chocolate peanut butter & caramel macchiato Bottom: chocolate peanut butter & key lime pie - Ice Cream & Frozen Yogurt Near Me - Forest Park, Illinois

Old School Ice Cream Parlor! Loved it! Cant wait for my Chocolate malt made with Vanilla Ice Cream & Extra Malt! read more

Brown Cow Ice Cream Parlor - Menu! - Ice Cream & Frozen Yogurt Near Me - Forest Park, Illinois

We stopped by midweek after lunch for a treat with our grandson and the young man running the place at the time was wonderful. He was very gracious and friendly to everyone (even the phone call that was asking him to name all of their flavors!). We all enjoyed some kiddie scoops (plenty big!) and couldn't have been happier. Can't wait to go back next time we are in Chicago! read more

Writing an updated review based on the worst customer service experience I have ever had. We ordered specialized ice cream cake for a family member's birthday, despite our mediocre experience before, and went over the two flavors (mint and chop chip) at least five times. A family member went to pick the cake up, driving an hour to get there since all of us live way up north, and the receipt verified the purchase with the two flavors. At the party that night, we take out the cake, sing Happy Birthday, cut the cake and see the flavors are wrong. We called Brown Cow right away and were told we can bring the cake back (so yes, they expected us to drive an hour back with an ice cream cake melting all over the car at 9:45pm) but instead, we decided to run to the local 31 flavors so that the party is not ruined and the birthday girl can have the flavors that she wanted. Well, after that night, the store not only refused to give us our money back but argued that it was our error in the first place, lying to us that we are the ones that gave them the wrong flavors. Even after emailing them the receipt proving that we were right and that we paid for mint and chop chip, they refused to give us our money after ruining the birthdays girl's party and forcing us to buy two separate cakes from 31 flavors. I have dealt with all sorts of customer service experiences, but never has any retailer accused me of lying in order to keep my money. I have been warning others about this place ever since, so that no one else has to go through what we did. read more

If you're looking for rich, creamy, and delicious ice cream, this is the place to be. I've tried many ice cream shops around Chicago, and this one is by far the best. They offer plenty of flavors to choose from, and every scoop is a treat. Truly love this spot! read more

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Give Benicio a raise, except he promised me free ice cream, and I haven't quite received it yet. His service has to be top notch. The ice cream better have great quality. The restaurant looks great. read more

Was super excited to learn that they had a vegan butter pecan flavor when we visited! They keep the vegan flavors in the back, so if you don't see any, just inquire. The vanilla and butter pecan are coconut base, so the coconut flavor is present. My cousin doesn't care for coconut, so it was not her favorite. I enjoyed it, but I do believe that if it was soy or oat-based, it would bee soooo much better! The staff were lovely and answered any questions we had. The vibe is definitely old-timey! read more

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I was surprised by how large the space is inside. There's a back room too with extra seating, but it does seem daunting to go there because I imagine it can be used for events. We weren't sure if we could go there. The ice cream was good. I got a carrot cake slice too, which also was really good. The service was terrible. No one asked us if we wanted to sample anything. I was at the cash register and really confused because no one talked to us. Finally, I asked if we could get samples, and the employee seemed surprised (even though the party in front of us had gotten samples). Also, you had to order first at the cash register then the person scooping the ice cream would then read the order, which is fine, but makes the sampling process cumbersome given the layout of the store. read more

Love their ice cream but what a disappointment. Ordered a kids scoop in a cup and a single scoop on a cone. The single scoop was probably half the amount of ice cream as the kids scoop and the cone was completely empty. Just a half assed scoop on an empty cone. Finished it in a few bites and threw the cone away. $7 for what was basically a large sample. Waste of money. read more

Very cute shop inside, good ice cream. I wasn't super impressed by it though and I'd say it was a little on the higher end of the prices. A one scoop chocolate dipped cone and a milkshake cost $21. Not too bad but deff not cheap. Having your Icr cream cone dipped in chocolate was $2:50. They do have some unique flavors. I will say that the one scoop is a pretty big size so unless you really want a lot of ice cream that should be enough. I'd say give this place a try because it's good but it didn't wow me read more

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The place makes the best hot chocolate I've ever had. The ice cream is cool too. The atmosphere is old school dinner vibes and the architecture inside is amazing, it's a great place to late night or mid day. read more

Brown Cow Ice Cream Parlor - It was shut down! - Ice Cream & Frozen Yogurt Near Me - Forest Park, Illinois

Expensive mediocre ice cream. Given the price point I honestly thought it would be at least similar to Häagen-Dazs. It was not. I ordered the chocolate almond. There were three slivered almonds and the ice cream scoop. It was overly sweet and did not have a significant chocolate flavor. They did not use a high-quality Cocoa. It's cute and the kids will love it but it's very mediocre ice cream sorry. read more

I love it here so bad, I come at LEAST once a week. I currently have 2 pints of French Toast and Kribi and a quart of Sea Salt Carmel ice cream in my freezer. I LOVE that the flavors are original and made in house, but the rotation of flavors is bittersweet gonna be honest But I love in the summer they have the lemon blueberry and banana cream pie flavors because they are AMAZING! I will never stop raving about this place!!!! read more

You walk in expecting this to be a fancy, high priced but very average ice cream experience. It is anything but average. The ice cream ranks amongst the best in my book. I try to stop in whenever I'm in the area, which is only once or twice a year! Their hours can be a little hard to work around so be sure to check before showing up! read more

I wanted to buy my boyfriend a quality ice cream cake for his birthday from a local place rather than from a chain store. I stumbled upon this place on google cause it looked like something I was looking for! I don't live too far from forest park so I didn't mind the drive. From first look, this place is an old school ice cream parlor that started back in 2004. In addition to their handmade ice cream, they also sell custom ice cream cakes, pies, and more. I'm sure this place is popular among family and kids in the community! For my custom cake, I chose yellow cake, butter pecan AND cookies n cream ice cream, with white frosting and rainbow sprinkles. The cake was an absolute hit with my bf's friends and I'm so glad everyone enjoyed it (including myself)! I like how you can also choose 2 ice cream flavors. I was mostly able to taste the butter pecan over the cookies n cream but thats ok. Overall, it was a pretty hefty cake and very high quality. Homemade tastes better 100%! I would definitely purchase from here again :) read more

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I am very disappointed with my recent visit at this establishment. To start, I found hair in my ice cream, and when being given my ice cream the employee had their fingers in it, and wasn't wearing gloves or a hairnet. Then I was waiting 10 minutes for two ice creams despite being the only one inside. After eating the ice cream I experienced many symptoms, including severe nausea, fatigue, stomach aches, and memory loss. I forgot the name of the establishment despite having the cup of ice cream next to me, which had the name on it. I thought the name of this establishment was Dirty Cow (which seems fitting based on my experience), Fat Cow, etc. I am currently writing this in the ER, where I will be spending the remainder of my weekend. Beware. read more

I cannot even put into words how impressed I was with the birthday party we had here recently. When they tell you they will handle everything, they truly mean it. From set-up, to greeting guests, to having aprons for the kids, to playing games and handling the food and drink stations to even packing up the gifts that we received in easy-to-carry bags, Ari and her team did it all. And the room was beautiful! We went with the deluxe cocoa bar and waffle sundae station and it was a sugar feast!! Now I kind of kick myself that I didn't go with their treat bags and put my own together because I bet they would have been equally amazing! The biggest "treat" we got from this was how happy all the kids attending were - when Monday came around and the teacher asked what the best part of the weekend was, the class was all about this party! read more

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Brown Cow is a small batch ice cream shop located in Forest Park, IL. The venue has an old fashioned feel as you can tell from the interior and exterior photos. They also play Dixieland music as background music. Brown Cow has a nice selection of ice cream flavors, which they gladly have you sample. I ended up ordering the Kribi Espresso in a cake cone. The flavor was great and had hints of crushed up espresso. The only drawback with my ice cream was it wasn't creamy throughout, as I had a few bites of icy ice cream. Overall, not a bad place for homemade ice cream. read more

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Always great ice cream and always a warm and cozy atmosphere. Love this place. They're open late so also great for that last minute craving read more

Brown Cow Ice Cream Parlor - Ice Cream & Frozen Yogurt Near Me - Forest Park, Illinois

Fantastic ice cream that is so creamy and fresh! I went with the coconut fudge brownie and the pistachio on a waffle cone and it was so good. The scoops were huuuuuge! I really enjoyed the pistachio, it was so rich and creamy. I will definitely be back to try more flavors and sundaes! read more

Brown Cow Ice Cream Parlor - Cookies and cream and butter pecan (L), coconut fudge brownie and pistachio (R) - Ice Cream & Frozen Yogurt Near Me - Forest Park, Illinois

We love the Brown Cow so much! We've been coming here since they opened at their original location a couple blocks away. Connie helped me see reason when my wife and I disagreed on the name of our soon to be first born (18 years ago!). My kids have grown up knowing Connie. Their ice cream is all homemade, and watching some of that process is so cool! read more

We have been here many times over the last 7+ years and it never disappoints. The ice cream is always delicious and the menu changes regularly. Everyone working is polite without being inauthentic. The parlor itself is adorable. We will keep going here regularly! read more

I expected this place to be overrated but it was every bit worth the trip to forest park!! Loved the old school midwestern ice creamery feel, but more importantly the ice cream was delicious and so creamy! The coconut tasted like actual coconut! It is on the pricier side but the scoops are huge!! You can also get a half and half option if you want to try two flavors. The only thing I don't really like is the set up of the register and ordering system. It feels like they would benefit from multiple registers because the line is really long but they do keep it moving quick and you get the ice cream almost right after you order which keeps it from melting. Tip: they have a puppy cup of whipped cream for $1! read more

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Ordered a hot fudge sundae and two turtle sundaes. All 3 sundaes had chocolate syrup instead of hot fudge and the two turtle sundaes were missing pecans. Called the store to report this. The man I spoke with admitted they were out of hot fudge and "could have done better damage control." Also notified him of the missing pecans. His only response to all of these complaints was "sorry about that." What a waste of money. Will not be back here again. read more

Place felt dirty and unfinished. The ice cream was moderately good and the desserts looked stale and tasted bland. The service was good and the person behind the counter was helpful. Seems like they aren't ones for handing out a sample taste. They had an ice cream called "cold, old cardboard" and it was spot on. Oh wait, that was my cookies and cream. Boom roasted. My nephew got the sweet potato cookie. That also tasted like old cardboard. Seems to me a rebranding opportunity is coming. Great people. Nice service. Ehhh iced creams. Upon reading the business owners statement I'm inclined to rethink my review. The ice cream parlor I went to that fateful night had a small table to the left as you walked in. It also had a long counter on the right wall. It was a smaller space with a lot of boxes piled up in the place they would use to bake their cakes and such. Same place? Or is there some terrible other ice cream/bakery relatively close to your location? It may be another place because I had to forego my first option because it was closed. read more

We are from the neighborhood and have been going here for years. The quality has gone way down. Charging $12 for a sundae when missing half of ingredients, 4 separate visits. Young kids not trained to make sure you're actually making a quality product for what you're paying. Very disappointing. read more

Honestly, this an old school ice cream parlor you should not sleep on! The service is quick, employees are nice and flavors are always changing! The portions are huge and are priced fairly. It's a cute spot for dates, catch ups, kids, and families. read more

Brown Cow Ice Cream Parlor - Ice Cream & Frozen Yogurt Near Me - Forest Park, Illinois

They have some fun ice cream flavors and make the waffle cones there. The flavor of the cones is great, but the ones we had were chewy. The ice cream, Kribi coffee and key lime pie are absolutely packed full of flavor. The key lime pie has nicely blended bits inside, not too much not too little, but just right. Also have some fun stuff for LGBTQ pride month and supporting a local organization Brave Space Alliance with the purchase of those items. read more

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Loved this ice cream joint. Vanilla ice cream tends to be my go-to pick and what most would call "boring", especially given the variety of flavors Brown Cow offers. However, Brown Cow exceeded my expectations even in the "simple". The ice cream was smooth, thick, and creamy, and a good reminder that simple things made well are worth celebrating - which is what I'm doing with this five star review! read more

Brown Cow Ice Cream Parlor - Vanilla Ice Cream Single Scoop - Ice Cream & Frozen Yogurt Near Me - Forest Park, Illinois

It's pretty good. A lot of flavors of ice cream and good service and all. I don't live locally so it's a bit of a hike and I only get this ice cream when I am in the area, but the past few times it has always been freezer burned and kind of pricy. I wish there was better outdoor seating. And I liked it better when they did not make their own ice cream. At least it's open late! read more

I love to visit this place! It's such a cute place that takes you back to the ice cream parlor of your childhood. The prices are good, the portions are great, the people are friendly, and it is a great choice for a sweet treat! The smell of freshly pressed waffle cones is in the air when you come in which makes you drool. In addition to your old time favorites, they have some cute new items like ice cream cupcakes and fun delicious non-dairy flavors! Check it out the next time you are in Forest Park! read more

I shouldn't even give one star I finally went and they decided to open at 6 PM on a Monday instead of noon, but didn't put it on their website. Just put a note on the door.......very very, very disappointed First and last time I will ever try to go there and I guess I will never eat there, but there are plenty of ice cream places to go to that actually want to serve the people read more

I would give zero stars, but that's not possible. I am REALLY BIG on customer service, and although the parlor gave a cult-likw feel, my child and I decided to trick it out and try the ice cream. There were 5 people behind the counter, and NOT ONE person greeted us and asked if we were ready to order. We stood there for 5 minutes to give someone the benefit of the doubt and although all of them looked us in the face not one person said "are you ready to order?" Irritated is an understatement. My child said let's fo because he was over the fact that we were ignored. read more

Quaint little ice cream parlor on Madison street. I have heard many great stories about the ice cream here and have been told that it is the best ice cream place in the Forest Park and Oak Park area. That's a big assertion so I just had to put that to the test. ATMOSPHERE/ARCHITECTURE: 8/10 I like it a lot inside. The decor is 1960s-esque with checkerboard tiles and wiry furniture. There is a piano as well. There is seating for around 40+ people. There is an additional room in the back I believe which has board games I am told. I did not see for myself. SERVICE: 8/10 Everyone here was quite nice. We were allowed to try a little bit of whatever we wanted and despite a long line, it moved quickly. FOOD: 8/10 There are so many flavors here. I'd estimate 30-40. I tried a few of the different flavors before settling on Bear Claw. Another person in my group went for Coconut Chocolate Fudge, which I got to try as well. Bear Claw - This one was rich, full of chocolate with chunks and some nut as well. It was a heavier ice cream flavor for sure, but that is exactly what I like. This was AMAZING and highly recommended to anyone who likes chocolate at all. Coconut Chocolate Fudge - This one was alright. I'm not the biggest coconut fan and I felt that its flavor here was a little overwhelming while the fudge was a little scant as well. VALUE: 7/10 It was almost $5 for a scoop which isn't the priciest I've seen. I would say this is an average value. The Bear Claw was definitely worth it though. PROBABILITY OF RETURN: 8/10 Unfortunately, I will be far away from this area for some time. But if I were closer, this would be a more regular stop for me for sure. It's one of the gems of Forest Park for sure. TO EAT OR NOT TO EAT: Go here and grab some ice cream. OVERALL: 8/10 read more

Brown Cow Ice Cream Parlor - Bear Claw - Ice Cream & Frozen Yogurt Near Me - Forest Park, Illinois

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