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.

Love this little place! Great ice cream and food. Very speedy service as well ever when they are…read morequite busy. Been going here for years

The best ice cream in Pekin, if you can get past the attitudes. After going to the Funeral home, to…read moremake arrangements to bury her father, we thought we would go here to get away from the craziness in our lives the past few days. When we arrived, the attitudes were short wicked and it looks like everyone hated their job. My wife was made out to be a dumb*** in front of everyone because she accidentally grabbed someone's Strawberry Shake instead of her Strawberry Shortcake. I won't be back, that was very embarrassing for my wife and put her in tears, she just can't get away from all this cruel crap. She just lost her father and just can't get a break

Super good Ice Cream. Always packed on the weekdays so it's best to find a good time that works for…read moreyou. I personally enjoy swinging by here during the night time, looks really nice later in the day and the stuff are pretty cool. Very nice interior and they let you sample before you buy.

Enjoyed the chocolate milk ice cream with the chocolate sugar cone :) $7 something for 1 scoop.read more

Wow! The hand dipped ice cream is amazing! Friendly and happy young woman took our order. The…read moreoutside is super cute!

Tremont, IL staple! They stay busy, because of the excellent service, I imagine…read more Directly across the street from a beautiful park.

Great ice cream! I got the smores wizard and it hit the spot. Highly recommend this place for all…read moreyour ice cream needs

Chili dogs are always top on my list. Best to pass on the cheese. Service is hit and miss.read more

Review Visit: September 29th, 2013…read more "Do you want to go to The Ice Cream Shack?" "Sure! Which one?" "THE Ice Cream Shack." "Right, but which one? Peoria has a ton of them." "It's a place called THE ICE CREAM SHACK." "Ohhhhhh..." I imagine that is a common conversation among people when they are talking about coming here. I know there was some slight confusion between my cousin and I when we made plans to check this place out. After spending the afternoon hiking at Forest Park Nature Center with my friend Tim and my cousin's family, we needed some sugary treats to recharge our batteries. The kids were vocally loud in their agreement on getting ice cream. So, we hopped in our cars and headed over. I had been by this area quite a few times and never realized there was an ice cream place. The building itself is a bit recessed from the road and doesn't really have an outlandish look that some ice cream shacks have. So, you can end up driving by without noticing it (as I have). It was a slow when we pulled up so there was plenty of parking for our two vehicles. We hopped out and walked on up to the window to figure out what we wanted. Luckily this place doesn't have a million different options to pick from like a lot of places. Their menu is simplistic and focused on ice cream with a small selection of non-frozen desserts to pick from. On this day, I snagged a Peanut Butter Cup-flavored wizard. As we waited for our snacks, I eagerly anticipated getting a peanut butter cup-themed wizard staff and hat to go with my delectable. When they called my name, I sprinted up to the window to get my goodies. What they gave me was just the wizard that I ordered and no garments or anything else. Dream crushed. I'm kidding. We all got our orders in a fairly quick time as there weren't many people there. I don't recall what everyone else got but we took some funny photos while scarfing down our sugary dairy products. Everyone seemed to enjoy what they ordered and after goofing around a bit more, we parted ways. Not only did the kids get to be kids jacked up on ice cream and hiking, us adults got to be kids at heart while being goof balls loaded up on sugar.

I don't understand for the life of me why a business can't accept credit cards. It's 2025 not 1910,…read moreare the owners that cheap? It's not like their prices are low enough to justify it. They actually cost more than Dairy Queen. Once I saw that and there prices I just turned around. I just can't support a business that can't support itself

THIS IS THE BEST ICE CREAM EVER. We drove 2 HOURS from Joliet just to have this ice cream and it…read morewas worth it! I'm not a fan of airy ice cream (think like McDonald's soft serve), and I like it when it is icy and refreshing. And Country Style is the BEST, hands down, no competition. You can hold this ice cream upside down AND SHAKE IT and it will not fall out of the cone. This place is so close to Peoria so it's a perfect stop if you're ever at the Civic Center or an event nearby, plus it's a family-owned small business and the staff is super generous and kind. And the prices are great, too!

We're visiting for a golf tournament and found this ice cream place. The soft serve is amazing!…read more We've gone every night of our trip

Review Visit: May 13th, 2015…read more This ice cream is '¡muy caliente!" I knew Mexican soda was a thing but Mexican ice cream? Not in the capacity to have it's own ice cream shack. Well, queue my surprise when I learned that there was a Mexican ice cream shop in Peoria. One that has a name that leads you to think that maybe... just maybe this place is delicious. Doing what I normally do (as avid readers of this blog will know), I gathered up one of my friends who likes to travel (Matt) and we headed over the Illinois River (not the Peoria River) to get some ice cream (and add more bracketed comments to this paragraph for no reason). The location of Las Delicias is a bit of an odd one. Actually, those whole road of shops is not a greatly planned out area. You have all these shops along Main St but the parking situation leaves a lot to be desired. You usually have to hunt for a place to park and sometimes walk a small distance to your destination. I just wanted to put this in here as a warning should you want to venture down Main St. Matt and I found a place to park and headed in. Upon entering, we were greeted by a friendly cashier and shop that was small and felt homely (in a good way). This place truly felt like it was a family-owned. Matt and I browsed the handful of offerings and I was surprised by the flavors. Granted, this was over 5 years ago, so I don't remember the specifics and I failed to take a photo of what was being offered at the time. I grabbed some kind of strawberry ice cream while Matt got himself some flavor that I never heard of before. We paid for our ice cream desserts and headed out. I think there were a few chairs inside to sit but due to the small-sized of the restaurant, we opted to eat outside as we walked back to my car. I am a sucker for strawberry (and peanut butter) flavored treats. At this point in my life, I had quite a few different strawberry-flavored items but this one is the only one that instantly blew me away. Something about the quality of this dessert was unreal. It was far and above beyond anything you would find in the store unless you option for the expensive stuff. This stuff tasted homemade and had love in every scoop. I can't properly describe how much I loved this ice cream cone and how sad I was when it was gone. If you find yourself in Peoria and are on a circuit of trying out all the ice cream places, this one needs to be at the top of your list. You won't regret it. If you do go and you do regret it, lo siento. That's what life is all about though, right? Trying new things and seeing what the world has to offer.

Great variety it options, traditional and non-traditional flavors and very consistent in quality! I…read morelove going here for the yogurt cups and horchata as well!