Lolly's Creamery — Attraction in Norfolk

I am updating my review to 4 stars and will give this place another chance. Upon posting my review last night, the owner immediately replied and rectified the situation. He gets 5-stars for his customer service approach.

Original review: Unfortunately, I'm writing this as I eat a less than desirable small bowl of ice cream. This is my second time visiting this location and Lolly's as a whole. My first experience during the grand opening was 5-star. Tonight was 1-star. So I'm rating the average of the two, 3-star. Let me preface all this by saying I worked at a locally owned ice cream shop throughout college for almost four years. So I understand the frustration when a customer walks in just before closing. I walked in at 8:50pm on a Thursday. The shop closes at 9:00pm. I knew exactly what I wanted so I knew I could place the order right away and thought it was pretty simple. I ordered a small vanilla ice cream in a cup with hot fudge and a sugar cone on top. There were 3 or 4 girls working. But all of them seemed to make closing the shop and cleaning a priority over serving customers. Again, I understand, because I've been there, but it's not like I requested a milkshake or a sundae. I waited for several minutes after placing my order and leaving a tip, which is something I always do at ice cream shops since I used to work in one. The person who took my order put her hand up and said "crossing my fingers for no more orders in the next 3 minutes". It was 8:57pm at that point. However, they seemed to have forgotten about my order regardless of me standing there. Finally, someone remembered and started preparing my order. After one gal started scraping chunky hot fudge out of a small paper cup onto my ice cream, another came over and remarked, "don't we have any better hot fudge?" But they decided they would give it to me anyway, even though they clearly realized something was wrong with it. It doesn't even taste like chocolate. It is really bad. The small ice cream was $6, sugar cone was $0.50, and the hot fudge was $0.75. Then you have a 3% service charge, 6% VA sales tax, and 6.5% Norfolk City tax. Plus my $1.00 tip. Now we are at $9.38 for a small scoop of ice cream. Yes, I get it... inflation, overhead, staff, etc. I'd be happy to pay this (like I was the first time I went) if the quality were sufficient and the service peasant. However, this was a miss all around. Also, I ordered the exact same thing, minus the sugar cone, on my first visit. That time, the ice cream tasted like vanilla bean and the fudge was hot, smooth, and tasted like dark chocolate. This go round the vanilla ice cream lacks flavor and the "fudge" is terrible. The only positives of the experience were the nicely designed storefront and the sugar cone.

Edit: I very much appreciate the owner's prompt and thoughtful reply. I know every visit to a restaurant or retailer isn't going to be perfect. I will likely be back at some point this summer because I have a gift card. But I do hope to have a better experience on my next visit. At that point, perhaps I can update my review to be...

I love Lollys, I’ve been going since they opened on 17th street in VB. But this location needs som serious help. This is the only local ice cream shop in Norfolk, so it is always flooded. Several weekends in a row there’s a line out the door that doesn’t move. With only 2 people working behind the counter, it makes sense why they are backed up. I also am ALWAYS getting cut in line because there is no clear line to oblivious others. People inside will cut in front of the line waiting outside as well. The walk up feature in VB is my favorite so everyone isn’t packed into a tiny room. I really think this location would benefit from an outside window for those who are walking up and leaving, since ghent Norfolk is so pedestrian friendly. Probably won’t go to this location again for a bit while they still are coming together. Will make the drive to VB, just for less chaos, which is funny since VB is the packed...

I never need a reason to get ice cream—I’m always up for something delicious, and I was pleasantly surprised at this spot. One thing to note is that they don’t offer a wide selection of flavors, but that seems to be because everything is thoughtfully curated.

During my visit, the flavors were apple, spice, and pumpkin, which weren’t what I initially had in mind. But they do let you sample, so I tried the chocolate and cookie dough ice cream, both of which were incredibly flavorful. My friend opted for the pumpkin and really enjoyed it.

If you’re into curated, unique flavors, this place is definitely worth a visit. Their ability to focus on quality over quantity is what...