My husband and I visited Portland for the weekend, as the Tillamook factory/creamery has been on my husband‘s bucket list for the past year now. This was the thing that he was most excited for, and I’m not really sure why there are such raving reviews for this place. We have been longtime purchasers and enjoyers of Tillamook products from our local grocery store. We did the self guided tour as we watched others reviews and walk-throughs of the ice cream and factory tour experience prior to coming on our trip, which didn’t really interest us.

Maybe it was our own fault to expect so much from this experience, but as previously mentioned, we saw so many raving reviews, and we love Tillamook products so we had to make the two hour trip to the coast. Upon looking through the window windows on one side, which had steps one through six we saw workers hard at work, but sadly on the side, numbered steps seven through 12. We didn’t see anybody and did not get to see the behind-the-scenes process. This wasn’t the biggest deal and so we continued on our journey as we continued to read the infographics throughout the top floor and also got our free snack sized cheese samples, which we were excited to try. We then headed downstairs to the gift shop, which was where things started to slowly go downhill. Everything was extremely overpriced and we just really could not believe it. We did not end up buying anything in the gift shop and continued on our way to the food area where prices continued to be astronomical and The disappointment only continued from here as the food we tried (we tried the grilled cheese, the cheese, pizza, and the mac & cheese) lacked the flavor that was promised and did so at ridiculous price point for the simplicity of the food provided. Also The soft drinks that were offered were Not your typical Coca-Cola/Pepsi Products and brands, but some random brand whose sodas were absolutely disgusting. We took a few sips of our drinks and realized it just wasn’t worth it and ended up throwing away more than 98% of the drinks that we had purchased. We also noticed that many people walking around with soda cups, that were nearly full, whether they were heading to their cars to leave or heading upstairs for the self guided tour. I don’t feel like we saw many people having glasses that were visibly drinking out of and enjoyed. We did not partake in the ice cream as we were Not really feeling up for ice cream. But we found it quite disappointing that the flavors that they offered were all flavors that you could find in local grocery stores throughout the United States and the most unique flavor they had was Marion Berry pie, which was an exclusive offering at the creamery.

We left feeling disappointed and all in all felt like this definitely was a tourist trap amongst other things. One thing I will say was upon heading to the airport to fly home, the Tillamook restaurant/store was one of the 4 food businesses open at the time we were flying out and the stuff there was much more friendly and helpful than those that were at the flagship location we had visited prior that day. We also ended up purchasing the white cheese curds from the airport store, which were extremely good and we wish that they sold them in grocery stores. We also ended up trying the ice cream sandwiches and the cheeseburger which really surprised us! I thought that the burger and fries were super good and classic and whatever sauce they used was really good. Also We were hoping the ice cream sandwiches were made to order but sadly they were just the ones You find at the grocery store and employees pull the small sandwiches out of the 4 x 4 boxes that you see at the store. They were still super yummy and we will definitely be buying them during our next grocery trip, but we just felt like it was a little bit silly. The salted caramel was my favorite and my husband really enjoyed the chocolate mudslide and or strawberry. We enjoyed our little airport hole in the wall Tillamook experience more than we did the flagship location experience.