Julie Ann's Frozen Custard — Restaurant in Crystal Lake

I've been going to to Julie Ann's for a LONG TIME.....this is their second location, and it's easy to miss driving by on Northwest Highway/Rt.14, but believe me, you don't want to miss it! Just look for the nearby IHOP and you'll be OK. It's a store front operation, not a typical ice cream stand, but don't let that bother you, the offerings inside are amazing!

I have never had anything from Julie Anne's that I didn't just love! My favorite are their caramel cashew sundae and turtle sundaes, but literally everything they have is great. Their custard is smooth and creamy, far better than any regular ice cream you've ever had, and it makes a great base for all their wonderful treats.

Indoor seating is very limited, most people eat their goodies hanging out in the parking lot, or just they just take it home with them.

Julie Ann's is one of those places that all of us "locals" love to go to, and once you've stopped in an tried it yourself, you will understand why. Highly...

Have been coming here for the last 5 years or so for their dairy free options. Have always been fairly good and not much to complain about. However, I went in looking at the dairy free pints, I saw some had been circled vegan. So I asked the cashier why the vegan labels were circled on some but not all, they explained stating some of the toppings aren’t vegan or dairy free which is why certain ones are not circled. But then that leads me to, if the toppings inside are not dairy free how could the whole ice cream be dairy free at that point?

I’m allergic to dairy, I cannot eat the dairy but if I didn’t ask why ALL the dairy free ice creams didn’t have the vegan label circled, I would of gotten one that has toppings with dairy which would not make it a dairy free ice cream..

To any true vegans or people that cannot eat dairy, I’d go elsewhere. Side note: I agree about the young kids comments.. was snickering to each other after I had asked my question to the...

Update 6/27/23 - Have visited multiple times after that experience on new years eve. Even though we were told going forward they would no longer be serving espresso, that was incorrect. They still offer their affogatos and espresso brownie shakes. The service is friendly and the custard and various options are amazing. The only reason for a 4 star review is that something in your order will be wrong every once in a while.

Update 12/31/22 - just came in and was informed they are no longer serving espresso. This is a huge negative blow to the menu in my opinion. No more affogatos and most importantly no more espresso brownie shakes. I have to drop it from 5 stars down to 3 (possibly even 2) because without the collectivo coffee my favorite items are no longer on the menu.

Original: Amazing custard and shakes. Their coffee/espresso based shakes use Collectivo which is delicious. So many toppings to choose from....