Tess' Place — Restaurant in Decatur

I work in Decatur on a sort of seasonal basis and recently had my last visit out to the area for what will likely be a while. I wanted to go out in style, so I decided to go to this little ice cream parlor for a treat to sort of say goodbye.

The shop is small and shares some open space with a next door gift shop type space. It's cute and welcoming inside, with a lot of homages to dogs. I'm guessing Tess is the Frenchie, but regardless...the Frenchie stuff is extra cute. :)

They have about 10-15 different ice cream flavors and some neat sounding soda mixers. So think of your favorite soda (Sprite, Dr. Pepper, Coke, etc.) and then add some flavors like raspberry, vanilla, pineapple, peach, etc. They have some existing winning combinations or you can create your own from a list of flavors!

I got a single scoop of the "Better Brownie Batter" and also opted to try a lemonade with pineapple and peach flavors added in. I wasn't sure about those two flavors together (I love them both independently but wasn't sure they'd mix well) and the friendly employee very kindly offered to remake my drink for free if I wasn't satisfied with my creation. So nice!

I don't remember the exact cost but I remember thinking it was reasonable. I took my treats outside and sat on one of the metal picnic tables to enjoy the blustery, sunshiney day.

No need to remake my lemonade; the flavors definitely worked and I quite enjoyed them. You could taste both the pineapple and the peach! The lemonade is sparkling; I liked the fizz but just an FYI.

The ice cream was delicious! I thought I saw it was Hershey's brand ice cream but I'm not sure. It really was better brownie batter. The body of the ice cream was super smooth and creamy, the brownie chunks were huge and tasted exactly like brownie batter, and the serving was super generous for just a single scoop!

After looking around their social media, it looks like they often do fun offers like an ice cream advent calendar with all their flavors. How cute!

My only regret is not stopping by earlier in the season so I could have multiple visits. Hope to see y'all again next time...

Unfortunately a great place that is going downhill. The person working last night may need to be supervised for busier shifts. We were told we couldn’t get a soda last night, the way he explained it, they were missing half their soda menu but we could get a plain sprite, even though the syrups were clearly right behind him. My husband ordered a milkshake, and was told it would be a little bit of a wait- He helped the 2 customers behind us while me and my son finished our ice cream, and then told my husband he couldn't make the milk shake because something about the equipment (i think, i just recall him fumbling a bunch of words). I don’t want to give this business a bad review, I just want a small business to have some honest consumer feedback. I hope my review is helpful and next time we stop in our experience can be a bit...

I brought my teens from the teen center to Tess’s Place, and we had a great time! The atmosphere was so warm and welcoming—it instantly felt like a good choice. We had the strawberry and chocolate ice cream, and both flavors were a hit—rich, creamy, and full of flavor.

Even though the server was working alone, he was incredibly quick and attentive. He managed the counter, served the ice cream, and rang up orders—all while catering to our needs with a smile. He definitely deserves some backup, but he handled it like a pro.

Overall, the experience was amazing, and we’ll definitely be back!...