Northside Dairy Haven — Restaurant in Edwardsville

We live in O'Fallon, Illinois and we often go to another establishment called Dairy Haven in Caseyville. We wanted to see if they were connected. We also noticed that they had homemade orange sherbert, which is also a claim to fame of the Dairy Haven in Caseyville. So we were going to have the taste test and decide which was better!! 🤪🤪

For some reason I asked my husband to get me a small malt after we had already ordered our food. I almost never order a malt anymore. I used to share them on Saturday afternoon with my grandpa at the ice cream fountain. No one makes them like that anymore. Nothing even close. But once in awhile I try one here and there.

I really didn't have much hope when my husband sat it down in front of me. And I honestly wasn't being negative. People just don't seem to realize there's a difference between a malt and a shake. Was it the malt of my childhood? No of course not. You're not using those kind of ingredients anymore....😜 But....... A true and nearly perfect rendition of the creaminess, thickness and taste of a true malt. It was truly spectacular! I can't thank the young lady enough. A teaspoon less chocolate and a teaspoon more malt.... My grandfather certainly would have been proud.

We were there about 10 minutes to 6:00 on Friday the 26th of July.

So we ordered our food and sat down and it did take quite a while. We knew everyone who had arrived for us had been served and a couple of people who arrived after us had ordered things like sliders and so of course theirs would come out faster. We also considered that we had two different types of hamburgers and cauliflower, which I'm sure also takes longer to cook. But you could certainly smell the food cooking and it's smelled wonderful. It's also nice when you have been waiting a while, but you can see everyone hustling and working together to get it done. It's a lot more annoying when people are standing around looking at their phones. None of that was going on here.

I say this in absolutely best and most wonderful and appreciative way. The decor is kind of trailer park, Pink flamingo route 66 and neon all rolled into one. Now I personally happen to love that. But that's me. What's not to love about that?

I didn't even get to take pictures of my food because I was so hungry by the time it got out! LOL I had the charburger and I loved it. Husband had the quarter pound burger and he loves that. We also very much liked the cauliflower and it was obviously freshly cooked because it was on fire hot! The only negative and I didn't take any points off for it because I didn't know if it was just an accidental extra shot of salt because maybe two people salted our food? Or maybe it was just the seasoned salt that they put on. Everything was just extra salty to me but my husband also felt like it had a lot of salt. But my impression by the helpfulness of the young ladies when we originally ordered was that when we visit again if I were to ask them to not add salt to my food, they would be probably quite happy to oblige. Hence the reason I didn't take off any points. I did try the french fries and minus the salt. I could have eaten a huge pile of those!

Oh and yes I did say when we visit again. We got so involved in the malt and the burgers that we never did have the orange sherbet taste test! So we'll have to take a second...

To clarify, I absolutely adore this place and all the food and ice cream they serve! I am not here to slander the business, but more so bring attention to the owners of the practices. It's obvious the parking lot is small, but to get in as long of a line as there can be for the establishment, and wait a total of 53 minutes in line to be told you can't order food because the kitchen is closed mid order is absolutely ridiculous. Even the girls who come out to see if cars in line are ordering food or not do not start immediately with the next car in line. If you're not going to start with the next car in line, you should at the very least let them order food. Not only did I wait nearly an hour in line for food to take home to my family, I was denied the ability to order once I'd gotten to the window as the girl who was going through the line came back with the orders she had received and yelled "Kitchen is closed!", yet all of the cars in line behind me (over 6 more vehicles) were able to order and receive their food, but I who was at the window was denied the ability to order food although I had already started my order. The girl working the window was fairly young, and I don't think it's necessarily her fault, but the staff in the kitchen behind her overhearing the situation were not and definitely know better. I was not able to speak to a manager or someone there with more power in order to explain the situation and get my food order in. We come here often as it's at the end of our street and this is the only time we've ever had an experience like this. It does make me weary to come back as the food is delicious and very affordable, the service has always been very slow and the waits have always been very long. We've always been okay with accepting this as it's what you "pay" for good food and ice cream, but this last experience has made it more difficult add more to list to "look past" for the sake of...

Old time feeling with the standard ice cream concoctions and a variety of food choices.

The ice cream is delicious with plenty of ways to eat it- shakes, concretes, all types of cones, with loads of mixers and flavor boosts. There's plenty of "bar food" to choose from as well. They carry some harder to find food items like fried okra & a pizza burger. They have burgers, sliders, a specialty charco burger, coney dogs, grilled ham & cheese, a few different fries, onion rings, and since new ownership, a pork steak platter special. Service is delightful but have some patience everything is made to order but does not take an excessive amount of time. Drive thru moves fast- walk up is always available. There are several picnic tables for sitting outside. Bring cash or expect a fifty-cent charge for using your debit/credit card. An...