Tony's Ice Cream — Restaurant in Gastonia

3 generations of my family have frequented this establishment for years. Had the absolute worse service this past weekend in all the years we've been doing business there. My husband and I went in for dinner. Was going to dine-in, ordering hot dogs and milkshakes. Placed our order at the grill line, and was told we couldn't order our milkshakes at the grill line and would have to order at the main counter in the ice cream line, which was a mile long, and would also mean a second debit card purchase. Food was ready pretty quick and by the time we would have received our milkshakes our food would have been cold. We left without milkshakes and went home to eat. Got home, opened our order and found out it was wrong. Ordered 2 hot dogs all the way, no slaw, and one hot dog all the way with slaw. We got the opposite, 2 hot dogs all the way with slaw, and only one all the way with no slaw. By the way, the lady ordering behind us ordered food and a milkshake, and left without a milkshake too. 3 milkshake orders lost in minutes, simply because the grill wouldn't take our milkshake order when we ordered our food. I also get breakfast there every Sunday morning. This Sunday, I asked to speak to the manager about the service we received on Saturday. Really wanted to talk to Mr. Coletta, but he wasn't there, so I got stuck with the grill manager, who constantly interrupted me and was rude beyond belief. She told me that if the line was long, they couldn't take milkshake orders at the grill line, and that this was "company policy". I have NEVER had a problem ordering milkskakes at the grill in all the years we've been going to Tony's EVER. She tried to tell me that has always been their "policy", and wanted to argue with me when I said that had never been their "policy" before. Then she sarcastically told me to have a nice day, and walked off. The girl working the register went back to the cooking area and asked her what was going on. The grill manager told her, and I could hear every word from the grill window. I guess the girl working the register thought it was funny, she came back out to the register laughing about it. Didn't seem to funny to this long time customer. Also as a side note, my husband always gets a livermush and egg biscuit. More times than I can count they have no biscuits less than an hour after opening. Last week, they had no livermush. Several times our order has been filled incorrectly, but we never said anything because we have always been true supporters of Tony's. Supported them through the "racist" episode a few years ago and even bought 2 of their over priced T-shirts. They went in the trash today, no more free advertising from me. I've been in customer service for over 40 years, and would have been fired if I treated one of my customers the way the grill manager treated me this morning. Tony's would be wise to remember the 2-10 rule of business. For every customer that has a positive experience, they will tell at least 2 more people about it. For every customer that has a negative experience, they will tell at least 10 people about it. Never thought I would have to say anything negative about Tony's but the 2 episodes this weekend proved me wrong....

Was my first time there. I went with the wife to get something new and that we had heard of by the locals. Well first impression I was excited, parking lot was full. I got the last space. We entered and it smelled gross. My wife has a weak stomach. She refused to try anything. I still ordered cherry cheesecake, ice cream, hotdog, cookies and cream milkshake and chili fries. Cherry cheesecake ice was pretty good. Waffle cone was good. Hotdog comes with chili on it. I don’t want that so I asked for it on the side. They usually don’t do that but they accommodated me which is why I give the extra star. Great customer service. The hotdog however was not quality. Had to have been the cheapest they could order with the cheapest bun they could order. Had mustard on it. I don’t know why. But whatever. I ate it. Was edible. The chili cheese fries were disgusting. I tried one and threw it away. Cheep fries and the chili looked like poop and smelled bad. Was more like a sloppy Joe ground beef mess. They really need to work on their quality. The place was dirty. Bathrooms were gross. They need to be cleaned. They should really be ashamed of themselves. If Gastonia is getting better their so called local gems need to keep up. They should be embarrassed. I realize it is a busy place and can be difficult to keep up but the mess looked like it was years of poor cleaning. I prefer to support local places over the typical franchises but if my wife can’t even enter and lose her appetite then what can I do but go to Culver’s instead? I won’t give up on the place but I hope when I return they make some major improvements. Better ingredients and a better place to wash my hands when I feel grossed out before eating. If the food is good enough a dirty smelly place doesn’t matter to me but some it does. Son didn’t eat his milkshake; which was a huge serving which I am impressed with, because he was grossed out. Great customer service, horrible food and...

I visited Tony's yesterday for the first time in YEARS. When I entered the store I immediately got in line at the cash register. The person who was working was just sent on break and the manager came to count the drawer. He never said we will be with you in a minute. I just stood there. Finally, another employee came and took my order. Her attitude was less than stellar. I ordered the chocolate milkshake, no lid. She hollered "ticket" as I paid her my $7 in cash, and said they would bring it over when it was ready. I stood off to the side and noticed other people at a different counter ordering ice cream and milkshakes. They got theirs well before mine even came out. I finally went back up to the counter to ask about my order and the person who took my order just said they got backed up on tickets, which I knew wasn't true. She never offered to check on it. The manager finally came out from the back about 10 mins or so later and wondered why I was still standing there. I told him the issue and he told me in no uncertain terms that I had ordered in the wrong area. (I ordered at the food counter instead of the ice cream counter.) I said that perhaps they might want to change their sign because it says at both areas, "order here". He kept asking me to not be mad at him instead of asking an employee to make a milkshake on the fly. The person who took my order went back to making milkshakes and never bothered to make sure I was taken care of. The manger finally took money back from the cash register and gave me back my $7. He then went over and made my milkshake himself. He thanked me for not causing a scene. I left with my free milkshake after having to wait almost 20 minutes while other orders were taken, eaten, and left before mine. My suggestion for the owner: make your signage more clear as not all people know your process for ordering because it...