The Pine Cone — Restaurant in Glen Arbor Township

While some of the complaints about this place being slow, or overpriced are probably valid, my main concern with The Pine Cone is the lack of sanitation.

This joint is really dirty.

The kid taking care of our order was wearing gloves while he worked, but he was handling money, making change and wiping sweat off his face with these same gloves. The other kid was just handling everything with his ungloved grubby paws, and also wiping sweat.

Inside I could see stains and oozing drips of stuff on the wall and all over the front of the cone dispenser. It's just really gross in there where the stuff you're going to put in your mouth is being made.

I ordered soft serve in a sugar cone and thought maybe I'll be spared exposure to listeria by the paper wrapper on the cone. Nope, the sugar cone doesn't have a wrapper on it, and the kid has his dirty, sweat-covered gloves all over my cone when he hands it to me.

I asked for a cup and dumped the ice cream out of the cone so I could get rid of the nasty thing.

They're not the only game in town for ice cream. I regret not going across the street to Boonedock's patio for ice cream, and I'm hoping to hell I don't come down with diarrhea from the grimy soft serve machine.

As an aside, I'm a Certified ServSafe Food Protection Manager, and a Certified ServSafe Instructor, and have taught college-level courses in Food Safety in a Culinary program for 14 years. The stuff I saw here today is...

I don’t even know where to begin. Pine Cone in Glen Arbor has to be one of the most frustrating and disappointing ice cream shops I’ve ever encountered. Over the course of our trip, we went there FIVE times—yes, five—and only got served TWICE. The other three times? We were either ignored, “closed out,” or literally watched the workers shut the window in our faces.

The kicker? We showed up at 8:32 PM, and guess what—they close at 9 PM. But nope, they shut down early and completely ghosted us like we were invisible. Do you not want business?? Are posted hours just a cute suggestion?

The service—when we actually got it—was nothing special either. Zero energy, zero friendliness. It felt like we were bothering them just by showing up.

Honestly, this place runs like a summer job no one wants to be at. Save yourself the headache and find a place that actually wants to serve customers. Glen Arbor deserves better.

Total joke of a shop. Never again. Pine...

Great ice cream and worth a visit (or two or three), but make sure you bring cash and DO NOT cut it close to closing time. The line gets long in the evening and they will typically hand out a “Closed” sign for the last person in line to hold around 10-20 min before the posted closing time. You could show up at 8:50 on a night they’re open until 9pm and find someone already holding the sign. They usually do not serve anyone in line after that sign, so don’t bother trying your luck if you see it. Instead, comfort your crying kids and hustle over to the market across the street to buy a pint of ice cream before they lock you out as well!!! Then, give it a try at the Pine Cone tomorrow and don’t wait so darn late this time! When you make it to the window, order a Michigan Pot Hole or a Bourbon Trail in a waffle cone. You won’t be...