Matt's Homemade Ice Cream — Restaurant in Gulf Shores

We had a solid experience with the facilities and product. Malts were tasty and the store was cute and impeccably clean. We came on a weekday afternoon and had ‘almost’ no wait. Two chocolate malts for 14 ish bucks.

We were the only people in line so I went and stood by the register to order. Both people behind the counter completely ignored me. The one guy was doing some sort of inventory so apparently couldn’t be bothered. Another family came in, and moved all the way to the right wall and the girl went to help them. I guess there is a starting point for ordering? Nonetheless I asked the inventory guy if there was an ordering process I needed to follow and he asked if I needed something, which I found to be a peculiar question. Nonetheless the girl came down and took our order, and we paid. All was well. Just awkward moment when you are from out of town and don’t know the drill.

Not mad really, but interesting service, maybe they could add some ropes or something to get people to follow the right order procedure if that flow is ideal. Maybe there were signs that say “order here” but if there were, I missed them. Plus maybe afternoons are weird and staff were prepping or something else.

I do see some people complain about price. It’s completely comparable to ANY other beach area ice cream place. Is it high compared to a non-tourist area? Probably, but having recently visited several local vendors in this area this week, they are completely reasonable, and probably one of the cleanest.

I’d definitely go again. I also want to mention that I see the owner pays attention to online reviews. Its pretty cool they look for and respond to most feedback, both good or bad. I appreciate owners that value a customer’s time...

Edit below* I was looking forward to my experience as this was my first trip back to the beach in almost five years and we decided to head to Matt’s for dessert! Unfortunately, the experience let me down tremendously. Not even thirty seconds into our visit, the man working yelled to customers, “We close in thirty minutes. Thank y’all for coming.” He was very rude with how he said it, unfortunately. He then reminded everyone three more time while we were there that they close in X minutes. He was not being thoughtful towards customers at all- wasn’t making eye contact and seemed to not care at all about the people he was serving. As a fellow food service worker, I completely understand the desire to close up and go home, but you cannot treat your customers like that and expect anyone to come back. Very poor service and I was thoroughly disappointed. Edit Following our negative experience, management responded swiftly and made it right! They were incredibly kind and apologetic. When I went back on Friday, the guy and girl working were awesome! The girl was also extremely apologetic for what happened. Both of these employees sincerely looked thrilled to be at their jobs and were incredibly kind to each customer that walked in. Thank you so much, Matt’s! I will definitely...

First off, the LINES and wait for ice cream on weeknights and weekends are uncalled for! Our wait both times approached almost 30 mins. You got us on the sign that said "voted Alabama's best ice cream" and "homemade". Well, in the vote taken by the 9 of us, it certainly isn't the best in Alabama where we all reside and have tasted better, small batch ice cream shops in Alabama. The flavors aren't even creative or exciting, just the pretty plain. Personally I love cookies and cream - you used fake Oreo's! Not even the real deal which to me deserves 0 stars! However you got the granddaughter with your Unicorn Burrito and she said we had to come back so she could order it. So back we go for another tortuous wait on a Saturday night. The concoction of cotton candy (tortilla wrap) rolled over birthday cake ice cream, fruit loops, m&m's, nerds and sprinkles was not appealing to us but she appeared to like it for the 1/4 of it she ate. Again the rest of us just weren't impressed. There is limited seating inside with a couple more tables outside most of which are surrounded by people standing in line for ice cream creating a rather uncomfortable feel for everyone. Too bad, we wanted to like it but overall, I'd rather buy grocery store brand over...