Polly's Freeze — Restaurant in Indiana

CLOSED LATE OCTOBER UNTIL MARCH. Open seven days a week in warm season. Read more.

Polly's Freeze could be classified as an Historic Landmark, Roadside Attraction and a great place to eat. It's all of these.

It was opened in 1952 by Polly Gleitz and her husband, Elmer, who ran the business for more than fifty years. In recent years two successive owners have carried on the tradition

This attraction, open only during the warm weather season, has become a popular destination for successive generations of kids, young and old.

The menu, displayed on signs on the front of the building, offers an impressive variety of delicious treats, fast food and comfort food. No alcoholic beverages.

No frills and quite efficient, orders are placed at one walk-up service window and picked up at the adjacent window. No reservations, no indoor seating, no table service, no public address loudspeakers, no music. Please clean up your mess before you leave. Public restrooms are available but not conspicuous, they're around back (indoors) and usually not adequately maintained.

Service is usually fast, but when they're really busy you will need to stand in line for quite a while. This place is very popular and people come here from many miles away.

To say that this is a casual atmosphere is an understatement. Casual and polite. I've never encountered a rowdy crowd here.

Great place to bring your kids and grandparents.

Some tables are available under roof on an open porch, others are entirely in the open, some under mature trees. In late summer "background music" is provided by the natural sounds of birds, cicadas, crickets and passing traffic. They don't have any other "music"

Parking areas have been expanded in recent years to provide more adequate free parking and a canopy has been added to provide shelter to customers at the service windows. Except for these features, there has been little change in the past six decades.

Call-ahead orders accepted online and by phone. Cash, credit and debit cards accepted.

Operating hours may vary early and late in the season.

Wheelchair accessibility is not ideal, this is an older outdoor venue, however it's probably adequately accessable for most people with limited mobility. Parking areas and service areas are paved and reasonably level.

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Polly's Freeze is like stepping through a rose colored time machine. I don't know how they make me feel nostalgic for a time that I wasn't even alive in, but they do. Old school flavors, old school prices, and a no-fuss, simple way of doing things that you really only find at places like Polly's. Going and grabbing a malt, or a sundae, or just a classic burger, sitting on the wooden bench seats out in the warm sun just conjures up feelings of weekend pool parties and little league sport victories. It has a crave-able flavor that even if all the ingredients were combined together in the exact same fashion in your own kitchen, wouldn't taste the same. There is a feeling that comes with Polly's. An order-at-the-window and chat-about-nothing, while the residual water from the lake dries on your hair. A cool treat that accompanies the last days of Summer, with cicadas drumming away in the trees and temperate breezes coasting along the grass. A perfect slice of Americana that everyone should experience at least once in...

. Polly's Freeze (since 1952 !) is a great roadside ice cream stand that also sells food. . They have ice cream treats (cones, shakes, floats, sundaes, etc.) as well as food (hamburgers, cheeseburgers, pork tenderloin sandwiches, fries, slaw, etc.) The menu (posted on a series of sign boards) is extensive. . I had a cheeseburger, dressed (lettuce, tomato & mayo), some coleslaw, and a root beer float. Everything was great. . This ice cream stand is located on a state road, out in the country. It's charming, old-timey place. The food is very good. . You stand in line to place your order at the order window, and then pick up your food at the other walk-up window. There is no indoor dining area, but there are outdoor picnic tables (some located under a porch overhang) where you can sit and eat. . On a nice day, there will be a line, and a wait to get your food....