Nathan's Dairy Bar — Restaurant in Manassas

This is a very nice family or friend fun & yummy experience. It’s an ice cream shop; however it is an outdoor venue only, so be prepared to wait and eat outside (or they do takeout too). The setup is very neighborhood friendly and cute, including the Bessy the cow bench. I’m so glad someone told me about it. The ice cream and shaved ice are delicious. There are plenty of flavors and opinions to choose from, so everyone in your group will enjoy it. The customers are diverse, ranging from all ages and backgrounds. And everyone is friendly while waiting in line. Don’t be discouraged by the long line, it moves fast. The staff definitely has it down to a science and are super patient, friendly, and knowledgeable (in case you have trouble deciding what to pick or need help figuring out the best age appropriate options, especially for the little ones). You also might notice some customers bringing their dogs; which adds to the entertainment when waiting in the line : ) Note: All dogs must be well behaved to remain on their premise. Oh and I almost forgot to mention, the prices are actually reasonable. Making it a great option for those looking for an affordable place to treat their family. Overall, it is worth the trip and I’m very happy to have found this lovely ice cream shop. I just have to say it one more time…the ice cream (& shaved ice) is so...

I'm basing this review off of a dipped vanilla cone, my baseline for soft serve ice cream shops. The ice cream had a perfect texture, which is to say it was completely smooth with no ice crystals, and it was easy to eat. The swirl in the cone is not too wide, so you get a decent ratio of shell to ice cream.

The dip was a little on the thin side though. It was translucent in many places, and even on a cloudy 60 degree day, it developed a lot of little micro cracks that lent themselves to drips. I couldn't tell if they double dipped it, but the good places do.

While the texture of the ice cream was great, the flavor was a little lackluster. It wasn't bad or unpleasant, it just barely showed up to the party. Man cannot survive on the flavor of chocolate shell alone (but it's still fun to try).

With almost 1000 reviews and 4.8 stars, this place has quite a following, and it's nice that they have both soft serve and hard dipped ice cream - something for everyone. I'm a soft serve kind of guy though, and there are some better places. Swirlies edges them out on both dip thickness and ice cream flavor, for example.

Note: during COVID they are serving cones upside down in a cup to minimize contact. I'm not docking them a point for that, and it ended up being a non-issue for enjoying the cone, but it's something to be aware of if you think...

In all honesty, I was shocked at how the customer service was so unexpectedly on point. The ice cream, sundaes and shakes could have sucked (they didn't) and I still would have marked this place at least a '4.' This said, as a newb here, my bro (expert) was like "you can't go wrong with anything." After much deliberation, multiple/random questions answered from the waitress/staff/clerk(?), I ordered the Boston Shake (sundae on top of shake; both of your choice), the Nathan Sensation (think DQ Blizzard with up to three toppings you can add) and a Flight (four ice cream flavors). My brother ordered a classic banana split. Order turn around was fast and efficiently packaged/cared for (think them cradleing the containers individually into the bag, with plenty of napkins) all with smiles despite it being one of their last orders of the evening...

HIGHLY RECOMMEND THIS PLACE

Get inspired with their menu; here's my order:

Boston Shake- Turtle Sundae, Nutella/banana shake Nathan Sensation- Reese's Pieces, Peanut Butter, Pretzels (w/Vanilla Bean ice cream not soft serve per my request) Flight- Mint Chocolate Chip, Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough, Cookies and Cream, GF...