Shady Glen Restaurant and Ice Cream Parlor — Restaurant in Manchester

I had heard tales of a restaurant in Manchester that served "winged" cheeseburgers, so when a friend and I were in the area and drove by Shady Glen, I couldn't help myself from franticly stammering, "THAT'S THE FRIED CHEESE PLACE!"

After assuring him that I wasn't having a stroke, we decided that we needed to see what was up with the place.

The interior is dated, but that's what you want. Counters and booths are woven together in a rough maze, there's a mural of giddy little forest imps on one wall, and the menus are scattered around on various boards on the wall.

In fact, the menus are the only part of the restaurant that left anything to be desired. Being that we had never been to the restaurant, we weren't fully aware of what was available, and getting up and looking at the menu boards felt awkward, so we were left in an odd sort of game where we'd guess at what the restaurant might have that we might want. I don't think it's too much to ask to throw a few laminated pieces of paper onto the counters here and there.

Being that the place was famed for it's dairy, I decided to guess that they'd serve cheese curds. They didn't, but the waitress informed me that they served fried cheese. In my mind, I was picturing something close to mozzarella sticks, but what it actually was, was four slices of cheese, slapped on a flat top and seared until being on the edge of being burned.

Folks, I'll be honest: there's a certain indignity to eating fried cheese slices. As it turns out, I'm not above eating cheese scraped off a grill. As for the taste, it was fine. It's about what you'd imagine. The allure is in the depravity of it.

Next, we got milkshakes. They hand make them, and the personal touch is appreciated. There's not much to say other than they were quality milk shakes. Pretty good.

Finally, the main event was the "winged" cheeseburger, served topped with the same griddle cheese we had inelegantly crammed into our mouths earlier, hiding our shame from God. These were pretty great. They came with a side of fries, which were pretty standard, and I'm still wondering if we could have gotten cheese fries, but with no menus, I couldn't say. The cheese adds an interesting texture and an almost nutty flavor to the burger that works shockingly well. The hamburger patty was a bit on the thin side, so I'm curious if there was an option to make it a double, but that'll have to wait for next time.

All in all, the food was pretty good, the price was reasonable, and our waitress was fantastic. I'll once again plead for the owners to consider printing out some menus. There are dozens of ice cream flavors alone, and I like to know what my...

Me and my gf came here after wanting to try it for over a year. Our experience was quite disappointing. We both had heard of the great reviews and great food here, and ice cream of course. Let me break down our experience for you.

No receptionist and we stood there for minutes waiting for someone to tell us to just take a seat. There was a line behind us and they clearly didn't know either and we dispersed after being told to seat ourselves. The cups of water we got were just sippy cups of 2oz of water in a paper cup. No menus anywhere, nobody told us the menu online was not being offered so we wasted 15 minutes looking at the menu before being told breakfast menu isn't being served anymore. We had to walk around the place to see what the menu was. I get the legendary fried cheeseburger they make and she had the clam strips. We wait for 30 minutes and get our food. The place wasn't even half filled mind you yet fully staffed. 0 follow-ups with how the food was, the waitress had the attitude of "I really don't care, what do you want?". Extremely off-putting and rude towards us overall. No water refills. My root beer soda was so flat it tasted like flavored water. The legendary cheeseburger was only crispy on the outside, melted on the inside and the burger was very well done, imagine a McDonald's or burger king burger but more done. The clam strips were just pure bread. The strips were smaller than your pinky finger would be, maybe half the size. No signs of cash only so if you don't bring cash, don't worry there's an ATM hidden in the corner of the building. Find out after the bill comes that the rates are higher than posted around the restaurant so we end up paying $5 more. Nice. Oh, yeah, the styling is like a 50's diner...that's cool! Everyone is dressed up for the time period! Prime Time at Disney blows it out of the water by ungodly magnitudes.

Overall, no this place is not as hyped up as it's meant to be. I have no idea how there are any 5 star ratings, unless they're paid for it or something cause I find it very difficult to believe. It's not great, it's not good, let alone alright. The food is subpar, and the service is probably the same or worse. Maybe this was a one time thing but I'm definitely not going back, I can get better at a...

I had not been to Shady Glen in Manchester for over 2 decades since I had relocated out of state. Shady Glen has not changed one single bit!!! The original dixie cup of water when you arrive, the vast selection of morsels on the menu boards and the HANDMADE ice cream in many different flavors- folks, this is the real deal. I took my time and savored my homemade root beer pop, quickly ordered an original Shady Glen staple- Cheesburger Bernice, oh soooo good with the fried cheese and perfectly done french fries. It didn't end there. I opted for another root beer pop and a portion of, repeat, handmade ice cream. I selected maple walnut. It was smooth and creamy with walnut halves and a tinge of maple syrup. Dynamite delicious! I also have to add the waitstaff and cooks, bussers, etc., are always busy. No chitter chatter, noises, truly professional. The staff is dressed in proper attire reminiscent of the good old days.Waitresses wear nice pressed dresses and the cooks wear a button shirt, bow tie and the paper hat!!! Shady Glen is a must when visiting Ct. Everything was so delicious, I am still thinking about that meal and it's not even a month since I was there!! The handmade ice cream is the best!! My 90 year old aunt, who has been going there for many, many years says the ice cream is bar none. So true. I want to add that Shady Glen only accepts cash, just like it always has since its beginnings in 1948. There is an ATM inside to gather money from your debit card. Please, go check out Shady Glen in Manchester, Ct. They placed 2nd in the 2024 WFSB Best Hamburger in CT. Keep up the great work folks, and when I arrive at Bradley Int. airport next time, I'm making a bee line over to get me that famous Cheesburger Bernice and 2 scoops of ice cream. Thank you for your hospitality, great food and pleasant atmosphere. As always, I did not receive any compensation or fare whatsoever for writing this true and honest review. I hope you enjoy it as...