Frydae — Restaurant in Marion

Frydae Street Fries & Ice Cream 743 10th St, Marion, IA

First day of summer. Kids are home, and for all of you who have kids (or had a rough day), you know, those days where you are just done, yea, that. Who wants to prepare a meal? We were about to prepare our dinner when we were reminded by the kids about Frydae a few times. They had good behavior, so why not!

•Restaurant Layout/Vibe Rating - 5 Stars•

Approaching the location is an experience in itself. It's in the heart of downtown Marion and surrounded by other fantastic places and fabulous pieces of art. Currently, Construction is occurring on the main street they are located on but don't let that hold you back. They have an excellent parking lot VERY CLOSE, and hey, you get to have the scenic back route to view other pieces of art I didn't capture in this go-around.

I loved some of the pieces they used to add flavor to the location, like the photo of the Classic flavors, very cool.

I also loved the community board, with pieces pinned to help out the locals. I don't feel like I see many of those anymore.

The inside seating is ample, followed by a great outdoor seating experience. So best of both worlds 🙂!

•Customer Service Rating - 5 Stars•

We walked through the door, and we were immediately greeted. As you read more of my reviews, you will find that this is a massive deal to me. Coming from the customer service experience many years ago, I know how important it is to invite and welcome someone immediately and also how hard it can be at times to train employees to do so. Everyone was fabulous and took great care of us while answering our questions. We asked what the favorites were for each team member on shift, and since it was our meal, we grabbed all 4. 3 kids and my wife; it was just enough to fill us all with a bit of leftover.

•Food Rating - 5 Stars• Two words. Loaded Fries. I mean, wow. I was worried about the heavy meal, especially with all the fried food. Don't get me wrong; it was heavy still but not even close to what I was expecting grease-wise. I devoured far more fries than I had intended to. Shhh, don't judge 😜.

These were the four recommendations the employees made for us.

•Mexican Street Corn (My Fav!) Jalapeno/black bean sweet corn mix, cotija, Colby-jack cheese, jalapenos, chili powder, cilantro, and lime.

•Uptown Bacon Cheese (My second Fav) Cheddar cheese sauce, Colby-jack cheese, bacon, green onion, GOOD ranch, and sour cream.

•Chicken Bacon Ranch (All the kid's Fav) Crispy chicken, bacon, mozzarella & provolone, Monterey-jack cheese sauce, green onion, and GOOD ranch.

•Buffalo Chicken Mac (My wife's Fav) Crispy chicken, mac & cheese, Franks buffalo sauce, Colby-jack cheese, GOOD ranch, and cilantro.

My favorites were the Uptown fries and Mexican street corn. The Mexican street corn brought back yet another fond childhood memory. As a child, I lived in Houston and would go to a grocery store called Fiesta. Outside was a man who would sell roasted corn in a cup mixed with all kinds of goodies and served in a styrofoam cup. Man, that was a memory I had forgotten. So glad we came out to try the delicious food from Frydae's.

•Desert - 5 Stars•

We went ahead and tried a Raspberry sorbet (as a non-dairy option) as well as Reese's PB cup Overload.

Both were awesome, and we loved the presentation!

•Cool items to take note of• They have certain items that they buy from local vendors 🙂! They have a fryer dedicated to gluten-free cooking. They offer dairy-free options!

Thanks to the Friday team for giving my family a great experience!

#fries #icecream #sundae...

Poor service and/or poorly managed. We stopped by to get a vanilla shake and left with nothing. When we walked in there were 4-5 people working. The girl came to take our order and said there would be a 35 minute wait. Only one shake/sundae was being worked so I can see why it was a 35 minute wait. This isn’t an operating table, it is ice cream. There should have been 3 pieces getting worked instead of 1. Whitey’s and Heyn’s in Iowa City run people through with little wait, certainly not 35 minutes.

My wife ordered her vanilla shake and was told they just ran out of milk. We were told to “come back Tuesday when things would be normal”. Huh??? Walgreen’s down the street sells milk. I’m pretty sure the gas station across the street sells milk. Someone could have gone much earlier in the day and got a couple gallons of milk. It is milk not some exotic ingredient. That is poor management, poor execution or both.

I have never been to an ice cream place that had a 35 minute wait unless there was a long line of people waiting to order. No one was in line to order and that many orders were backed up! We could have probably driven to Heyn’s in North Liberty in that amount of time. Someone told us that service was slow there and I had a hard time believing it, but be prepared to stay a while. I really do hope you figure this out and succeed.

Here is a hint, Parlor City closed and you are probably going to get busier. Don’t run out of ingredients if you want to sell more product,...

“Crappy restaurant?” More like crappy spelling! 😂

Let me just start by saying, if I had a dollar for every time my son and I came to this place and left with smiles on our faces, I’d have enough to buy the place and give out free shakes for life. We come here at least once a week, and not once have I had to wait “two hours” for a shake. Maybe two minutes, tops. But hey, maybe the last reviewer was using a sundial instead of a clock. ⏳

Now, let’s talk about the “very very rude staff.” You mean the same folks who greet us like family, remember my son’s favorite order, and always ask how our day’s going? Yeah. Super rude. 🙄

Also, I don’t know what kind of “roaches crawling in the kitchen” fantasyland this guy wandered into, but I’ve seen cleaner kitchens here than in some people’s houses. And pro tip: Why are you in the kitchen anyway? That’s not how restaurants work unless you’re Gordon Ramsay or completely lost.

I get it, not everyone knows how to write, express themselves, or understand how restaurants work (spoiler alert: you don’t walk into the kitchen to check things out). But don’t let one badly spelled tantrum fool you, this place is a gem, the staff is awesome, and the food is always fresh and fast.

TL;DR: If you’re reading reviews, ignore the one that sounds like it was written by a hangry toddler with a flip phone. This place rocks. End of...