A La Mode Shoppe — Restaurant in New York

We've been to A La Mode three times (once for a birthday party) and the first two times were amazing. The third time though I was really surprised (and disappointed) by the level of customer service. The shop has two walls in the front + side rooms covered in toys, 60% of which are at eye level for the kids. We were there with a friend and our kids got down a few toys to look at and play with but the worker came in flustered at seeing the toys down and was passive aggressive to the boys which they didn't pick up on (thankfully) but he seemed unreasonably stressed at the situation so maybe it was a rough day.

He gruffly told the kids they needed to put everything back and said "Yeah and we really shouldn't be touching anything unless you're buying it." and not in a nice way.......which if that is the policy then they really should haven't the toys right at the kids' eye level AND they should have a sign. The other mom and I helped bring the toys back to the shelf and he took the toys saying "Ugh, I'll just ugh TAKE them..." Excuse me? What I would have appreciated is a more kid-friendly and less condescending attitude -- even just "Hey friends, we're going to put all these toys back, who can help?" It's not hard to be nice...to CHILDREN...in an ice cream...

The ice cream here is phenomenal and this is a nut free ice cream shop so that is helpful for my girlfriend who is allergic to nuts and peanuts.

It's worth noting that this ice cream shop heavily tailors to children and often when I am there, there are tons of them running around. There is a separate room with tiny tables, chairs, toys etc.

Additionally, kids host birthday parties here a lot and when that happens, they close the place to the public. It is ABSOLUTELY worth calling them on the phone anytime before you visit and asking them if there's a party because it's a real bummer when you show up to find out they're closed for a party.

The fact that this place closes for parties and is so kid friendly, is the reason why I am giving it 4 stars and not 5. But otherwise, the ice cream is...

I ordered a variety of pints, cups, and bars for delivery to Michigan so that my peanut and egg allergic child could enjoy a variety of ice cream treats he has never been able to safely eat before. Not only has he (with his limited experience eating ice cream) absolutely loved every flavor he’s tried so far, but the rest of the family think it is all really delicious as well.

I was pleasantly surprised to find that shipping to my area was free. I also appreciate that I received very prompt responses to my emails inquiring about shipping times, and I was assured that the free shipping would be sufficient to get the ice cream to me before melting. They were right. It was still well frozen.

I will definitely be ordering again, and we look forward to stopping by next time...