Carl's Ice Cream Factory — Restaurant in Normal

I had heard that Carl's had great ice cream so I thought I would give it a try. Guess it just wasn't meant to be because the two cashiers working on Sunday, 15 July, flatly refused to take my order. Both teenage girls waited on the people in their respective lines but when I got to the counter one of them turned up her lip and walked away, followed very soon afterwards by the second. I was the only single person in the establishment as every table was occupied by children and parents. I gave it a try and even asked if they were open but was denied service on all fronts. I was very respectful and tried my best to be friendly. I ended up just having to leave. I went to Gene's, located on the West side of Bloomington. They didn't care about the length of my hair. They were happy to take my money. I'm a tall, very thin, athletically built woman with short blond hair. I'm thinking the girls took a look at me, jumped to a seriously erroneous conclusion and that's what prompted them to refuse me service. I'm from Southern California so the bigotry and culture of the Mid-West is somewhat alien to me. I guess I figure everyone's money is the same color with the same value so who cares what demographic they fall into. I guess not everyone conceptualizes the world in the same manner. Do yourself a favor and avoid this place. They are run by an extremely bigoted group of people. The existing culture is obviously approved by the owners and management or it wouldn't be perpetuated by the staff. It's a terrible shame because there is a large university very close by that could produce a slew of customers but I have a suspicion that students and faculty would probably receive similar treatment that I experienced this afternoon. It was upsetting to say the least and left me embarrassed and feeling like I had an unwanted spotlight shown upon me. I definitely will not be back. I predict Carl's will eventually be subject to litigation if their practices don't cease. If what happened to me this afternoon happens to just the right individual a lawsuit will surely ensue. Rightfully so, too, I might add. ...

Awful service. Made you feel you are not wanted there and not valued as a customer.

Went there with three kids hoping to have a great experience and good food. Well, it was like arriving in a Twilight Zone Diner. The staff never cracked a smile for the whole duration. Took our order but did not offer the receipt but did ask for a tip while swiping the credit card and said they would bring out the food, yet the drinks were set at the counter and did not match our order. Burgers arrived 20 minutes later and were not made as requested. The "chef on duty" came out to write down exactly what we ordered and left. We waited another 15 minutes watching four more customers come in, order and get served while we still waited. I went to the counter and enquired what was taking so long, she said our burgers were first in queue. After that it only took 1 minute to get the burgers but they were served to go though we were seated, yet still they forgot the fries. I went back to let them know. One of the servers went around behind us and dropped the fries on our table and proceeded toward the counter with his back to us. Even after that I had to come back to the counter and remind them that the kids meal should come with an ice cream. They finally served it but said only one kid of our three will get an ice cream. It's a bizzarro way to treat your customers.

I felt like we were wrong to point out that they messed up our order. The place is unwelcoming and I will never come back there again. I also told several of my friends to stay away. All that time I felt that they don't want us there and thought of what a drastic difference it was compared to our DQ experience where the staff were smiling at you and made sure you were a satisfied customer and even served us extra ice cream because the one they brought was a bit melted. Carl's place, however, seems to have one goal: to scare away their clientele (or to make it more accurate in this case, consumers). I cannot imagine that the chef on duty was happy that three kids left without ice cream but it sure...

Ok, so I want to give Carl's more stars, I really do. It's local, it's not far from my house, and they have butterscotch, which is typically not available at bigger chains (looking at you, DQ).

But man, their staff just DOES NOT CARE about doing a good job. They're mostly high school kids, and they just act really put out about selling ice cream.

Last time I took my family there, my wife and I both ordered butterscotch malts (see above). The girl kept saying "shakes". I corrected her 3 or 4 times, she eventually just said "ok, pull though". When she handed me the items through the window, she called them "shakes". I said "we ordered malts". She looked at me like I had 3 heads and was like "yeah, that's what I meant". Guess what? They were shakes, not malts.

Same trip, we ordered a kids dish of froyo for my 3 year old daughter. At the window, she asks me "was that a dish or a cone?" "Dish", I replied. She yells "dish!" at her coworker, then hands me a cone that they just dumped into a dish...which my daughter promptly tried to take out of the dish, making a big mess in her car seat in the process.

The girl then just walks away, doesn't say thank you or give any type of closure...nor did she hand us napkins. So, I sit there. After a couple minutes, so looks over at me and says "is there something else?". I ask for napkins...big sigh, then hastily hands me a wad of about 30 napkins.

I'm not sure the butterscotch is worth it...I think I'll make the trek across town to Orange Leaf for froyo...