Goody’s Sunriver — Restaurant in Sunriver

UPDATE 8/19:

I originally updated this review on 8/1 after trying to reach out to Mark but not getting any response. Within an hour of my update, he emailed me to let me know he had missed my email in spam, and he immediately offered time to talk over the phone. He was incredibly pleasant and listened to everything I had to say without dismissal or judgment. He shared a lot of what it's been like behind the curtains at Goody's this year and allayed any concerns I had before, and I can absolutely say he "made it right" and that I'll be back. I've updated this review to have four stars (from its original three) because of that and will give a separate, more complete review once we return.

ORIGINAL REVIEW 6/29:

It makes me sad to only give Goody's three stars as it was always a favorite part of Sunriver growing up, and even my own kids have enjoyed it when we've gone recently. However, our visits in June had a notable decrease in general feeling and quality compared to visits prior to April.

Portion sizes are still significant, and the general look has remained constant for the last decade at least, but other things have changed for the worse. Until recently, Goody's made fresh caramel corn in house, but the caramel corn machine now sits abandoned on the countertop and slightly stale corn is sold in shipped from the factory. Ice cream flavors are also notably less rich than they were until a few months ago, though whether that was a fluke the several days we visited in June or whether it was intentional cost-cutting is unclear. Employees also managed to mess up two of our five orders (partially swapping mix-ins between two shakes), and the three shakes we ordered took about ten minutes to make despite ice cream cones being churned out constantly.

Other, subjective changes haven't been for the best in my opinion, but I understand why others may prefer them. The most notable is the change of employee uniform. Green shirts with a simple logo is certainly more contemporary but the older uniforms played better into the candy shop aesthetic.

I really, really wanted to like this more, and I know I have as recently as March of this year. I was worried when ownership changed hands, as that rarely leads to improvement, and I hope that our experiences were an anomaly rather than a sign of things to come. It's still early, so time will tell. At present, though, I wouldn't recommend Goody's over other options in...

Tonight we had really poor service at this location. We come here annually as a family to get ice cream. A tradition that we have done for several years. We had several children with us and my two year old was one of the last to order. Naturally this would mean watching all of his cousins get ice cream before him so I very nicely asked as my 2 year old was crying in the background if Destiny wouldn’t mind making his ice cream before the adults in my party. This obviously set Destiny, the lady making our ice cream, off a bit as she proceeded to complete the other people in our party’s order before my sons (which is just one scoop of ice cream). Finally, when finished she slammed the ice cream down and shoved it at me not even offering me a spoon. One of the people in my party ordered a vanilla milk shake, when she completed the order she explained that the consistency would be weird due to the hot fudge in the milk shake, which was weird as he didn’t order that. When he took it back to Kim (the other employee) explaining that this was the incorrect order she apologized and said they’d make it again. As Destiny began to re make the milk shake Kim announced that they would be closing early due to the snow. Destiny completed the milk shake and was clearly annoyed, she then began to extremely disrespectfully explain “now again, the consistency is going to be weird because of the hot fudge” we once again explained we ordered vanilla and she began to become really irritated and began arguing with my mother in law explaining that the ticket says hot fudge. She then continued explaining that we already took the liberty of taking the chairs down and literally became hostile. As if we were some sort of huge inconvenience to them. Mind you we came in at 7:40, the website says they close at 9. We also tipped extremely well for each family. We were not reimbursed for the milk shake. We were also not the only people in the ice cream shop at the time and more people were coming in after. We felt so uncomfortable being there at that point that we all picked up and left immediately. My poor toddler who already had to sit and watch all his cousins finish their ice cream, now had to sit and eat it in the car. I rarely am the type of person to complain. But this was really not okay. The whole ordeal was embarrassing and just not okay. The attitude of these employees was something I would be embarrassed about if this was...

I have been to Sunriver once or twice a year for the past 20 years, and Goody’s has always been a huge part of the Sunriver experience. The service, ice cream, and chocolate are all beyond excellent. There is pretty much nothing at all I could’ve said that I disliked about it, even the long lines during the summer had their own charm - everyone knows what a central hub of Sunriver this shop really is. Seriously, it was one of the best parts of an already great resort town.

In those 20 years, of course, Sunriver has gotten more and more popular, and the village has changed with the times - remember how the village used to look before that remodel the whole mall got like 10 years ago? Anyway, the Goody’s of old has changed so much since I was last here. The tables and chairs are gone, as are most of the stuffed animals and toys. The back counter is much more empty than it used to be. You can’t dine in with your shake tin and glass. I always came with at least six people, we always hoped that the larger table in the corner was available for us. That side door is now the entrance, and you make a conveyer belt of humans walking past the front counter. You order, get your ice cream, and have to go eat outside. The shop is much more sparse - get in and get out, very little of the old charm.

I understand why. They must be getting just so many people as Sunriver has gotten more and more popular, and they can’t have people cluttering up the space inside when the line is 50-100 people long during the summer (I’m just assuming that’s how long it gets, I’ve avoided the most popular seasons for the past few years).

It’s still a great place to go for good desserts, no doubt about it. I’m just sad that much of the old charm is gone. I almost wish they had pictures about, showing what the ship looked like, inside and out, over the years.

Please visit. Your taste buds will thank you, and take a mental picture before it changes even more.

Edit: It’s a very good idea to assume that the hours posted on their website and Google maps are incorrect. I...