Hickory Hill Ice Cream Stand — Restaurant in Town of Clay

I have tried to give this place numerous chances, and have enjoyed them in the past, but this season it seems to have really dropped in quality and efficiency. Staff is generally pleasant but overworked, with equipment that can be faulty and frequent shortages of multiple posted flavors, increasing the already long lines. The flurries have too often tasted soapy this year, as if the equipment was not thoroughly cleaned and the seem to be having trouble holding the scooped ice cream at freezing temperatures, as most offerings have been half-melted when served. Homemade flavors that used to be a draw are at best unsuccessful, and this year's non-dairy offerings have been extremely dissapointing. Non- dairy coconut should not have large un-blended gobs of coconut oil in it and the mint chip was icy and flavorless. Non-dairy ice cream is a challenge to do well, and this year it's not passing muster. I live right around the corner but I will drive further for better, at least for the rest of this summer, and spend my money on a better experience. I'll try 'em next summer and am hoping I can update my review more favorably then.

Edit- updating my review to reflect the much improved experiences this season. This place is back, so far with sufficient numbers of staff, fresher offerings and better overall quality product. Social distancing spacing is in effect and is being respected or at least it was on my first few visits. It's early but I'm really happy thus far- off to a...

I really wanted to like this place because it's so close to home, but I probably won't be returning. Let me explain why: They have some really interesting sounding flavors or at least flavors that aren't as common at other shops. But they don't have a huge selection of flavors. So you end up with fewer choices of less common flavors. The serving sizes are what you expect. Meaning if you order a small, you get a small amount of ice cream. That's a good thing, but that small is overpriced. When I stop at an ice cream stand, I'm usually looking for hard ice cream, so I don't really pay attention to soft serve or sundaes. Sorry, but I can't really...

Homemade Butterscotch Icecream...

I normally prefer soft serve, but I heard their homemade is amazing, so I had to try. Wow, just wow. This was a very smooth and creamy consistency. The flavor was robust and everything I was hoping for. My mom was wondering if they had 5 gallon size to take home.

For comparison, this was a small. I should have ordered the kiddie size.

Service was a little slow, but they were very friendly. Pricing is on par with most places. I didn't see an outdoor seating area, so we ate in the truck.

I am looking forward to trying more of their homemade flavors. Maybe next time I will try...