Jolly Cone on the Current — Restaurant in Van Buren

Went with wife and family following good morning on the river. We had been here before, however, it had really changed this time. The place was somewhat busy, but not as bad as we've seen in the past. Looking at the push-pin menu board hanging over the outdoor windows, I placed our food order consisting of a chicken sandwich, cheeseburger two fries, and two drinks. We waited for our name to be called and proceeded to pay once called. I thought the total was a little high, $18.##, but for a food establishment near the river during the summer I didn't think too much about it. Upon making my way to our table my wife informed me that she had ordered the waffle fries too, but I guess the kid at the window (teenagers were running the place on this day) didn't hear me when I'd ordered them. After placing a new order and having waited more than 20 minutes the first time, I was called to the window to pickup the waffle fries. I paid $5.## and walked back to the table scratching my head. I returned to the window to inquire how the $3.50 posted price for waffle fries became $5.##. The young kid at the window couldn't explain 5h3 discrepancy to me. Rather another patron pointed out a small written memo on the glass, about the size of a post it, down in the bottom right hand corner where most people aren't looking as the menu board is 5 feet atop of your head on the building. The memo reads: "Due to COVID creating Global Food Shortages and problems in the supply chain, we are temporarily passing along a 15% increase on ALL of our items." The sign was dated February or March of 2020. I don't have a problem paying more if necessary, but updating the menu board and keeping customers informed is a must. I left feeling like I had been deceived. Add insult to injury, the teenager waiting on me acted like the correct prices were updated on the board and couldn't have been informed about the memo that probably gets overlooked by MOST patrons. If you want to charge more, do so, but at least be open, honest, and upfront about it. This way the customer can truly let you know if your goods and services are worth what your asking. I hope others will be more informed than I was on your next visit...

We were just driving through and wanted something for lunch that wasn't a chain, so this old-fashion cash-only hamburger stand looked like it would be just right... instead, it was the saddest burger, fries & milkshake I've ever been served in my life.

Burger --- super extra dry and somehow even worse than from a school cafeteria. Asked for onions and they put on less than a single ring.

Fries --- no salt at all, only 1 ketchup pack (good luck getting any kind of service while the high-school staff is horsing around and actively avoiding the window...) And $5 for a portion smaller than my fist! Literal highway robbery!

Shake --- Very weak, and thin enough that it's served with regular skinny beverage straws.

I spent $20 exactly because I didn't feel like waiting around all day for a few coins in change. For reference, the same meal from Dairy Queen would be half the price and 10x the flavor. At least.

And to be clear, I wasn't expecting anything fancy or anything. I'm a realist - I just assumed it would be equivalent to Dairy Queen. I was so wrong! The only reason I'm giving 2 stars is because I feel that people disregard 1 star reviews. Otherwise I would give it Zero because how do you screw up...

I am a Carter County native and been going here all my life as kind of a summer tradition, and the last 3 times I have stopped here I was very disappointed with price versus quality of food and service. Yesterday I stopped and they was not real busy and I stood at the window for at least 10 min waiting for someone to take my order and there was no line might I add everyone else was either waiting on their food or eating at the tables. I ordered 4 small shakes and a plate of nachos which came to 25$ or a little less, and one of our cups had a hole in it which we did not realize til it was leaking all over the truck and the nachos we got were stale and the cheese was cold and there was literally nothing else on them. Better off to go up the hill to subway or McDonald's I won't be stopping here anymore which is a great disappointment to me as I hoped my kids would appreciate the tradition but they are scalping prices for food that is...