Carvel Ice Cream & Bakery — Restaurant in Virginia

I was looking for a little nostalgia and mentioned to my husband that I would love a classic Carvel Fudgie the Whale cake for my birthday. He, very sweetly, chased this cake down for me. I don't know what the heck happened here but, the thing Carvel now calls a Fudgie the Whale cake is NOT the Fudgie cake of my youth. The best part of the old Fudgie cake was that thick outer coating of fudge-like deliciousness that completely covered the cake. This atrocity, which they have the audacity to charge $50 for, had not a speck of fudge on it. The "chocolate" on top of the cake was like some gross version of Hershey's syrup. There were these weird white crunchy bits, with no discernible flavor, on the sides instead of the delicious chocolate crunchies that should have been there. They piped some utterly disgusting, straight out of a bargain bin chemical flavored, white frosting all over it, and it was maybe half the size of the old Fudgie cake. They took a great classic ice cream cake and destroyed it. This was anything but nostalgic. It was a reminder that nothing is what it used to be. It was a clear example of a company cutting corners and producing a sub-par product while continuing to increase prices. The cake was an utter disappointment. It is certainly not worth $50. Don't...

Atmosphere: Fantastic atmosphere and vibe to the place. Feels like you went back in time 40 years and they added an outdoor covered awning in the past couple years that really adds to the ambiance and keeps noise/elements out.

Food: Truly the best hot dog I’ve ever had. Everyone should try the hot dog on their next visit. Pizza was average. Fries were good, crispy, generous portion and well salted. Mango lemonade was incredible tasted like 80% pure mango nectar. The Philly cheesesteak wasn’t the best I’ve had but it was massive and quite good - like a 7.5/10.

Service: What inspired the review. The owner rang me up and asked me how I was doing gave me some history about the place, explained he was a delivery driver at carvel 31 years ago he eventually bought the place! To top it all off after our talk he gave me a cheese pizza on the house. Call it a bribe if you want but that’s how you build a loyal customer base imo!

Price: I do agree the prices are a bit absurd considering the atmosphere but I imagine the rent here is steep. It almost made this a 4 star review but considering prices of everything else these days, it’s not that outrageous.

Paid 35$ for...

I'd like to tell you I loved my experience because I have been a supporter of the establishment this business is located inside of since 1960 and for the most part their product has stayed consistent and speaking about the pizza however the new management is not up to my approval for instance I made 2 requests when was to cut my pizza into slices Because I don't have any teeth left and the other was to include parmesan cheese neither of these were done and when I went back to the Man he didn't appear to remember what was going on when I said Hey man do you remember my order because you did not feel it so As I said I'd like to give them a positive Preview but as a Google map reviewer with 96000 views to my reviews and not gonna compromise my integrity by giving a false report the pizza still tastes all about like it did in the sixties but...