Just Chill Creamery (Whitehall) — Restaurant in Whitehall

Being in the former location of King Cone (KC), we were, at-first, taken aback by another ice creamery moving into this location...seing that KC just moved across the street into it's own building. I'm not sure if the intersection can support two ice creameries; I hope so for the owners. We have been faithful customers of KC for many years, for both hard and soft-serve ice cream, so it should come as no surprise that we felt a bit guilty for crossing the street to give the new competition a try; but, ultimately we gave in to curiosity.

We don't often dine in; 90% of our business is take-out. On our first visit, we ordered the 2 most-popular items we typically order, a hand-dipped CMP sundae and a soft-serve vanilla/chocolate twist...both large in cups to go. It is a short 4 minute drive door-to-door, from home to Just Chill. When we arrived home, we opened the containers to find both thick ice cream 'soups'. The CMP held up better, of-course, but we had to delay eating to try re-freezing in the freezer. The soft-serve did not freeze very well, but I did try it for flavor and it tasted good, as did the CMP.

Judging apples-to-apples against KC, here are our findings. The flavor of both are good. The honor of favorite, goes to KC by a very slim margin. If it weren't for the melt-and-refreeze issue, JC may have topped out. I would go into price, but price is only relative if both portion sizes were equal. Understanding that, JC's price was a little less expensive, but KC's portions were clearly larger than JC's, by around 1/4-1/3 cup for the large size. The biggest issue for Just Chill is their thin cardstock type containers; they offer very little insullation...thus the reason for the very quick melting. If I were to offer a suggestion that might benefit Just Chill, I would recommend changing to styrofoam like KC...it does a MUCH better job of keeping the treats cold and they are recyclable. The other option that comes to mind is wrapping to-go containers in heavy foil wrap to try to keep the cold in and the heat out...that is if you stay with the current containers. I'm not sure if that will perform as well as the styrofoam, but it should be better than just the cardstock containers.

We are planning to try Just Chill again. If they don't have different container options for to-go/take-away orders, we will eat there to get a better sense of the product. I hope the owner understands this review is not meant to be mean or overly critical. We hope to have a better experience next time. I will update this...

Listen… I was on a noble quest for King Kone, the so-called “ice cream royalty.” But when I pulled up and saw the line wrapping around the block like it was the Taylor Swift Eras Tour, I said: nah fam. Ain’t no scoop on planet Earth worth aging a whole presidential term in line. So I yeeted myself across the street into this mysterious little spot called Just Chill Creamery.

At first, I thought I was walking into an abandoned blockbuster. Place was EMPTY. I legit had a Scooby-Doo moment like, “Did I just trespass? Did they forget to flip the ‘open’ sign? Am I about to get haunted by a ghost that screams about lactose intolerance?”

But NO. Two absolute legends were behind the counter—friendly, smiling, ready to scoop my soul back to happiness. And then I saw it: Hershey’s ice cream. Now, listen. Some people clutch pearls at that. Me? I straight up salute. Birthday cake? Cotton candy? That’s not ice cream, that’s emotional support therapy disguised in a cone.

Prices? CHEF’S KISS. I ordered a “kid size” thinking I’d get a thimble of sadness. Nope. One glorious chunky scoop, enough to remind me why childhood obesity rates exist.

But THEN. Oh-ho-ho THEN. They pointed me toward the back. A secret lair. Another whole seating area—like Willy Wonka’s Airbnb. Funky chairs, bright tables, PINBALL MACHINES. My jaw dropped. Why is nobody talking about this place? Where are the crowds? The influencers? The TikTok dances? I was basically living in an undiscovered ice cream utopia while the peasants were still lined up at King Kone getting heatstroke in a parking lot.

So here’s the deal: if you roll up to King Kone and see a line that looks like you’re about to enter Disney World, do yourself a favor. Cross the street. Enter the void. Find Just Chill Creamery. Is it Michelin-star gelato flown in from Italy? No. But is it good? YES. Is it fast? YES. Is it secretly awesome?...

I went in to get ice cream with my family today and there were two staff present in the store. One employee expressed to the customer in front of me that it was his first day on the job after making a mistake on her order. The other employee appeared to be a seasoned employee but we wasn’t assisting the new employee or training him, he disappeared into the back of the store. When it was our turn to order we told the new employee that we wanted a banana split and told him what flavors we wanted. He asked us where the flavors were and we showed him. It was clear he was not trained and wasn’t being supported as his assembly of the banana split was all wrong. The banana was cut incorrectly and placed at the bottom of the container, then half scoops of ice cream were layered on top of that, the toppings were added, the cherries were placed on next and finally the whipped cream was added sloppily. I approached the seasoned employee and asked if he could please remake the banana split correctly. He said that he was trying to train the new employee and it was busy and basically refused to remake it. After that, we decided to leave and get ice cream somewhere else. The store was not busy and if he wouldn’t have been in the back and up front supporting his teammate this issue could have...