Monday, August 13, 2007

Gene's Drive In, Bloomington


My sweet tooth downfall, the food I can least control myself about, is ice cream. Good ice cream, bad ice cream; when I want it I take what I can get. I looooove ice cream.

Each major town in Central Illinois has it's highlights. Krekel's in Decatur. Jarlings in Champaign. But the local ice cream shop I love the most is Gene's Drive In on Rt 51 in Bloomington. I drove by Gene's a lot before I ever drove in. I was missing out!

Gene's may look like a little shabby and the parking lot is small, but their soft serve is wonderful. There are usually a few soft serve flavors to choose from plus a huge array of treats and milkshakes. Oh what flavors! Last week my family stopped in and I had a lemon soft serve and my son had a strawberry soft serve cone. The real butterfat means the texture is perfect, the flavor is great, and we love sitting on the benches watching the traffic go by.

Dairy delight, you can't beat it!

7 comments:

Elaine Ray said...

Thanks so much for you comment on my blog - it felt like someone waving to me from my home state! Forest City is my home town, a very small place off of Route 136. I was there just this last weekend for a great evening of celebrating at Willett's Winery in Manito. This is a great addition to the area.

Hello again from Illinois!

- Elaine Ray

monkey said...

I LOVE Gene's. LOVE IT!!! As big a fan of chocolate as I am, I always get the vanilla dipped in crunch (their version is sprinkles and krispies).

I've been waiting to hear about Krekel's! I haven't been all summer, now we're going to have to take a drive once the weather gets a little cooler! Will we be getting a full review?

Did I mention I LOVE Gene's. :)

Henny Penny said...

To tell the truth, I wouldn't go out of my way for Krekels the way I would for Gene's. It may be heresay, it may be because I'm not a Decatur native, but for me it's only pretty good. I do like their chocolate malt pretty well. It's better than most Dairy Queen malts. And the burgers are pretty good with thin crispy edges, but I'd rather go to the Winery if I'm in town.

monkey said...

I keep hearing that the Winery has good food, but I've only been drank when I've been in.

Henny Penny said...

I tried vanilla dipped in crunch last night and I didn't like it as much as the lemon. THeir lemon soft serve is awesome.

Henny Penny said...

I changed the description because I asked about the hard pack ice cream last night and the server said they didn't have any.

AngiePangie said...

I've since moved to the UK, but when I was growing up in Bloomington this was my favourite place as a little girl (and actually, while I haven't been back in YEARS - I'll say it still very much is) Is it me, or do I remember HUGE cones FILLED with ice cream. I know I was small, but I also know those cones were larger than life - and I ate every bit of it each time. It's good to see it's still around, and I'll definitely make a point to visit when I come back next summer to see my friends and family. Talk about memories!!

Angie