Gene’s Drive In

A hidden gem in Bloomington. Not only has the ice cream been great and quickly served everytime I’ve came here, but the service has been outstanding. Great group of kids!

I love Gene’s dairy treats. You can’t call it ice cream, because they are deliciously made with unicorns tears, which of course is illegal.
My favorite part of eating Gene’s amazing dairy treats is sitting on the bench watching the employees. They are not happy employees. I am watching the drive up server now. She is pissed. She is glaring at each car as though every driver personally interrupted her own Unicorn tear massage. But no one cares. The treats are so yummy that glaring girl can stare daggers through your skull and you won’t care.
Yum.

The best soft serve ice cream in IL, hands down. If it’s the right time of year, it’s the right stop to make.

Best ice cream I have ever had. I grew up in Bloomington, so lots of memories of coming here after school or on a hot summer day. Moved to chicago 2 years ago and whenever I visit Bloomington, Genes is a must!

The soft serve here is truly unique! It has a soft, rich, and almost buttery texture! I would bet that they use a higher grade cream (more milk fat, yum!) in their mix. It is seriously the bomb diggity, but if you are expecting «normal» soft serve you’ll be surprised.
Staff is mostly local high school kids, this place is only seasonal so high school kids are probably the best option to hire. I’ve never had «bad» service here.
Only negative is that it is cash only. Although, there is an ATM a parking lot over.

Went here for what we heard was a great Bloomington treat.
Was thoroughly unimpressed. The soft serve tasted like frozen cool whip. I could only eat about 5 bites and threw the rest away. (well not really I left it on my kitchen table and the next day threw it away but not before looking at a weird congealed not really melted substance)
There is another local ice cream place in town heck even multiple chain places that are better.

It’s one of the few «local» kind of places (i.e. not a chain), that’s fairly well known. My kids love going here, as they have candy «eyeballs» they put on the kids cones. They have many different flavors of frozen yogurt (vanilla, chocolate, lemon, strawberry, etc.), so it allows for some different types of flavor combinations.
In my opinion, the yogurt is pretty thick, so even a small cone can be filling. The last few times I’ve been there, the vanilla has lacked much vanilla flavor, but the lemon is very flavorful.
It’s usually pretty packed for such a small local place. The drive through is a bit awkward, but they usually move the cars through pretty quickly.

Low quality ice cream, pumped full of air. Tasteless. Yuck!

Next time, I will pass. After 14 years of living in Bloomington and Carl’s Ice Cream being my local ice cream shop of choice, I stopped by Gene’s because it was the closest location to satisfy my warm brownie and ice cream craving.
What I received was a mound of their soft-​serve ice cream topped with «hot fudge» aka chocolate syrup, whipped cream and a handful of pecans that cost almost $ 1 extra. All of that plopped in between 2 cosmic brownies. You know, the Little Debbie ones that you can get at the gas station. Actually it was one brownie broken in half. With a cherry on top.
I felt insulted that I had spent $ 6.41 for this contraption when I could have spent less by going to the gas station for a pint of ice cream and a cheap brownie if that’s what I had wanted. If this is what they’ll serve, just take the brownie and ice cream combo off the menu! Don’t they know they have competitors with much better quality at places where I can actually even sit down if I want to? As a small business owner, I want to support the local economy but I have no reason to go back to Gene’s.

The best banana split in town! Period! The skrawberry/​lemon ice cream is To Die For. Sometimes get a quart of that to go and put it over lemon pound cake w/​fresh strawberries.

I must have received different ice cream than everyone that likes this place. I couldn’t even finish my small cone the ice cream was so unappealing. Packaged ice cream at the store is much better than what you get at Gene’s.

I am in love! Gene’s serves up some of the best soft serve I have ever had. In fact, I am craving some right now.
They do not skimp on the avalanche mix-​ins thankfully and the ice cream is so creamy and delicious.

This is HEAVEN ON EARTH! BEST ICE CREAM we have ever had. The service is amazing, always friendly. Order the swirl. New owner is very hip, totally nice guy. No doubt the BUTTER CREAM is thick, rich and probably ranks as one of the best places in the country (yes it’s that good). Rumor has it that Gene’s ACTUALLY INVENTED the DQ Blizzard and it was stolen by DQ and used Nationally. That alone is worth a taste of the Avalanche!

My favorite ice cream shoppe of all time. Their ice cream is thick and velvet. Favorite is plain, soft serve strawberry. Cookie dough avalanche is thick, full of dough, and overflowing the cup for any size that you buy. Pricey for these, though — $ 4 for medium. Nonetheless, they have cheaper options — their cones are huge and range from $ 1.25 to $ 3. Popsicles are small cups of kool-​aid with a stick in them. My family digs their chili dogs, so the place does have more than ice cream. Drive-​through is fast, but the line is always 10+ cars down the street. Worth the wait!