Mono Cone

Don’t give this rude, mean spirited woman your money! No meal is worth it! Stopped by here with a friend on a recomendation Sun. Oct. 18^th, 2015 while fishing in Mammoth Lakes, CA. First off the lady taking our order was very rude. After receiving our order two burgers, onion rings, french fries and 1-​soda he realized she didn’t give back proper change. He paid $ 44.00 with no change back. My friend went back to the order window to let her know she mis-​calculated the return change when she was again extremely snippy and confrontational denying she may have made a mistake and not even bothering to count her register when he asked her nicely if she wouldn’t mind counting it. Food was dissapointing as well!
Will never come here again and neither will my friend or his many fishing friends which patronize this business every fishing season on numerous occasions.

Out in the middle of no where. This place is amazing. We went to June lake for a quick weekend vacation and was told by a local to try this place. I am so glad we did. Great great place. If you are in the area do yourself a favor and stop in for some iced cream.

They close at 7, which is odd for a tiny town that depends on tourism. And they are not open at all in the winter. I ordered the Garden Burger ($ 6.95) and a chocolate malt ($ 5). The unpleasant lady who takes your order and money, with the pulled-​back hair and thick black glasses, is snippy for no reason. She is bitter about something; probably from a couple of bad marriages. I decided not to let her attitude ruin my experience.
They produced the order in less than 5 minutes. The Garden Burger was good, well prepared and tasty. The only fault was the thin and squishy bun that flattened out immediately. They need to quit buying the cheapo 10¢ buns and spring for some quality buns without raising their prices. The burgers are $ 6 to $ 7 just for the burger. Jolly Kone in Bridgeport offers the same burgers at the same prices, but they include fries.
The malt was a disappointment; tasting like they had made it with soft-​serve instead of true ice cream. No wonder they made it so fast. They also used malt syrup instead of malt powder, which reduced the flavor and quality. Oh well…
They have an indoor seating area and a small, pleasant backyard with tables and trees. But a much better choice is to get your order to go and take it to the small park a block away, which has a view of Mono Lake and some historic exhibits including the famous upside-​down-​house.

All the yums from my childhood in one place. Soft serve sundaes, thin burgers with all the fixins, fried pickles (OK, maybe those are from more recently than childhood). It’s the perfect roadside burger stand. Can’t endorse the full menu, but the burger was In and Out-​quality, soft serve was generous and tasty, sides were fried and delivered on expectations.
We were only driving through, but the staff and locals waiting for their food were chatty and super friendly. On pricing, this place is on the very affordable side. If you think it’s expensive, you ain’t from around here (by here, I mean California. Or any city in the US of A, really).
The flies though. So many. It was weird.

Best chocolate dipped cones! Always warm and melty, it’s a race to devour them before the ice cream completely melts through the coating. Favorite place to go after a day at the lake.

I got the peanut butter malt. It is HUGE! Definitely good to split. Unfortunately it was made with vanilla ice cream not chocolate and then had Reece’s cup pieces in it. My husband likes it that way, I don’t. Otherwise it was very yummy. Even if there is a line, their fast.

Best place for a roadside burger for 100 miles in either direction. Love this place and you just gotta have the BUTTERSCOTCH SHAKE. Wow! Excellent and not to be missed. Warning… CASH ONLY!

Mono Cone is one of the better burger stands I’ve been to on the long 395 drive! Their burgers are extremely juicy and delicious. The onion rings are huge, a little bread-​y but good. Their shakes are thick and they do not skimp on whatever ingredients you add to the shake, like the peanut butter cup shake. You definitely get your money’s worth here.
The lady is a bit curt with customers. No dogs allowed is a bummer, but understandable since it is a food establishment. In the backyard area, there are a lot of flies which is kind of annoying while you’re trying to eat.

My peanut butter shake was delicious. $ 5 for one and only size about a medium I would say. Will come back when in the area.

Very Good Food and Great Ice Cream
Would have given it 5 stars if the lady at the window wasn’t so rude… Service with a smile, that’s what I always say
Oh yeah! The banana chocolate chip shake was Amazing

After a fantastic day trip to Bodie Ghost Town… (yes, you should go… it’s worth the drive)… we were ready for something quick and easy. We chose Mono Cone because, well… ice cream and the fact that we had read about a grassy seating area and needed a spot we could rest and unwind with our dog. BUT-​the sign on the patio said «No Dogs Allowed.» :(
We looked at each other like what now… And I went for a walk with the dog while the others waited for food. Just steps away behind Mono Cone I stumbled upon a little museum and an upside down house… don’t miss this picture op! But beyond that is a park where you can take your ice cream, lunch and dog and chill out and enjoy it all. No worries… it’s really close by… go adventure!
Kids liked the cheeseburgers. Hubby said the cheese on his philly cheesesteak was funky but the meat and onions were tasty. My turkey burger was salty but nice that the option was available. The ice cream was like a kid would remember. Chocolate dipped soft serve! Huge portions here. I had a peanut butter cup shake, they did not skip on the peanut butter cops… YUM!

Overpriced for what you get. It’s a cute place and obviously a local favorite given the crowd at lunchtime when we stopped by.
Our intent was to have a quick stop — we just wanted to get a quick bite to eat before continuing down the road and hoped this place would be faster than the sit down BBQ joint across the street.
We were wrong. They are NOT fast here.
We received our food, eventually — and to be honest, I had expected a lot more. If you pay $ 5 for tater tots as a «side», I expect REALLY GOOD tater tots. These, were not. They were basic run of the mill frozen grocery store tots … for five bucks? No, just no. My wife’s hamburger? Pretty basic. My spicy chicken sandwich? Chewy, dry and not at all spicy.

I love a good pun.
I especially love a good pun that happens to serve up a good cone.
The Mono Basin and Long Valley are two giant volcanic calderas that occupy about 200 square miles of Eastern California — basically «miniature» Yellowstones. They are also home to the «youngest» mountains in America — the 640 year old Mono Cones. Marching along the eastern fringe of Highway 395, they rise like three, bizarre, perfectly smooth and rounded peaks rising above the muted greens and bronze of the surround plain — peaks of pure pumice. One of these cones — the Panum Crater — is a minor tourist destination where you could walk up a short trail through a pumice field to the edge of a crater filled with volcanic glass. Having trekked through this place while a thunderstorm broke down on me when I was a mile from the car, I could vouch for its otherworldly quality. It’s also bizarre to step on such young ground.
If you are the kind of person, however, who prefers to crunch their cones by eating rather than walking on them, the Mono Cone allows you to do just that. This is a classic roadside dive. Three soft serve ice creams (vanilla, chocolate, and swirl), with available flavor bursts in various flavors including blue raspberry and bubble gum form the base for an impressive array of items. Sundaes, banana splits, shakes and malts laced with peanut butter, nuts, fruit, and chocolate chunks… they get a bit creative. A menu of typical fast food fare (including burgers that are a bit on the uninspired side — they use Kraft barbecue sauce on their barbecue bacon burger, for instance, though that isn’t to say they are bad — just don’t expect a gourmet experience) rounds out the offerings. After a hike through a veritable Mordor of leaning rock and volcanic dust or along the shoulders of glaciatied and lake strewn cliffs and peaks, however, the Cone is an inviting sight.
Please be advised that this is a CASH ONLY establishment (nearest ATM is at the coffee shop up the street) and there is only one window at which to order and only one window for pick up, so the wait can be quite long. And this is where the cons come into play — the Cone is notoriously busy, and the prices show it — only here is a small cone $ 5. But the servings are large, and it’s the only game in town. Because of that, I have to be a little more lenient with the grading when it comes to price. The service is friendly but efficient, and the family that owns the place are usually those taking the order and serving it up.
They have a shaded lawn and park out back, and just around the corner and to left is a very curious sight. I’ll leave you to discover what I’m talking about for yourself. Just walk one hundred feet east and fifty feet north down the side street and look to your left. It may just be the most ingenious tourist trap ever conceived by the mind of man.
Be advised that this place closes after Labor Day and doesn’t reopen until whenever Tioga Pass reopens for the season.

This establishment gets ZERO stars in customer service!
If you need a place to use a nice restroom, clean and stocked, this is it! But that’s the only business of anyone’s that they deserve!

Their vanilla soft-​serve tastes like Foster’s Freeze and is my favorite soft-​serve for its rich creaminess and taste. ⁵⁄₅ Stars
Cherry Malt Shake is way too sweet and it has the taste of maraschino cherry rather than real cherries. I like the taste of their malt and wish it is more profound. I will probably enjoy their other flavors more. ³⁄₅ Stars
Burger are very much like In&Out: thin burger, crispy lettuce, juicy tomatoes. However, there are more toppings you can add to that and it costs more. The guacamole is kinda watered down. I wish there is more avocado in it. ³⁄₅ Stars
They close at 7pm on a Monday. It is sad to miss them if u are craving their soft-​serve after much hiking. :)

The owners want to talk to their friends while a line forms and then give you bad service.

We were told to come to Mono Cone because they had the best milkshakes and burgers in California. Huge shoes to fill (and I realistically adjusted my expectations because I knew this probably wasn’t true) and so we approached the counter and ordered. I messed up and got a spicy chicken sandwich (I don’t know why, there was a long line and I got anxious) and a vanilla milkshake. Luckily, they were able to accommodate my strawberry allergy and I was very thankful for that. All in all, the sandwich was just alright. Nothing spectacular. It wasn’t very spicy and tasted pretty bland. The milkshake tasted like a milkshake. It wasn’t a horrible experience but I wasn’t blown away. Maybe next time I’ll follow directions and get a burger.

This place is a rustic flashback to a simpler time. The food is diverse, greasy, flimsy, and sinfully yummy. I had the chili burger and onion rings with an iced tea. I chased all that unhealthiness with a chocolate-​dipped vanilla cone (small, because I’m watching my figure). I’ve been going here for years and agree that the staff is unfriendly but, as you’ve probably noticed from other reviews, they’re unfriendly to everyone so you shouldn’t take it personally. If they seem nice, you should be concerned because something is wrong. If you really want to see some fireworks, ask about their vegan options. They are a bit pricy and it’s cost them controlling interest in that last star… still, a solid 4.5.

This place will take you back which is why you will love it. They have lots to offer and perfect for a hot day. The lady at the counter is a non-​nonsense type but she is very cool. You just feel like a kid waiting for your super sweet treat. Their soft serve is delicious, their sundaes huge, fries done just right… Yeah judge us, we went all out. Something are priced right some might be a little pricy but it;s all worth it. You’re most likely on vacation right?!
A bit of warning they close during summer so this last weekend I was there Oct. 11 was their last day open until summer comes back around. So chances are, if you go there, it will be you and no one else. Just a menu that will make you want something.

The ice cream cones here look like the tufa towers Mono Lake! If you’re visiting Mono Lake or the eastern part of Yosemite National Park, stop here to get a soft serve ice cream cone — a small is $ 3 before tax but it’s a lot of ice cream. You can get vanilla, chocolate, or vanilla/​chocolate swirl!
They also have yummy milkshakes and malts — lots of flavors, including oreo which is my favorite. There’s also a food menu with burgers and sandwiches. I’ve had the spicy crispy chicken burger which is okay. I tried a bite of my friend’s fish taco and it was good but very lemony. The food is satisfactory and it also takes a while for the food to come out — it’s the ice cream that I come here for. There’s a small indoor seating area, as well as an outdoor seating area, with restrooms in the back. CASH ONLY.