Portola Frosty

These little roadside burger and frosty shacks seem to be located in every small town in NorCal. I’ve been to them in Chilcoot down the road, Red Bluff, Chester and Susanville. But this one is not at the top of my list to stop after my first visit here. I was just in the mood for a soft serve ice cream … I guess it takes me back from my present day love for gelato to childhood days of the simple things.
We pull in and there are a few people eating on the tables outside… well, cause there is NO inside place to eat here. There’s just one dude and his fam ahead. He’s ordering and pays with credit card. Now there’s just one cashier who seems to take the money and serve and make the cones as well. Also she serves the food when it finally comes out. Well, her mind may be a bit slow, small town living does that to ya, but really, just one task at a time real slow as she makes one cone at a time and then brings it to the window, and then repeats with the next cone. OK, my turn finally, she closes the window! She has to make a smoothie! Geeze, take my order and then put it to the kitchen while you go make the smoothie. This is one of those situations where I’d hate to give her cash with the expectation of getting even change in coins, cause her brain might not be up to the mathematical challenge. OK, I won’t rip on the little townies, they can’t help it living here.
So I get a cone which she does right away, and my friend gets a small order of curly fries. We ask if that will take a long time of not, «Oh no, there’s just one order ahead of you.» OK, so fries it is. Holy crap, I’m just about finished eating my cone by the damn fries come out! Looking in I see a large order ahead, but those poor burgers the guy ordered are all sitting on the ready counter getting cold! OK, yep, you can only make one complete burger at a time… I get it now! Just toss my fires in the fryer as soon as you get the order and put them out while you make the burgers! Nope, not here I guess.
The cone was good, but the fries were not much to write home about, for sure not worth the wait. So, if you come here, just be ready to wait a LONG time for the food. The burgers will probably be cold when they get to you though. Skip this frosty joint, plenty of other to go to. I’d have rather gone to the Chilcoot Frosty.

Nice spot in a small town for ice cream, hamburgers and fries.
I swear every small town has that spot just like this– even the tiny Iowa town I grew up in (Tiger’s Den). Easy walk up to window to order and a handful of picnic tables out front to eat at, no inside dinning. Burgers, chicken strips, fries, onions rind and a punch of ice cream delights. The burger was pretty juicy and had good flavor, better than Archie’s for a lesser price. Nice thick vanilla malt, go small the large is almost too big.
Just a great stop for a snack after a few hours of golf or hiking in the area

Had a real fruit smoothy not bad either! but the ice cream cones are huge!

Really delicious food. The young ladies who work here were kind and allow short handed, did a really great job. Every item our table of 6 ordered was delicious, served quickly and hot. Kids loved their ice cream and shakes and I loved the refreshing strawberry lemonade. My husband had a taco and ice cream and very much enjoyed that.

Possibly one of the SLOWEST Frostees in the area. The food when you do finally get it is ok… but truly the slowness of the service actually overrides that. I like to try to give a place a few tries before saying anything negative and we have tried. Each time we tried to order something more and more simple. The last time I went I ordered just a fresh squeezed lemonade and 1 order of fries… it took close to 45 minutes. We will not return.

I can’t give this place 5 stars but we’ve been there a couple of times and for a roadside burger joint it’s pretty darn good… as far as the service goes it’s fresh food so I understand it’s little slow so hints the 4 star but very tasty and worth the wait.

Five stars for this roadside burger shack in the small town of Portola? Yep. You read that right, and that rating has nothing to do with the food.
Frosty’s are found in the small towns all over Northern CA, and they’ve become a favorite stop for me and Ashley when returning from road trips. We’d just finished hiking the Bear Lake Loop in the Lakes Basin area and were driving separately back to Reno. I knew there was a Frosty in Chilcoot CA on the way back and was mentally preparing to stop there before I realized that it may not be open for the season. Just as that thought occurred to me, I passed the Graegle Frosty going too fast to turn around, so I press on. Then, just as all hope was fading, my wife calls and asks if I want to stop at the Portola Frosty… she must have read my mind!
This Frosty is just like all the others, with picnic tables outside, a window to order at and a menu with shakes, floats, fries, burgers and a few other fried faves. We get a mocha shake and a large fry, which was nothing special but the perfect snack. So why five stars? Well, while enjoying our snack, I saw the customer who’d ordered just after us still waiting for her ice cream. Eventually she went back to the window to ask, and the girl inside let her know they forgot to get it. The employee was incredibly apologetic, and without hesitation, made her the sundae and handed her back her money. That’s the kind of service you just don’t see anymore, and I for one was happy to see a business like this, whose customers are somewhat transient, value them appropriately.
I plan to make many more trips through Portola this summer and I’m sure that I’ll be stopping here to enjoy some treats again soon. If you find yourself traveling and come across a Frosty, do yourself a favor and stop for a taste of pure Americana.

I would give this place a 0 if I could. This place has the most horrible customer service. I ordered a milk shake with butterscotch and light chocolate extra thick plus $ 30 in food. When I got the milkshake there wasn’t any chocolate in it and it was runny. So I asked for it to be remade and the girl had lots of attitude and chucked it in the trash. When the milkshake was done the manager slams our food on the counter and proceeds to come outside and starts screaming at me and my husband in front of all the customers saying that we ALWAYS complain and to get off their property and they were calling the police. I paid $ 5 for my milkshake and if I don’t like the way it tastes. I should have every right as a customer to have it remade with a smile. I have given them tips and compliments EVERY time I go there I just don’t understand this disservice over a milkshake
If you wanted to be treated with horrible service then this place is for you.

I would give this place zero stars if I could.
Bad food. Expensive. Terrible service.
45 minutes for a burger and fries.

You cant say this place is a fast food joint because its not fast food. it good quality food and fresh ingredients, which is why your paying more than fast food. The food never disappoints and its hands down the best place to eat in town!

Update 2015-​09: They changed the fish and chips! It’s not what it was. They are now using fish with more bread, less fish, and not as much flavor. I’ve switched to the shrimp and chips, which is still good.
Some of the other reviews commented on the pace of service. Know this when you get here that you’re not in a shopping mall where everyone is in a mad rush and expects instant «chop chop pork chop» service. You’re in Plumas County, where people come to slow down and chill out. If you want the suburban go-​go pace, go to Truckee. It’s just like the bay area and you’ll fit right in. Portola is a relaxed, blue collar, family friendly, kick back and enjoy the weather kind of place where you don’t have to get dressed up to go shopping or dining.
From the first review:
You can’t beat the fish and chips or shrimp and chips. Every time I’ve been there and it’s been several times a year over the past five years, the fish and chips has been absolutely tops. Someone in there knows how to fry. The ice cream is good and the service is friendly. The food isn’t cheap but you get what you pay for.
This is not a fast food restaurant. Food is cooked to order, so it’s fresh, not sitting in trays, so expect it to take some time.
The outdoor seating in the back is also nice.
For restaurants of its kind, this one is hard to beat.

The only thing that I really love here so far is the baby frosty cone, for .85 cents– I always get the ½ and ½ soft serve on the cute little pointy cone. My brother got a «small» size though, and WOW the amount of soft serve is insane! You totally get the bang (and brain freeze) for your buck on that one. I have yet to talk myself into buying a meal at the Frosty because the prices are a little too high for me, (french fries for 3.75?!) but I’m sure that I will give in this summer and go for it. When I do, I’ll let you know if the food is worth the price. It’s a walk-​up/​drivethru setting, so I’m not positive if the inside is completely clean, but from what I can tell from the outer appearance it seems to be clean. For some weird reason, it’s a hangout spot for the seagulls though. o. O Strange.