Shady Glen Restaurant and Ice Cream Parlor - Manchester, Connecticut

Emily S.

Egg salad Sammy was good, and the regular size ice cream sundae is big. Mostly the atmosphere here is great to bring a book and read at the counter and have a treat. I'd do it again!

Brian

I grew up in Connecticut and have been coming to Shady Glen for most of my life. If it's your first time here I can recommend the cheese burger other then the plain taste you we be pleasantly surprised with presentation of the burger. The fries are not that great but if you like crinkle fries it's ok. The onion rings are pretty greasy from the oil it's cooked in.

For a the price, you can go to five guys for the same price roughly and have a tastier burger.

This place has always been a cash only restaurant, not sure why they choose not to update that but it is what it is so make sure you bring more then enough cash otherwise you will have to use their ATM and pay the fee.

The milkshakes are great as always and the ingredients are fresh. I would highly recommend a shake or sundae over most else of their offerings.

They do sell pints of ice cream as well so for ice cream lovers this is a great stop for visitors of Connecticut!

Hopefully you found this review helpful, especially if you have yet to visit the Shady Glen.

And thanks for taking the time to read this honest review.

Ralph T.

If it were possible, I would give 3.5 stars, but since that's not an option, I went with 4

The (Mostly) Good: The Cheeseburger with the curled up crispy fried cheese was the King of the show, the patty itself was slightly above average, but was well prepared, I also had the onion rings, they were pretty good.I had the Maple Nut Ice Cream, it tasted freezer burnt, I am letting this slide because upon my first attempt to visit this location a few weeks ago, they were closed due to a power failure the day before, thinking the outage may have damaged the Ice Cream.

The Bad: While I enjoy the nostalgic feel of the restaurant, Cash Only is annoying. No menus was also very annoying, the menu boards around the restaurant tend to be cluttered and hard to read, the Ice Cream Board wasn't visible from where I was sitting, the server wasn't very helpful with explaining boards I was having trouble seeing

Eric S.

I’ve been here a few times and my wife is a local growing up eating here. Food is good and it’s a cool old school experience. However the seating situation is annoying. You’re expected to kind of pick a side of the restaurant and hover around where you want to sit and just wait and take the next table as the patrons self manage the queue. I think this needs to be abolished and if they want to maintain any kind of old school management of the queue get a deli number machine and let people get numbers and just call them as tables clear out. The cheese burgers and ice cream are what you come for. It’s worth waiting but know what you’re in for.

Rachael

Best cheese on a burger, EVER. Amazing diner and atmosphere. Classic shake of your choice and the big cheeseburger platter is the best combination to soothe the soul.

Audrey L.

It's been a long time since we've been here since we were kids. We arrived for a early dinner About 4:30p. There were no lines and plenty of seats to pick from. We were greeted immediately and given tiny waters in Shady Glen Dixie cups. The atmosphere is original just like you would expect back in the day. We ordered a cheese burger & onion rings, 2 cheese burger platters a coffee and 2 shakes (1 coffee 1 vanilla). The hamburgers were not like they used to be with the cheese curled up on the corners which in My opinion was what Shady Glen was known for. ITs burgers with the cheese!! They were not spectacular like we remembered. The onion Rings & Fries were decent, Cole slaw was just ok. We liked the Milk Shakes the most! Service was good and our food was hot Personally I
.we don't think the burger & fries platter is worth almost $17.00 bucks..but hey go try it yourself- if we ever go back we probably would try something else . We had 3 people in our group our bill came to $85.- then we forgot it was CASH ONLY lol but the ATM in the building helped us out . So bring cash

Michael P.

Great local diner/restaurant. Service and atmosphere were excellent. The food was very good. The cheeseburger with fried cheese was different but worth a try. Also ate here for breakfast and had the pancakes, a little rubbery, disappointing. Stick to the eggs

Donald O.

We have been talking about eating at Shady Glen for many years. Even though we grew up in the area it was our first time here. Just a heads up, this is a cash only place but they do have an ATM on site. When you walk in, you are immediately teleported back to 1950. It’s a quaint, retro diner, a little dated but very clean. We got the cheeseburger with the fried cheese and the cheesefurter, which is a hot dog with fried cheese. The fried cheese was definitely something you need to experience to understand. We loved it and we have never had anything like it. Also, I am kind of a Cole slaw snob and I actually loved the Cole slaw here, very good!! The overall quality of the food was excellent, definitely what you would expect from a retro 1950’s diner, the waitress was very attentive and sweet and we finished the meal off with some ice cream, which was also very good. We will definitely be going back soon, it’s a great overall experience!!