Executive summary: This place kind of stinks. Take a pass.Details:Like a couple of good tourists, my wife and I ambled by Bud's and were taken in my the "old fashioned soda fountain" look at first glance. That was the best part of our visit: the view from the sidewalk.We ordered 2 scoops in a cup with hot fudge. The young woman took what seemed like a really long time (minutes) in front of the hot fudge gizmo. Her back was blocking our view, so we just sort of shrugged our shoulders and figured she knew what she was doing.She put the cup on the counter and informed us what we owed. My wife (being the sharper of the two) noticed that the hot fudge looked "lumpy" and congealed. She quickly tested the temp with a quick finger and -- yep -- it was room temperature and hard. I tried some and -- I kid ye not -- it was chewy like caramel. My wife asked about that and the young woman told us the hot fudge machine "wasn't working". Hm. Why not tell us that before scraping it out and prying it out onto the unwilling scoops of ice cream?My wife said it really didn't look good at all and felt weird about paying for something like that. The young woman said she wouldn't charge us for the hot fudge. Being good Catholics and Baby Boomers, we felt weird about insisting on a new scoops (we could just eat around the goo), so we stood outside to give it a go.Moving the congealed mess to the side revealed what I could best describe as "discount grocery store quality" ice cream. It had that ice milk look to it and had just the barest flavor at all. We could only tell the difference in the two flavors by color (cookies & cream and peanut-butter-chocolate).We were drawn in like chumps and regretted it. Do yourself a favor and pass this place by. Cheers.
Atmosphere: 2
Food: 1
Service: 2
Mariami Betsu
Very unique & very cool place
Sandra
Fun place for a birthday gathering for small children.
Ella G.
SUPER disappointed in the wasted potential of this place. Just a few observations from my visit:-Considering this is called "Bud's Fountain" (and there is a "Coca Cola Fountain Service" display inside) you would think they serve fountain soda. I'm not even asking for hand mixed soda syrup, just a regular soda fountain would've worked. Nope, the soda was canned.-Floats/ice cream are not actually served in a glass dish typical of your classic soda fountain/ice cream joint--single use plastic & styrofoam only (Note: classic ice cream dishes/glasses were on display behind the counter, and pictured on the signs outside). Not a deal breaker, but it made the whole experience feel that much cheaper. Plus the Coca Cola branding certainly made the off brand soda that was actually served stand out.-The exterior is super cute, love the signage especially. The interior, however, is dingy and outdated. Attached are photos; you can see crumbs/debris all over the floors and counters, as well as a lack of tables in some of the booths?!-There was no music playing, and the general ambience was lacking. I understand the staff were probably teenagers working summer jobs but the service was pretty subpar. I love a retro, small town vibe but Bud's unfortunately just felt overlooked. -The price...$22+ for two ice cream treats? I ordered a basic root beer float, and my partner got a waffle cup chocolate ice cream w/ sprinkles, oreos, and chocolate syrup. The toppings really add up, and for mediocre ice cream it felt egregious.I was SO excited to pass this spot as I love love love an old school ice cream spot, but this was a major disappointment. It's basically a shell of what it could be, or maybe used to be.
Levi 501
Ice cream tasted like the kind you buy in the gallon size from Safeway wasn't made there. They buy it in bulk. Girls working were too busy on their cell phones. Wouldn't go back or recommend.
Maureen Fleegal
Our first time here and it was great!
Landon B.
I don't know what all these low reviews are for. Oh wait! Yes I do! It's from the visiting snobs. Come to Truckee, and have fun but geez please have some class and show respect for the people that live and work there. This is a local spot with friendly people and good treats.
John Berg
Came in with 16 family members, the staff patiently served us with a smile, everyone enjoyed their treat.
max spieges
Decent ice cream but counter lady was super rude charged my card twice then said it didn’t go through
Chuck Taylor
Google listing says they close at 10 but they close earlier. Said they have no clue what ifs wrong. Boneheads
The interior is super dated and not well maintained. The carpet is dirty and stained, booths missing tables. It's just gross.They were out of brownies, hot fudge, and some ice cream flavors. So a traditional sundae wasn't possible. I opted for caramel sauce instead, I assumed it would be hot. Nope, it was cold and straight from a bottle. It was clear-ish in color and really unappetizing.Oh- and they don't use those cute little retro glass ice cream dishes they have on display. They use styrofoam or plastic containers.
K P
Love this place! It’s an old fashioned ice cream shop, the service is amazing and they let me try lots of samples to make sure i got what i liked!
viktorija rumpf
This was not worth it.. first I got over charged, but okay my fault - I should have asked for the receipt.. second I ordered Margo sorbet along with other flavour. So i walked out for a walk once I finished first flavour there was no mango.. clearly I got totally fooled. Sad :/ plus as previously stated - no hygiene whatsoever
Christina T.
I really wish I could give Buds a better rating. Unfortunately it's in poor condition, the "retro" feel is more like a 50s shop left uncleaned and unrepaired. The summer brings soany flies in there,no idea why. Service is seriously underwhelming, probably because most people working there are high school kids with very little direction or guidance. Ice cream is ok. Traditional flavors with a few fun ones in the summer. But that's if you don't mind waiting since there is typically only 1 kid working. I want it to get better. It has sooooo much potential. But it needs help stat
Sid Gaonkar
We ordered the brownie sundae with chocolate ice cream …. The brownies were stale and the icecream we didn’t care for either… We asked for hot chocolate fudge and they didn’t have it… in the end we dumped the entire icecream and walked out… quite disappointed with the place….
Executive summary: This place kind of stinks. Take a pass.Details:Like a couple of good tourists, my wife and I ambled by Bud's and were taken in my the "old fashioned soda fountain" look at first glance. That was the best part of our visit: the view from the sidewalk.We ordered 2 scoops in a cup with hot fudge. The young woman took what seemed like a really long time (minutes) in front of the hot fudge gizmo. Her back was blocking our view, so we just sort of shrugged our shoulders and figured she knew what she was doing.She put the cup on the counter and informed us what we owed. My wife (being the sharper of the two) noticed that the hot fudge looked "lumpy" and congealed. She quickly tested the temp with a quick finger and -- yep -- it was room temperature and hard. I tried some and -- I kid ye not -- it was chewy like caramel. My wife asked about that and the young woman told us the hot fudge machine "wasn't working". Hm. Why not tell us that before scraping it out and prying it out onto the unwilling scoops of ice cream?My wife said it really didn't look good at all and felt weird about paying for something like that. The young woman said she wouldn't charge us for the hot fudge. Being good Catholics and Baby Boomers, we felt weird about insisting on a new scoops (we could just eat around the goo), so we stood outside to give it a go.Moving the congealed mess to the side revealed what I could best describe as "discount grocery store quality" ice cream. It had that ice milk look to it and had just the barest flavor at all. We could only tell the difference in the two flavors by color (cookies & cream and peanut-butter-chocolate).We were drawn in like chumps and regretted it. Do yourself a favor and pass this place by. Cheers.
Atmosphere: 2
Food: 1
Service: 2
Very unique & very cool place
Fun place for a birthday gathering for small children.
SUPER disappointed in the wasted potential of this place. Just a few observations from my visit:-Considering this is called "Bud's Fountain" (and there is a "Coca Cola Fountain Service" display inside) you would think they serve fountain soda. I'm not even asking for hand mixed soda syrup, just a regular soda fountain would've worked. Nope, the soda was canned.-Floats/ice cream are not actually served in a glass dish typical of your classic soda fountain/ice cream joint--single use plastic & styrofoam only (Note: classic ice cream dishes/glasses were on display behind the counter, and pictured on the signs outside). Not a deal breaker, but it made the whole experience feel that much cheaper. Plus the Coca Cola branding certainly made the off brand soda that was actually served stand out.-The exterior is super cute, love the signage especially. The interior, however, is dingy and outdated. Attached are photos; you can see crumbs/debris all over the floors and counters, as well as a lack of tables in some of the booths?!-There was no music playing, and the general ambience was lacking. I understand the staff were probably teenagers working summer jobs but the service was pretty subpar. I love a retro, small town vibe but Bud's unfortunately just felt overlooked. -The price...$22+ for two ice cream treats? I ordered a basic root beer float, and my partner got a waffle cup chocolate ice cream w/ sprinkles, oreos, and chocolate syrup. The toppings really add up, and for mediocre ice cream it felt egregious.I was SO excited to pass this spot as I love love love an old school ice cream spot, but this was a major disappointment. It's basically a shell of what it could be, or maybe used to be.
Ice cream tasted like the kind you buy in the gallon size from Safeway wasn't made there. They buy it in bulk. Girls working were too busy on their cell phones. Wouldn't go back or recommend.
Our first time here and it was great!
I don't know what all these low reviews are for. Oh wait! Yes I do! It's from the visiting snobs. Come to Truckee, and have fun but geez please have some class and show respect for the people that live and work there. This is a local spot with friendly people and good treats.
Came in with 16 family members, the staff patiently served us with a smile, everyone enjoyed their treat.
Decent ice cream but counter lady was super rude charged my card twice then said it didn’t go through
Google listing says they close at 10 but they close earlier. Said they have no clue what ifs wrong. Boneheads
Restaurantji Recommends
The interior is super dated and not well maintained. The carpet is dirty and stained, booths missing tables. It's just gross.They were out of brownies, hot fudge, and some ice cream flavors. So a traditional sundae wasn't possible. I opted for caramel sauce instead, I assumed it would be hot. Nope, it was cold and straight from a bottle. It was clear-ish in color and really unappetizing.Oh- and they don't use those cute little retro glass ice cream dishes they have on display. They use styrofoam or plastic containers.
Love this place! It’s an old fashioned ice cream shop, the service is amazing and they let me try lots of samples to make sure i got what i liked!
This was not worth it.. first I got over charged, but okay my fault - I should have asked for the receipt.. second I ordered Margo sorbet along with other flavour. So i walked out for a walk once I finished first flavour there was no mango.. clearly I got totally fooled. Sad :/ plus as previously stated - no hygiene whatsoever
I really wish I could give Buds a better rating. Unfortunately it's in poor condition, the "retro" feel is more like a 50s shop left uncleaned and unrepaired. The summer brings soany flies in there,no idea why. Service is seriously underwhelming, probably because most people working there are high school kids with very little direction or guidance. Ice cream is ok. Traditional flavors with a few fun ones in the summer. But that's if you don't mind waiting since there is typically only 1 kid working. I want it to get better. It has sooooo much potential. But it needs help stat
We ordered the brownie sundae with chocolate ice cream …. The brownies were stale and the icecream we didn’t care for either… We asked for hot chocolate fudge and they didn’t have it… in the end we dumped the entire icecream and walked out… quite disappointed with the place….