Gruto’s Soft Serve

I went to this local gem in this bike friendly Virginia town last Saturday. I decided to get one of their specialty soft serve and it was just perfect for a very hot Saturday afternoon. I found out that this place has been around for decades but just recently in the last couple years, it was bought from the prior owner. If I’m in the area, I would go here again.

Milkshakes. 4 stars. Only reason not 5 may be because not many flavors and couldn’t evaluate. Nice atmosphere. Cool crew.

My family and I love Gruto’s! If we are looking for ice cream there is no other place we want to go. The banana cream pie sundae is amazing! The kids like the belly wrecker. The new owners are amazingly nice and responsive. It’s a fun place with delicious ice cream!

We really enjoyed it! We will be back very soon. We had the vanilla shake which was amazing. Our kids had the triple decker belly wrecker and vanilla ice cream with sprinkles. Service was wonderful and friendly too!

Right off the bat, this place gets 1 star less for not accepting credit cards, and 1 star less for being rude to customers who did not see one of their many obnoxious home PC printed signs that state they don’t accept credit cards… having once witnessed one of their male staff’s loud, annoyed reaction to someone wanting to pay by credit card, I hardly felt like supporting their business. And while I very much like their soft-​serve ice cream, the lack of hard ice cream which most of my family and friends prefer means we don’t come here much.

I’ve been here several times and always left with a happy belly. I’m giving them 4 stars mostly because I was interested in one of their specials, but not in the size they were advertising. So they worked with me to get a smaller portion of their special instead. Quite happy with that!

Came here with my two kids who both got chocolate/​vanilla soft serve. I got the blackberry. It was all delicious. They had a huge selection of sundaes, etc. I would love to come back and try more. Also, the staff was super friendly.

A local gem! It’s a banner day when they reopen for the season. Excellent soft serve ice cream. There’s a reason this is our family favorite.

I’ve been going to Gruto’s for years now, and it has never disappointed me! This is real soft-​serve and even if it is a little pricey it’s completely worth it. This is the kind of place where you can stop in buy some ice cream and have a chat with the owners who are extremely friendly. Keep it up!

Kitchy place, love the local feel, great soft-​serve. Kids really like coming here to get a cone with sprinkles & to check out the funky décor. Black raspberry is the best flavor! Although it sounds too healthy for my kids so they only get chocolate. Good bet if you’re not into chain places. They have a quirky, sarcastic sense of humor which I very much enjoy.

We’ve been back to Gruto’s twice since my original review and I’m taking a star away due to the insufferable attitude of the ownership. Both times, there has been a new sign up complaining about something absolutely ridiculous. The first time, they — I kid you not — announced they no longer wanted to own the shop because people were critical of them on the internet. The second, it was a childish note about them being closed for a family wedding someone had inconsiderately scheduled at a time that was, apparently, second only to Super Bowl Sunday. (Literally. Super Bowl Sunday.) I also received a message after my first review that was clearly from someone associated with the business, insulting me and claiming the product was stale because it was ‘cold’ inside an ice cream shop. Further reading of responses from the owner on Unilocal left a much worse taste in my mouth than their ice cream ever could.
People. Calm down. You have a decent — potentially very good — product, but your attitude is really ruining the experience.

While I can say that soft serve is not up there in my book with gelato or frozen custard, I do like Gruto’s. And while my kids may miss putting 12 pounds of gummy bears on their yogurt at the bible beater yogurt joint, they still tout Gruto’s as their favorite in town.
I like to kick it old school and get a chocolate malt, my husband the root beer float. The only thing that would improve the place is perhaps an old fashioned soda fountain counter. They have all of the product, with walk-​up window service.
As for some of the really negative reviews, I don’t see how some can be so callous. Honestly, it’s ice cream, how bad can it be?

The ice cream is delicious and well worth the drive from Leesburg to try it! My favorite so far is chocolate, but I have heard great things about the chocolate banana which I will get next time! Can’t wait for a chance to go back and try it again!

I have been to Gruto’s a handful of times now and have had great experiences! The service is always friendly and quick. I cannot speak about most of the ice cream because I always get the same thing when I come here (the Reese’s Sundae). It is amazing! They load up vanilla ice cream with chocolate and peanut butter sauce and mounds and mounds of crushed reese’s peanut butter cups. Do yourself a favor and try it!
This is a great addition to downtown Purcellville. Keep up the great work, guys!

I came to Gruto’s as a bribe for the kids after dragging them to Corcoran’s and Adroit Theory Brewery. I had never been to the downtown in Purcellville before, but I was really impressed. Purcellville definitely has an authentic, bona fide small town downtown area. Gruto’s fits right in. It’s a small place right along the Main Street. I saw some negative reviews before going, but I didn’t want to go to Cold Stone or Baskin Robbins while I was out in the country. So we forged ahead. The place is a tad small and decorated with lots of LSU Tigers and other New Orleans memorabilia. If you’re not a fan of LSU, you may have to get over that. I thought the soft serve was great. They only 5 or 6 flavors, but they could do twists of more than one. I got chocolate and vanilla, and here was the real selling point for me, they had magic shell and I got that added on. That was awesome. I haven’t had magic shell in a long time. I’m sure something that is liquid and then hardens when it comes in contact with something cold may not be good for you, but it tasted pretty darn good this one time. I didn’t think they were rude or overpriced. I think a small cup was only about $ 2.50. I bought five and it came out to under $ 15 with a couple of extras. That’s way better than most ice cream or frozen yogurt places in the NoVA/​DC area. I’m a fan. Next time I will go to the Catoctin Creek Distillery across the street.

Awful soft serve rude service! We have just moved to area excited to find ice cream shop enter the store can not view ice cream menu is small print and confusing camouflaged amongst walls of notices notes and junk pinned in walls. Vowed never to return two girls serving extremely rude and abrupt — stressful experience

I always prefer real ice cream rather than yogurt. They make awesome sundaes!

I just went to Gruto’s for the first time after moving to the area. There is not a big selection of soft served, however I tried the Chocolate/​Banana twist and it was really good. The cones (without toppings) weren’t too expensive, but other choices did get rather pricey.
CASH ONLY THOUGH!

Made a return trip just because you guys commented back.
Sorry … this is just not good soft serve.
I understand taste is subjective, and maybe my family’s palate is somehow skewed?
But … we think it’s pretty yucky.
So there’t that.

My kids always beg to stop here but I take them to McDonalds instead. Why? Because even Mickey D’s has better soft serve than the swill they serve at Grutos! Let me sum this up for you in two words — OVERPRICED and OVERRATED! I have no idea how anyone can rate this place five stars, maybe they are the same tastebudless folks who frequent Anthony’s? I don’t know but the ice cream is indeed awful! My only hope is that once Sweet Frog opens, Grutos will close and we can fill that space with something tasty!
After posting this review the owner felt the need to respond so obviously I touched a nerve. Thanks for referring me to as «uneducated». I am not btw. Also, Unilocal is not quite an «anonymous internet review». You can see who I am and you can see my other reviews. If you disagree, fine but I write honest reviews and call it like it is. Just because someone else patronizes the place who owns an ice cream shop means nothing. Each to his own but I still say the ice cream, even if it is made from the finest products, is awful.