Ice Cream
In an effort to get in the spirit of what is hoped to be the best summer since 98, it's time to talk about some san francisco ice cream...
Bi-Rite Creamery
3692 18th St @ Delores
San Francisco, CA
This block of 18th Street is pretty intense for good food. Tartine Bakery, Delfina, Bi-Rite market, and Bi-Rite Creamery are all on the same block?!?
I'd been hearing about this handmade ice cream at this place for a while. I was a bit hesitant when I heard they make a sundae that involves chocolate ice cream with olive oil and sea salt on it. Then somebody told me they make a Ritual Coffee flavor, so I had to go over there. I first went on a really hot saturday - the line was almost all the way to Delores Park. I was hot and delirious and somehow ordered lemon flavored ice cream. Lemon?? The more I ate, the more I liked it. It was nothing like I'd expected - very creamy and nothing like a fruit sorbet. I tried a chocolate chai ice cream that had a good flavor and unusual texture. The next time I went I got butter pecan which was also good. This ice cream has much small batch hand made character. I hope to try them all eventually. I got the "buy 10, get one free" card.
This place seems to be in that recent category of SF places like Ritual Coffee, Tartine Bakery, and possibly Little Star Pizza to an extent of extremely high quality food somehow tied to almost a fixed gear track bike city hipness. For example, the ice cream flavors appear to be written on the glass refrigerator case with a black marker. It's pretty hard to read from a distance - but it's hip or something. This is a turn-on or turn-off for some. My only concern is that these place keep the quality of food as high as it is now. If they do, I'll keep coming back.
Joe's Ice Cream
5351 Geary Blvd @ 18th Ave
San Francisco, CA
On the other side of town from Bi-Rite, in my neighborhood exists an ice cream shop uninterested in being stylish. Joe's is pretty outstanding in it's own way. I showed up today and was disappointed they were out of their top-notch green tea ice cream. The lady working there made a major effort to scrape out all they had left from their tub for me and combined it with any other flavor of my choice, which for some reason was rocky road. The combination was delicious. The ice cream here is especially creamy. This place advertises specials on their walls for combos of hot dog/milkshake/soup and things like that, but the thing that demands attention is their "Joe's It" obviously inspired by the famous It's It ice cream sandwich. The Joe's It consists of a large round scoop of ice cream between two cookies and dipped in chocolate. They have vanilla Joe's Its on hand but if you want another flavor, you need to give them 24-hours notice. Someday I'm going to remember to order a green tea Joe's It.
So Joe's is a pretty down to earth local place that just happens to have ice cream good enough to compete with the big shots like Mitchell's.
Bi-Rite Creamery
3692 18th St @ Delores
San Francisco, CA
This block of 18th Street is pretty intense for good food. Tartine Bakery, Delfina, Bi-Rite market, and Bi-Rite Creamery are all on the same block?!?
I'd been hearing about this handmade ice cream at this place for a while. I was a bit hesitant when I heard they make a sundae that involves chocolate ice cream with olive oil and sea salt on it. Then somebody told me they make a Ritual Coffee flavor, so I had to go over there. I first went on a really hot saturday - the line was almost all the way to Delores Park. I was hot and delirious and somehow ordered lemon flavored ice cream. Lemon?? The more I ate, the more I liked it. It was nothing like I'd expected - very creamy and nothing like a fruit sorbet. I tried a chocolate chai ice cream that had a good flavor and unusual texture. The next time I went I got butter pecan which was also good. This ice cream has much small batch hand made character. I hope to try them all eventually. I got the "buy 10, get one free" card.
This place seems to be in that recent category of SF places like Ritual Coffee, Tartine Bakery, and possibly Little Star Pizza to an extent of extremely high quality food somehow tied to almost a fixed gear track bike city hipness. For example, the ice cream flavors appear to be written on the glass refrigerator case with a black marker. It's pretty hard to read from a distance - but it's hip or something. This is a turn-on or turn-off for some. My only concern is that these place keep the quality of food as high as it is now. If they do, I'll keep coming back.
Joe's Ice Cream
5351 Geary Blvd @ 18th Ave
San Francisco, CA
On the other side of town from Bi-Rite, in my neighborhood exists an ice cream shop uninterested in being stylish. Joe's is pretty outstanding in it's own way. I showed up today and was disappointed they were out of their top-notch green tea ice cream. The lady working there made a major effort to scrape out all they had left from their tub for me and combined it with any other flavor of my choice, which for some reason was rocky road. The combination was delicious. The ice cream here is especially creamy. This place advertises specials on their walls for combos of hot dog/milkshake/soup and things like that, but the thing that demands attention is their "Joe's It" obviously inspired by the famous It's It ice cream sandwich. The Joe's It consists of a large round scoop of ice cream between two cookies and dipped in chocolate. They have vanilla Joe's Its on hand but if you want another flavor, you need to give them 24-hours notice. Someday I'm going to remember to order a green tea Joe's It.
So Joe's is a pretty down to earth local place that just happens to have ice cream good enough to compete with the big shots like Mitchell's.