Long story short. Skip it. It s ok. Head to Ghirar...

Long story short. Skip it. It s ok. Head to Ghirardelli Sq. You re not that much further away. If you want quality ice cream Or just buy a pint at your local grocer. Nothing to write home about here.

Staff:
The staff seem less than motivated to do anything. When I walked (Sunday 12/3) it there was two young people a guy and a girl . The guy practically was laying down on the counter. Head folded in his arms on the desk. I wasn t greeted with a Hello , Welcome , Not even a can I help you. They seemed to want me out as fast as I came in.

Only problem is that, it s cash only. So if you re like me and don t walk with it you have to go across the street and pay a atm fee. Furthermore, on that topic after giving the girl my cash, she give me the courtesy of handing me my change in my hand. Unsurprisingly, the tip jar is front and center.

Facilities:
Some might call it charming , cute , or eclectic where I m from we call it dirty. There s no excuse for a establishment that is selling a dairy product to look the way this does. Everything seemed like it had a layer of dust or dirt and two people uninterested in being there, much less wanting to clean. I did take pause in moving forward with my purchase due to the condition of the place and the frigid response from the staff. (Ha! Puns) but I read some of the reviews and moved forward.

Product:
Honestly, I don t know what everyone is raving about. I wasn t BLOWN AWAY by this ice cream and it sure as hell wasn't The best ice cream I ve ever tasted. like some of the reviewers seem to infer. It s about as good as Breyers or Cold Stone. In fact, there s a diner right outside of Union sq that makes the best milkshakes and has better ice cream. If they re making this themselves, I would stop and just have it shipped in. There s no big difference.

The pricing is good. I paid about $5 for a medium sized cup of Cookies and Cream. I didn t feel it was over priced. But I d pay more if it meant the service and the establishment made some upgrades.

Added note: They also charge $1 for water....I mean, it s water. Not even bottled. I wonder how much are you making off of that!? It seemed kind of silly when there s bottled water everywhere.

Synopsis:
It s at its best 2 out of 5. I d be hard pressed to give it a 3. But, I d give it one extra star as it is out of season for ice cream, I get that. I feel like they could try a lot harder. Being walking distance from San Frans most iconic tourist traps, Lombard Street Gardens, Polk Street, and the Cathedral, I feel like this place could be an amazing find. However, a lot of work needs to be done. Half of it could be fixed very easily with A active internet connection.

My recommendation:

Hire friendlier, more motivated staff, ones that understand customer service by smiling and welcoming the customer into the establishment. I shouldn t walk into you practically sleeping no matter how boring it is on a Sunday afternoon. Also, when they pay thank them for their patronage and give them their cash in their hand as they handed it to you.

Put on some lively music and some chairs outside for a nice day. Folks will appreciate a nice seat outside after getting their cardio in with the SF hills. You could be the treat for their hard work.

Update the place, replace those old floor tiles, throw up a fresh coat of fun paint. Like mint green or arctic blue, and clean, clean, clean! The staff should always be cleaning or thinking about cleaning.

Start accepting Credit cards. A Square, Paypal, or Stripe are practically free nowadays for merchants. Also, don t charge for water. Either sell bottled water or don t offer it. $1 for water is just plain nonsensical.

After all that, then maybe, put the tip jar out.