One of the most-mentioned names for ice cream shops in San Francisco is Bi-Rite Creamery, located in a bustling street corner in the Mission District. I’ll put this out there right away. I’ll be mentioning another Bay Area small batch, hand-crafted ice cream shop throughout this post. That’s right, the dearly-beloved Ici in Berkeley is the most similar in terms of style and taste. How does Bi-Rite stack up? Read on for my thoughts!
There are quite a few similarities between the two shops. Both began in 2006 from rich culinary traditions (Bi-Rite Market since the 40s and Chez Panisse) and offer delicious, rich, and flavorful ice cream. Both aren’t afraid to experiment with different flavors. And perhaps most similarly, both see huge fanfare and long lines at almost all times of the day and allow people to go through the time-tested ritual of sampling ice cream flavors.
Yet there are still some marked differences. For one the flavors at Ici tend to be much more out there, whereas Bi-Rite sticks to variations of beloved classics. And because Bi-Rite sticks with the same selection of ice cream for longer periods of time, waiting in line isn’t as painful as it can be for Ici (that moment when you’re two away and the people in front are trying 5 different flavors…). Oh, and another downer is that Bi-Rite has normal cones, not the amazing crepe cones with chocolate nougat that Ici offers.
Still, the bottom line is that Bi-Rite offers amazing ice cream and is located in an amazingly festive area (Dolores Park, Mission Dolores, tons of restaurants and bars nearby). I’ve tried the coffee toffee, cookies n cream, and ricanelas (cinnamon with snickerdoodle) ice cream, and they’ve all exceeded my expectations for what good ice cream should be! I forget to mention some bonus plusses for Bi-Rite – their regular size gives you two smaller scoops so you can pick different flavors for your cone. And if you’re not feeling the long lines there’s always the no-line soft serve ice cream window with different flavors each day of the week! Great small batch ice cream shop with high quality and tasty flavors – you can’t go wrong giving it a go!
Ree-kong-nel-las at www.TheFoodSpotlight.com.
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