Sketch Ice Cream

Although Sketch closed a long time ago, I’m still sad to see this place gone, because their soft-​serve ice cream was high-​quality, came in unique flavors, and could be accented with even more unusual toppings. The entire space was also modern and well-​lit, and the service decent.
Alas, the shop was on a stretch of 4^th Street south of University Avenue, noticeably removed from the hubbub of the retail corridor further north. While this meant that parking was easy to find, it also meant that foot traffic was rather sparse. I’m hoping a concept like this can survive in a busier area like downtown Berkeley or one of the many neighborhood hubs in Oakland.

Now gone, and always under appreciated, Sketch was arguably the best ice cream in the bay area. Sadly though, in the bay, we’ve been acclimated over time to more and more in-​your-​face flavors, who cares about texture? Where most ice cream shops in the bay use the same Strauss ice cream base, Sketch made their own. And even if you look solely at the 5 ice creameries that do make their own base, I’d say that only sketch and one other ice creamery have kept their quality consistently good over time. I mention texture, because it is the real test of an ice cream maker. It’s like the crust on a pizza… while the «flavor» is the topping. So while most everyone assesses their ice cream based on whether or not they liked the flavor (combination), it’s pretty much like judging your pizza on whether or not you liked the sausage and pepperoni together. Too often I run into icy ice cream… often the result of poor handling once the ice cream has been made. Beyond that, you run into ice creams where the flavors are masked by too much fat, too much sugar, too much salt, too much overrun, not enough overrun… and on and on.
Sketch always payed attention to their ice cream regardless of the chosen flavor. And on their solid base, the flavors were really highlighted, often delicate and ethereal, but always true to the produce that went into them. And they were never ever too sweet or too salty… and never icy.
So, yeah, I’m bummed that I don’t have my favorite within-​reach ice cream shop anymore. Guess I’ll just have to wait to get back to Sapporo to have a proper frozen swirl.

Went here today to have delicious yummy soft serve magic, and guess what, they were closed. And that’s not all, there was a sign that said that as of tomorrow (July 6, 2014) they are closing forever: (
I almost wanted to cry…
I have come here many times, going out of my way to get ice cream here because it was just so good. I used to be prejudiced against soft serve, but the owner changed my mind and convinced me that soft serve can be tasty and memorable and deliciously yummy. The most excellent. He explained that every ice cream starts as a soft serve and that many people add additional ingredients to make it stay solid. But he didn’t want to do that, so he is serving ice cream in its real, beginning form. Ice cream before it is packaged. Essentially a sketch. Like a painting starts with a sketch, ice cream starts with a soft serve. I loved it.
I am sad to see this place go, i thought it was one of the best ice cream places in Oakland. Not kidding. They are (were) amazing.
And i’m sad they’re closing :(
Maybe the owners will see this review and change their mind?

Going to write a review for this place although I see people updating that this place will be closing soon…
Decent ice cream flavors such as earl grey tea, plum sorbet, and summer berry. The vanilla bean was just okay. Adding sea salt caramel topping made it even tastier. I also got oatmeal and chocolate chip cookies. On the small side but still was satisfying.
All in all, a cute little ice cream shop on 4^th Street. Could work on that friendly smile and a better service though…

Sadly Sketch is closing it’s doors once again. The official date is Sunday July 6^th. The owners (Eric & Ruthie) are focusing on their beyond adorable daughter. Mo and I have made the trek several times across the bay when we heard Sketch was re-​opening! We have a lot of good memories associated with Sketch. From their 4^th Street days when we were just college students and Mo would live breathe and die for the candied pecans over his ice cream to the new 4^th Street days where Mo would live breathe and die for candied nuts over his ice cream.

Just heard that they are closing again :(
if you have facebook or instagram accounts:

I got the earl grey ice cream with olive oil and sea salt fixins, chocolate pudding, and chocolate chip cookies. All of the above were fantastic, the price is worth it, and this place would’ve gotten 5 stars from me for taste alone, but…
the workers weren’t too friendly. It’s an ice cream shop and no one greeted us when we walked in, although they looked up and saw us. I don’t know about others but I expect friendly and personable people at places like this during the summertime.

I actually heard about this place through Instagram. I was «exploring» and saw a photo of ice cream with a topping I’ve never seen before so I Unilocaled it, bookmarked it, and planned my trip across the bridge.
Needless to say, thank heavens for Instagram. I love this place! The area is random but I’m assuming up and coming. The interior of the store is so hip and modern. They serve sightglass coffee, even hipper. And only have 4 flavors a day, making them the hippest.
I tried vanilla with coffee granitas and it was awesome. It was indeed so awesome, that I ordered a cake for Mother’s Day — earl grey ice cream with vanilla cake and Italian meringue. It was a huge hit! The ice cream is on point, the cake was the perfect texture and the saltiness of the meringue added a twist that no one had had before.
Oh yeah, everyone that works there is super nice too :) Recommending to all my friends!

Cute place to hang out and eat some fancy froyo. I didn’t like their lavender soft serve. It tasted like potpourri. Maybe they got the flavor too well. So it’s not their fault the lavender reminded me of potpourri. It’s lavender’s fault for being better suited as a febreeze scent than anything else. And it’s my fault I ordered it swirled with strawberry.
That said, the vanilla bean my friend got was so good. #jealous #nexttimeaskforataste

Low-​key and humbly furnished, anything but sketch. This family-​owned shop has yet to catch on the 4^th Street fever, and personally, I wouldn’t mind. Their limited assortment of refreshing treats is all home-​made and makes for the perfect present for your dessert-​inclined friend… your own sweet tooth of course!
I found Sketch with a few other friends quite purely on accident but also quite purely determined to find some sugary treat to balance out lunch at Vik’s Chaat. But if you are looking for a savory morsel, try one of Sketch’s empanadas!
Each day they offer only four flavors of soft serve, with two combinations of swirled soft serve. Along with your classic Vanilla and Chocolate, Sketch serves up a daily dose of feel-​good ice cream in such forms as Earl Grey, Saffron, and Lavender. And no cup is complete without a healthy scoop of some of their seasonal fruit granita (much better than shaved ice). If you’re looking for a quick fix to go, go for the Three Buck Cups of ice cream. Of the Oolong kind, to be exact (tea lovers, this is for you). They’re deep frozen, but after a few Instagram pictures and a few minutes in some overeager hands, it’s perfect.
Bring cash if you’re buying under $ 5. Or use the magical Venmo app.
Fun fact: Sketch is named for their faithfulness to the most basic, raw ingredients. Even without the embellishments though, presentation — from their chalkboard collage menu to the ice cream scoops on the wall — most definitely deserves an A+.

Wouldn’t you know it, gourmet soft serve is quite the complementary dessert to a plate lunch at Brennan’s.
I think Sketch is like Ici but for soft serve ice cream (NOT froyo; there is a difference).
Although the empanadas caught my hubby’s eyes since sweets aren’t his thing, and the sorbet offering caught my eye because dairy and I sometimes are enemies, we settled on the simple but delicious strawberry soft serve. At $ 3.50 per cup we opted not to indulge in additional toppings, which included burnt caramel and cacao nibs. I could not resist adding a $ 0.85 mini chocolate chip cookies (with visible salt flecks).
All was delectable. There were also to-​go sweets, homemade marshmallows (swoon) and a 3-​buck-​puck of hard-​packed ice cream, which means we’ll be back.

Cute ice cream shop with lovely decoration. Simple, delicious soft serve ice cream bursting in flavors, what’s not to like? The ice cream here is not out of this world, but they definitely did it right. The flavors I tried were: Vanilla Bean with Asian Pear Granita, the Burnt Caramel, and the Pumpkin flavor. All the flavors were good, but I do think the texture of the ice cream can be creamier (it seems to melt rather quickly). I felt like I was borderline drinking my ice cream after a few bites (and trust me, I do not eat slow).
Service is friendly, definitely come try it out if you are in the area!

Cool spot in west Berkeley that serves artisanal ice cream, delicious desserts, and killer coffee. One of the few places to find sightglass coffee in the East Bay.
The service was friendly and prompt, and the space is bright! Great spot to hang and have conversations. Definitely coming back…

Sketch is artisan. Never knew Aziza’s Moroccan wonder Lahlou was close friends with Eric and Ruthie (owners).
No espresso drinx here, but the most delicate of sugary wonders on display. Everything is dainty and mouthwatering.
Sightglass pour over — -au lait smooth, nice. Wish it had a tad stronger brew to balance out that much milk.
Ice creams and empanadas should be on your mind as you make your way across from Grocery Outlet and Takara Sake.

I happened to be in the area and came in to try some of their soft-​serve ice cream. The space is very white and their logo which is a wooden ice cream sticks is super cute. One of the walls also has a bunch of different ice cream scoopers hung up in a line, which is also really cute. I tried a sample of their burnt caramel soft-​serve ice cream. It was okay. None of the flavors they had really did anything for me, but they had something on their menu that was like «3-​buck cups» or something like that, and I was told that they were ice cream that was pre-​packed, so it would have a more frozen consistency than the soft-​serve. I opted for the lavender pre-​packed cup to-​go. It was yummy and because it was frozen, it had a more ice-​cream like consistency than soft-​serve normally does, which I liked.
I guess the limited selection of flavors and what they did have the day I went didn’t really excite me. I would like to come back to try the earl grey flavor some day.

Noticed this cute corner store driving along 4^th street headed to lunch. I noticed that the place served soft serve «ice cream» and I knew I had to check this place out after lunch.
As we entered teh store, we saw a short list menu and saw they ordered a variety of sweets and desserts to choose from. They also serve sandwiches but I strictly came here for the desserts. I ordered a burnt caramel and coffee combo soft serve. Quite delicious! I love the fact that you can mix and match the soft serve flavors and you can comes with fixins (toppings). I got the cocoa dibs which gave it a crunchy taste to my soft serve.
We took some chocolate chip cookies to go and a stroop waffle just for good measure. The chocolate chip cookies, though on the smaller side, were quite tasty. You definitely can’t just eat one. I haven’t tasted the waffle (as of this post), but I’m sure if it’s as good as everything else we tried.
Definitely coming back here. Make sure to check for the times. They are open on very limited hours throughout the week! Mostly afternoon hours.

tucked away on the quieter side of 4^th street is this industrial and clean-​looking space they call Sketch Ice Cream. The ceilings are high, the space is intentionally minimally decorated, and all the writing (menus, signs, price tags) inside is hand-​written in the most endearingly neat handwriting. This gives a place that feels cool a very warm, home-​y touch, and I loved that. I also loved the 1 big white communal table inside that seems to be made of the same sleek white material that the backs of white iPhones are made of lol.
I love that they serve ice cream and empanadas. A seemingly unconventional pairing of snack offerings, but delicious nonetheless. The empanadas were small, but pack a flavorful punch. The pastry crust is kind of thick, but the over effect was still fantastic. Will be back to try the soft serve!

Super simplistic place that serves little bites of sweet (cookies, coconut macaroons, brownie bites) and savory (empanadas) items as well as Sightglass coffee and ice cream.
Last weekend, they had four flavors of soft serve (saffron, vanilla bean, lime sorbet, and mint) and two different «3-​buck pucks» (essentially, a cup of pre-​packed ice cream available in Earl Grey and burnt caramel. Guess which one I went with?
). It was just… OK.
The idea of the place is cute and all, but when I’m craving something sweet, saffron, Earl Grey, and lime just don’t come to mind.

Sketch is nothing short of fantastic. I was ecstatic to find out that they reopened because there is something very special about this place. New location (still on 4^th St. but closer to Takara sake distillery) has the same delicious and elegantly prepared treats.
The presentation of the shop is impeccable. Impossibly clean and just darling. Ice cream scoopers strategically placed as wall art and crisp plastic packages filled with gourmet goodies like handmade marshmallows and toffee.
I don’t come here that often because I’m trying to cut back on my sugar intake but I’ve enjoyed every flavor of their soft serve I’ve tasted. I also love the fact that they use Straus Family organic milk from Petaluma and fresh seasonal fruits to make the ice cream. If you’re picky about flavors, it’s cool that you can check their Twitter account for updates.
I’m looking forward to dropping by in the near future. I’ve got to try an empanada!

omigodddd just thinking back on that lavender-​flavored soft serve… it was like a sweet flowery explosion in my mouth :3
Sketch is a bit further away from the main shops of Fourth Street … but the walk was WORTH IT. It’s so cutely decorated! Very minimalistic and modern.
And the ice cream… my god, it is the best soft serve I’ve ever had. Out of all the flavors I tried (lavender, chocolate, coffee, vanilla), lavender and coffee were my faves. You can even ask for swirl to get both flavors at once! The serving sizes are also very satisfying. It doesn’t seem like much at first because the cups are tiny, but they fill that thing uppp!
It is a bit expensive for soft serve, but I guess you’re paying for the experience. and that explosion of deliciousness.

«Where is this ice cream place you’re taking me to?»
«It’s not ice cream, it’s soft serve, and it’s on 4^th street.»
«Ooh! I love 4^th street!»
«No, not that part of 4^th street.»
Sketch is located on the «other» side of 4^th Street, just south of University near Grocery Outlet. Street parking was easy. The interior looks so shiny and hip. This is not your neighborhood ice cream parlor. They offer four flavors of soft serve and on the day we visited, the offerings were vanilla bean, orange sorbet, burnt caramel, and lavender. My friend and I both chose the burnt caramel. A small cup will cost you $ 3.50. The ice cream was delicious!
In addition to the soft serve, they offer baked goods like tiny cookies, stroopwaffles (!!), olive oil cake, and empanadas. Pour-​over Sightglass coffee is available, too.