Van Leeuwen Artisan Ice Cream Truck

Get half and half… I got half cinnamon and half palm sugar (which tastes like caramel). :) and then mix it as your eating it.

It was yummy – but too expensive. I think some flavors were a bit too strong, like the cinnamon. I ended up going with hazelnut but it was filled with ground up hazelnut to the point it tasted like hazelnut dust in the icecream, and it kept making me cough.
It was OK, but I wouldn’t bother again.

Always wanted to try their ice cream and finally got a chance to since they were parked outside union square. There was a line as only there was one person serving. I ordered the earl grey tea on a cone came out to $ 4.90. It didnt came out as great as I thought. It tasted more like frozen tea then ice cream.

I think I can’t comment much on this truck.
Only ordered the espresso ice-​cream. one word. the ice-​cream flavor is not rich enough to enjoy. and it’s really small for 4.90? almost 5 dollars. I rather enjoy coolhaus. add a dollar and I will still get 2 pieces of cookies.
Guess the flavor is good. but since there are way too many ice-​cream/​dessert trucks in NYC… Van Leeuwen just can’t beat most of it.

I stopped in with two friends at 11pm last Saturday because they were craving ice cream — alcohol turns us into five-​year-​olds, evidently? They got normal scoops of hazelnut at $ 4.50 each and I got a ginger cookie at $ 3. The ice cream was stellar — little chunks of hazelnut throughout — and the ginger cookie was I think the best I’ve ever had in my life. I ADORE ginger cookies, and this one was chewy and spicy and the ginger totally came through. In my mind, the prices were almost worth it.
The woman who gave us our ice cream, though was a bit… odd. Neither of the women behind the counter were very pleasant — no smiling, very serious, which is out of place in an ice cream shop. And it was like they were trying to speak to customers as little as possible. There was a bit of confusion at the register as to who was next in line to order and who was paying and they made no effort to contribute or participate or helpfully say who was next, even though they would have known best, seeing as how they were taking our orders and money. But whatever, everyone has bad days, right? I wouldn’t normally care about this.
However, as I was getting ready to pay I asked how she was doing and mentioned that I was so glad it wasn’t raining that night, referring to the monsoon from the previous night. She looked at me deadly seriously and started a monologue about how we were in a drought and that we needed to pray for all the rain we could get. It went on for longer than was comfortable. Odd, right? For 11pm on Saturday to a line full of buzzing people?
Nothing was terrible, by any means, but an ice cream eatery screams fun to me, and their attitudes were screaming hipster-​holier-​than-​thou. So that made this place A-​OK. Not sure if it’s fair to take away stars when the ice cream and the cookie were legitimately delicious, but atmosphere does count for something, I guess.

Yes, the ice cream is good and you can tell it’s of higher quality, but it just didn’t blow me out of the water the same way it blew the money out of my wallet.
I had the mint chocolate ice cream and the chips were actually bitter chips. It didn’t subtract to the taste, but it didn’t add anything either. I would have rather had semi sweet chips as the ice cream itself wasn’t overly sweet.
The texture was smooth and melted in your mouth, but at the end of each lick, I was left with a mouthful of bitter chips.
I wasn’t impressed and will definitely stick with Sundaes and Cones to fulfill my ice cream craving.

Incredible tasting ice cream! Sure, it’s a little pricey but it’s made from locally sourced ingredients and hormone free milk & cream and that’s worth the money to me.
I sometimes wish they had a couple other toppings like one other nut, not just walnuts, and maybe some sprinkles for the kid in all of us but it’s not much of an issue once you taste the ice cream which is so good I usually want it plain.
Also, if you’re watching your calories or dairy intake this stuff is so creamy that you’ll be satisfied after a few bites and the scoops are a normal size (thank god!) so grab one to share and two people get a treat with no guilt. I’d rather have three bites of this deliciousness then a tub of the low-​fat, chemical sweetened stuff.
Support small, local businesses and find a truck near you!

I am new to New York, and I visited this ice cream truck on my way back to my dorm room. I sampled the rosewater cardamom ice cream, and I wasn’t too big of a fan, but my friend absolutely loved it, so it depends on your taste buds for that one. I ended up getting the strawberry nectarine sorbet, and it was VERY refreshing! I enjoyed it a lot, but I definitely prefer the Big Gay Ice Cream Truck over Van Leeuwen.

I’ve always got their ice cream here and they’re great quality and delicious.
Coffee is actually pretty good. They’re Intelligentsia coffee.
BUT, their chocolate chip cookie is amazing! Finally I found the chocolate chip cookie I can access daily, they’re soft and chewy enough, good chocolate, and tan! I don’t like chocolate chip cookies that are light in color like a sick cookie. A good tan but not crisped out is the best!

Free Ice cream scoop alert!
These food trucks are invading this city!
Unilocal really needs to consolidate them all since they’re just like as Phil H said, «Where’s Waldo?»
They just come and go and do they really have 5 million trucks? Unless they have 5 actually spots they are consistently camped out on, I wouldn’t add a new location on Unilocal.I even went to a few of the locations stated on their website, and saw what you would have seen if you’re hunting the Yeti or Loch Ness — nada, zilch.
Good luck finding them. Their ice cream is pretty good, especially with their non-​conventional flavors. You won’t find gummi bears and cookie dough, but you’ll get Earl Grey tea and other grown-​up flavors.

Van Leeuwen is an upgrade from the ice cream truck of your childhood dreams. Now that we’ve tried our run the Good Humor (overly sweet) Strawberry Shortcake and Toasted Almond, the novelty ice pops and Mister Softee soft serves, it’s high time we treat ourselves to some quality ice cream!
The ice creams here are a treat (i.e. not a daily consumption), hence, worth spending a couple of dollars more for a taste of the all natural flavors they offer. Highly recommend the: strawberry, espresso, chocolate, vanilla, pistachio, and hazelnut flavors! They ocassionally have special (limited time) flavors too — tried a Cherry flavor they made especially for Coach this past summer! Yum and exclusive!

The guy at this truck was way too «cool» to work. No wonder my hot chocolate came out watery and inedible.

Food trucks are all the rage now, aren’t they? I’ve not really met a food truck that wowed me (53^rd and 6^th Halal cart, possibly), and Van Leeuwen didn’t.
I tried both of their specialty seasonal flavors: eggnog and pumpkin pie. Both of the flavors were very subtle: it’s not very sweet, and the flavor notes were very delicate and gentle. I didn’t mind that the eggnog isn’t sweet, but the pumpkin pie’s lack of sweetness really did it in. I felt like I was eating plain pureed pumpkin in ice cream form.
Also, the ice cream that night had a strange texture. It was sort of icy, so it tasted kind of fibrous at times.
And $ 3.95 for a fairly generous scoop? Well… your call.

I had Van Leeuwen Icecream at the Parked event on Governor’s Island. It was good icecream, but it is not the best I ever had. It was a hot day and I waited 30 minutes for a current and cream. So, I was definitely in the mood for icecream. After all this hype, I was expecting fireworks in my mouth. Nevertheless, the couple and truck were adorable!

$ 4 for ice cream from a truck? that seemed on the steep side until…
I took a peak at their flavors. Earl grey… hazelnut…sign me up!
Tried the Earl Grey, surprisingly delicious! I have had random cravings for it while sitting at my desk at work.
Definitely worth a try, I will prob be tempted to get some each time I see a truck.

As we struggle through the latest heat wave, I’ve been on high alert for frozen treats. Tonight, my eating buddy and I came across a Van Leeuwen Artisan Ice Cream truck on 2^nd Avenue and 10^th St. With the heat in the high 90s even at 8:30pm, we had the perfect excuse for some ice cream.
The flavors offered were quite enticing. I’m a huge fan of Earl Grey tea, so I ordered a small cup. My friend, a fan of all things ginger, ordered a small cone of that. Mmm…
The verdict? Worth a try. The Earl Grey ice cream was light and slightly citrusy, and it was creamy without being either too dense or aerated. The Ginger was sweet and not overly ginger-​y — I’m not a fan of ginger, and I found it very enjoyable. My friend the ginger fanatic also liked it — so Van Leeuwen seems to achieved a perfect balance for that flavor.
Van Leeuwen has locations throughout the city, but if you ever happen upon one of their trucks, I’d definitely recommend trying it out. The price is comparable to a scoop at Ben & Jerry’s, and with such a unique flavor selection, why not?
A refreshing treat for a reasonable price, especially during this heat wave!

Woo hoo, just had my first Van Leeuwen Ice Cream Truck experience tonight.
Coming out of the hot and sticky 2^nd Avenue F train stop tonight after spending time with acquaintances uptown, I wanted a cool, creamy and refreshing treat for my walk home. Something to offset tonight’s summery, balmy weather.
Bumping into this pretty pale yellow truck called Van Leeuwen Ice Cream on Houston Street between Allen and Orchard streets was just the remedy I needed to beat tonight’s humidity. There she was– cheerful Mandy, a tall, slender, swedish, lovely young woman with a sincere way about her. She saw me moping with a cup of dripping, dreary gelato that I had just purchased a few doors down from Sugar Café before spotting her truck.
She noticed how my eyes popped wide open when I read the paragraph on the truck about how this companyy uses top of the line ingredients, no hormones etc. Then, the thrill of being presented with a variety of eclectic flavors of ice cream one doesn’t typically see.
We laughed looking at my heaping plop of combined whiskey and coffee flavored gelato dripping with each second. There were a few customers ahead of me. One of the men and I joked about how he took one look at Sugar Café’s sad gelato filled case and how he moved on. I should have too. Was Sugar Café’s gelato awful? No. Just not even in the same league as il laboratorio or Ciao Bella’s gelato. Sugar Café gets their gelato from an outside source– the gelato company called Baci Gelato something or other. I’ll look up their exact name and edit this review if need be.
The fellow proceeded to order a cup of Van Leeuwen’s ice cream special of the evening «Earl Grey».
I asked Mandy if she would throw out my Sugar Café cup of gelato. I had only enjoyed two spoonfuls of it. That was enough. Although Sugar Café’s whiskey and coffee flavor gelato did go rather nicely together, it wasn’t good enough for me to eat the whole big cup of it. They offer a pretty large portion. In their case, bigger is not better.
Mandy asked me if I’d like to sample some of the flavors. I wanted to, but when I saw that Earl Grey and then spotted the ginger flavor, it was a done deal for me. I had a feeling these flavors would be refreshing, tasty and compatible together. They were!
She asked me if I would like them combined. I said YES, PLEASE! It just so happens the Earl Grey and Ginger are Mandy’s two favorite flavors to combine. She brings them to her dinner parties and this combo is always a hit.
The texture of the ice cream is smooth, solid yet creamy. Their ginger is so soft and sweetly subtle and does not have the typical strong zingy sting that most ginger releases on the palate. And, I love strong ginger sensations, but I also enjoyed this new more subtle even weak ginger potency. The Earl Grey was delightfully similar to what the actual tea tastes like but not as strong. A perfect combination. Each spoonful brought out the best of balance.
Two decent sized round scoops (heck, a more generous serving would be swell ;-) are placed in Leeuwen’s eco-​friendly brown sugar paper organically made cup. The spoon is made of eco-​friendly material as well. When an ice cream dessert is as flavorful and full bodied as Van Leeuwen’s is, I’ll gladly give them a pass on the portion size.
I was so engrossed in enjoying each and every smooth spoonful of my Earl Grey and Ginger mix and chatting with Mandy about the other trucks that Van Leeuwen has in the different neighborhoods of Manhattan and Brooklyn, that I forgot the exact cost of my serving. I can always stop by again to ask, but i do think I gave her a $ 10 bill and she returned $ 6 and change to me. So, maybe a cup is $ 3 and change.
Even if I learn the price is higher, for me, still worth every penny. One of the best ice cream experiences I’ve had in a long time. A real treat!