Smitten Ice Cream

I ABSOLUTELY LOVE SMITTEN.
All the rage about Smitten should be taken seriously. I’m a SoCal native and Smitten has been on the list of go-​to ice cream spots from the mouths of my NorCal friends. I have failed in pushing from going to this place far too long. Smitten wasn’t on the agenda as my boyfriend and I were waiting for a table at Straw. We decided to walk along the path around the park and found a little pop-​up looking store. Fortunately, it was Smitten that we ran into.
I love the surrounding area! So if you go on a nice sunny day like we did, you’ll find yourself in a nice area to walk around. There’s a cute bike rental on the side of Smitten (so cute). There was also some food trucks so maybe try going on a warm weekend if you want plan on hanging out with a friend/​going out for a date.
So let’s talk about ice cream. I got a regular early grey with chocolate pieces in a homemade cone and my boyfriend got the chocolate chip dough with rainbow sprinkles (all natural, btw) on a waffle bowl. They seem to take their ice cream pretty seriously (custom-​made ice cream gadgets) and inventive, seasonal flavors. Taste was A. Using nitrogen in ice cream=smaller crystals=smoother ice cream= velvety and creamy texture. It was so good. But on the expensive side. I don’t think we’d get this on a daily basis since 2 regulars with homemade waffle cone/​bowl costed ~$ 15
Btw, we got ice cream before lunch. that’s how it should be done (;

I love smitten. Their flavors are inventive (blood orange, strawberry and white balsamic, cookie dough with pretzels and chocolate chips) and fresh and the texture of the ice cream and waffle cones is (in my opinion) pretty close to perfect. Plus, they had my favorite rose lemonade. Ice cream aficionados you must make it to Smitten!

So disappointed! I haven’t been back in town for a year and had good memories of this place, but the ice cream was so grainy! It wasn’t even ice crystal grainy that can melt, it was grainy like ground rice grains. The texture was horrible. Not to mention a weird taste and texture in the chocolate chips tasting like sugar substitute chocolate that’s been left out for a few years. I couldn’t even finish the small. I really hope it’s just a mishap, because I had good memories coming here in the past. Went across the street to Souvla for a Greek yogurt which was WAY smoother and so amazing!
But a star for the good service and ambiance.

I’m ‘smitten’ with Smitten.
My friend and I decided to get some ice crème after a Thai super bowl party. She mentioned Smitten and for about 30min I swiped through Unilocal photos with my mouth open. We each ordered the cookie dough with pretzel pieces, mines was accompanied by a waffle cone. Cookie dough is one of my least favorite flavors and so I wasn’t expecting anything spectacular… It was more like incredible! It was the perfect combination of sweet and savory. The ice crème has a rich texture and didn’t melt very fast at all. The waffle cone was also baked well. Unlike other cones it didn’t shatter in my mouth or cut me while trying to eat it.
I really like the space and could see myself grabbing a portion of ice crème on a warm afternoon. I also like that it’s open late and across from the Streetscape Project piece commissioned by San Francisco Arts Commission.

First time here and happy that they also have Vegan Popsicles. The chocolate vegan Popsicle is necessary if you love rich dark chocolate, like me :)
My boos had the blood orange ice cream, which was delicious and creamy with nutty pistachio cookies that were little morsels of flavor explosions (Their words). They also had the earl grey ice cream which was true to the tea flavor but also rich, creamy, delicious and a nice crunch from the milk chocolate chips.
Yum!

Who doesn’t love seeing their ice cream freshly churned with liquid nitrogen?!
Tasty but pricey. Not an everyday option but definitely worthwhile for a visit and repeat visits! If you’re in a hurry, best to skip until you have more time, fresh ice cream does require patience.
Whatever you get, add the Tcho crispies, yummy!

I’ve had Smitten at the Oakland location as well as this one and I have to say it’s a truly unique ice cream experience. There’s a sign inside the shop that explains how Smitten’s ice cream is made with liquid nitrogen and the unique patented process and machines that are used. The special part of Smitten’s ice cream is that it is made fresh to order and from fresh, organic ingredients. There are no preservatives at all. The ice cream is not transported here from a different manufacturing location and it is also not stored over time so that ice develops in it and potentially changes the flavor.
At Smitten, they have four flavors for you to choose from. There are no samples available as everything is made to order but they do have a guarantee so if you don’t like the flavor, you can switch out for another one. The ice cream makers pour fresh organic milk into the mixer along with any other relevant ingredients, such as fresh mint leaves for mint ice cream. I got the earl grey with milk chocolate chips! Then, the mixer is left to spin with the liquid nitrogen infusing into and freezing the ice cream mix. The result is an incredibly fresh, authentic and real tasting ice cream. The flavors are phenomenal.
The experience of Smitten is not only in tasting the ice cream but seeing it made with the liquid nitrogen as well. I loved watching the mixer swirl around with the liquid nitrogen gas floating around my ice cream.

I really like having a limited, rotating selection of choices when it comes to things like Pizza and Ice Cream. Especially when they’re seasonal. So it’s kind nice to have Smitten tell you that you’ll be ordering one of four things on the menu — and that you can order one of four different things the next time you come in.
This is the pour-​over of ice cream — each order of ice-​cream is made individually in devices that look like Kitchen Aid mixers with the magic of liquid nitrogen. Due to this set-​up, you can’t mix flavors, but that’s okay.
They have recommended pairings for each ice cream flavor and my suggestion to you is that you add them both. My earl grey ice cream with salted caramel and shaved almonds was kind of delightful.
This is a cute little shack in Hayes Valley that’s definitely worth a visit after a dinner.

Smitten Ice Cream was my very first experience with liquid nitrogen ice cream, and having had several other places with the same concept, I know this place does it right and they do it well. This magical encounter started with lining up to order flavors of the day. We ordered the Unilocaler’s rave of balsamic strawberry and mint chocolate ice creams that I still dream about till this very day. The next step I waited patiently, like a kid at an ice parlor, as they whip up my fresh concoctions before my eyes with huge kitchen aid mixers. It was like chemistry class where they had exact measurements of liquid nitrogen and cream to produce the best texture of ice cream. I watched as they blissfully throw in fresh mints, fresh strawberries, and fresh balsamic. The results were literally a taste of happiness that I wish I could move and live in San Francisco forever.

The creamiest of ice creams. Consider me smitten!
Smitten is the smallest little ice cream parlor with a big difference from other places: there own custom made ice cream maker that makes the ice cream as fresh as it can possibly be, produce a smooth and satisfying taste. They don’t offer a large variety of flavors, but they cycle flavors frequently and try to offer something for everyone, whether it’s a fruity sorbet or a creamy chocolate type.
Don’t take my word for it: Fall in love with Smitten Ice Cream for yourself.

This was a great experience for me and my 9 year old daughter. She loved the setting of the shop and took photos of the employees hand blending our ice cream. We had the earl grey tea ice cream mixed with chocolate chips and topped with melted salted caramel. This is my favorite ice cream. I appreciate the simplicity of the ice cream and that it has about 7 ingredients. My daughter loved it too but she was hoping for more choices. They had 4 options for flavors today.

Came here after seeing a comedy show at the Nourse Theatre and was delighted with the quality of the late night snack! Ordered the Blood Orange and Pistachio ice cream with the suggested pairings — and it was delicious! Extremely smooth and creamy! Highly recommend ordering with the pairings too!
Looks like the shop is in a portion of a shipping container so there isn’t a whole lot of sitting or table area but that wasn’t really an issue as people move through quickly!
Must try!

Yummmm. The first liquid nitrogen based ice cream shop I went to was Creamistry in Irvine. It was overpriced and tasted average so I never went back to one. But Smittens blew me away. The location was great and the design of the block and shop was so cute and modern! Taking stands to the next level. I ordered the vanilla ice cream with Tcho chocolate flakes. Such a simple flavor, but they did it so well! You need to come here to know what I’m talking about.

The cookie dough with pretzels and chocolate chips is killer. The ice cream was made with organic milk and chunks of hand cut TCHO 60.5% dark chocolate. It was super creamy with the perfect amount of cookie dough chunks and bits of salty pretzel goodness. I loved it so much I ordered a pint ($ 11) right after my first scoop ($ 6).
Yes! They’re opened on New Year’s day. Good luck finding parking. Ha!

Delicious and creamy ice cream. I ran here before it closed at 11:30pm, phew!
Small cups are $ 5 for a generous portion. You can also choose medium and large cups. My friend and I saved some money and bought a flight of 3 flavors to share for $ 9:
–mint chocolate chip
–salted caramel
–orange chocolate with cookie (might be a seasonal flavor)
There was also tcho chocolate flavor which we didn’t choose.
Everything was made fresh in front of us and the service was good. Only 4 flavors to choose from but we tried 3 and were really satisfied. Can’t wait to come back!

OOOFFFF. No, just NO. This place is all hype, all show over substance. Because yeah, it’s cool to watch your ice cream being made, and they’ve definitely got the performance aspect of it down… but oh my god, the ice cream here is actually kind of gross, almost NASTY. It’s like it didn’t mix properly — with every bite, you can actually taste the fat. It’s not creamy at all, and instead almost like eating a giant scoop of lard.
I went with a group of people, and we got all the flavors they had up (they only have a small selection at a time) and every single one was disappointing — we ended up throwing most of our ice cream away only after a few tries. One person described their ice cream as similar to «licking a stick of butter» (yep, that’s as gross as it sounds) and another started choking after a couple of bites («the fat is getting stuck to the roof of my mouth»). Maybe it’s because we didn’t get any toppings (.75 cents for a teaspoon’s worth of sprinkles seems a little ridic), it wasn’t able to hide the piss quality of the ice cream? Who knows. Blegh.
Also, really not worth the money folks (cuz seriously — $ 5 for a scoop is a little bit like daylight robbery, eh?). Don’t buy into the hype. Seriously, never again.

Liquid nitrogen + gourmet flavors + shipping container = Smitten!
The concept isn’t new, but Smitten does their ice cream a little better than other liquid nitrogen options in that the flavors are more curated and the texture is very creamy and not at all icy. Unfortunately, flavor menu is limited to four per day and you cannot combine flavors.
The Earl Grey was pretty great– the chocolate chips are a nice contrast but the actual ice cream flavor is surprisingly strong. Add in the suggested extras (caramel and almonds) for the best experience. If you’re really into pumpkin spice flavors, their version with the maple brown sugar is rich and savory.
Line to order moves quick, this location is extremely small– grab your order and eat at the park across the street!

What a delightful surprise.
Who said that nothing good ever came out of an old storage container?
Great spot and the servers were kind and amicable.
Kinda pricey but they use great ingredients. Can’t beat the flavor either.
Parking is notoriously bad in this area, so I suggest walking here from your dinner :)

You walk up to this smoking tent thing and after waiting a bit anxiously while they make it in front of you, they hand you this tiny little scoop, no, spoonful of ice cream and you’re all «say whaaa?! This is AMERICA! Where’s my supersize?!!»
Then you take a bite and are immediately lost in the smooth, creamy richness of this delectable ice cream and suddenly wonder how you will be able to finish the whole thing. The small is more than enough. Bring friends so you can sample their flavors too.
The flavors are always interesting and delicious and change frequently. My favorite seasonal has been the pumpkin with maple caramel drizzle and my regular order is the root beer float, which is definitely more bang for your buck and they use a real (ie not corn syrup filled) soda and TWO scoops. Don’t do this one on a full stomach. Especially if you’re like me and would never throw away the last little bit when you’re about to explode because you could never lose to a dessert. Never.
Also good for out-​of-​towners and quite dangerous when it’s only a few steps from home. Walk it off in the park afterwards!

Get the waffle cup! Or cone! Makes all the difference from 5 stars to 5 stars. No seriously, this place is so good.
Flavors change frequently but on the chilly 48 degree windy day that we went, we got the earl grey with milk chocolate chips. No special pairings but we got the waffle cup. Two small scoops for the small size ($ 5). You can read up on the science behind the ice cream but the jist of it is that there’s a taste of creaminess that’s unparalleled or at least difficult to find! And with the convenience of this place, you have to try it. Okay, not very convenient in terms of parking but still worth it. It’s a fun neighborhood to shop and window shop and this is a great snack :) Highly recommended!

I’ve been to Smitten a few times now and i’ve always had trouble choosing a flavor… The ice cream quality is amazing: super creamy, smooth, and flavorful, but the flavors i’ve tried when i’ve been here have just been mediocre.
The flavor selection is lacking from day to day. The first time I went, there was tcho chocolate, fresh mint chip, salted caramel, and olive oil with lavender. The second time I went, there was tcho chocolate, fresh mint chip, salted caramel, and vanilla. I’ve tried the salted caramel and the fresh mint chip. I loved the salted caramel but it did get very rich and sweet after a while. The mint chip literally tastes like a mint leaf, which is pretty cool, but at the same time, I got sick of it after eating a few scoops. I would love it if they incorporated more of a chocolate flavor in there so it wasn’t all mint!
I wish I could’ve tried a fruity flavor because I like those types of flavors more when it comes to ice cream. Please add a fruity flavor to the main lineup!!!
Also, $ 5 for a single scoop is a bit pricey. However $ 6 for 3 scoops seems more worth it… but then you have to finish 3 scoops of ice cream (for some, that is not a problem hahahaha)!

I got this for dessert recently… It’s a simple, small stand with only a few flavors, but it’s pretty cool to see the ice cream being prepped in small batches with the liquid nitrogen fog curling out of the machine… I got a small scoop of the salted caramel, while my friend got the maple glazed pumpkin pie. I tried both, and they were both pretty good, but the Salted Caramel was definitely my preference. It’s really buttery somehow, whereas the pumpkin can get kind of too sweet and sticky.
I think the small size is pretty adequate since Smitten’s ice cream seems all relatively sweet. Although I find the small cup at $ 5 to be kind of overpriced, I’ll admit I’m still hoping to go back eventually to try some of their chocolate flavors because I’m sure it’ll be pretty heavenly with how smooth and silky the texture of their ice cream was. :) So it IS still worth a mini-​splurge.

This is definitely the coolest ice cream shop I’ve ever visited. It’s the perfect attraction as well as a treat for tourists. I’m so glad that I did my research, found this spot, and made the whole group come here. It’s just a little stand in a mostly residential area, but worth the visit.
There are only a few flavors to choose from. I’m guessing there is a limitation on how many flavors can be created because of the technology used. This isn’t the spot for you if you want a large variety of flavors. I don’t personally think limited choices are always bad. I had the Fresh Mint Chip and loved it. I could taste the freshness and real ingredients. I enjoyed the truly creamy texture.
Waiting for our ice cream to be made was an experience as well. Ice cream and a show!

Ok I get it. Everyone loves Smitten.
They definitely have the cool factor with the whole using liquid nitrogen to make their ice cream fast and fresh right in front of you. Great setup. Clouds of smoke fills the counter as it leaves the churners kind of reminding me of witches cauldrons or some mad scientist’s laboratory.
The use of organic and lots of natural ingredients are always good though I’m not a big organic stuff kind of guy, natural yes, organic not so much. Or are they the same think?! Nevermind I don’t know what I’m talking about.
Ignoring all of the how its made and where it came from it has to come down to that product itself, the end result. I enjoyed how it’s smooth and creamy as ice cream should be. And of course it does taste good. I’m a huge fan of chocolate mint anything and had to order the Fresh Mint Chip. It was good, refreshing, and packed with big real mint flavor, a liltte overwhelming, but real good. I’d get it again. I did also taste another flavor but don’t really remember if it was the TCHO or Crème Fraiche it was good. You can order their ice cream as is, a float, sundae, cone, or covered in its various toppings like cookie dough, toasted almond, brown sugar/​spicy caramel, etc.
I’m a fan however here’s why I’m not wowed. The selection of flavors seems limited to only 4 a day but I believe they’ll rotate in other flavors. What if I wasn’t craving any of the flavors offered for the day and got stuck with settling?! They’ll make it fresh but it does seem slower than your traditional ice cream shop where they’ll offer a huge variety of flavors and just scope from large batches of ice cream. Does it make a difference having a batch made an hour or two ahead of time vs right when ordered?! Another thing is their portions are small for the price.
They’re good but not amazing. I’ll put them somewhere in the middle between 3 and 4 stars. They’re lucky I’m a chocolate mint fan lol

In light of the gorgeous, yet somewhat blistering, weather from the last few weeks, now seems like the perfect time for another ice cream review. After all, ice cream is always a good idea, regardless of whether you’re going to eat it or write about it!
Although I already popped my Smitten cherry at their Oakland location, I still had been wanting to try this one for quite some time. Not only because it’s their original spot, but also because Smitten was one of the first, and one of the best, «nitro ice cream» joints to emerge around the Bay Area. Seriously, how could a fan not check out where the craze started?
Having already enjoyed their ice cream a couple of times now, I knew what to expect — delicious ice cream that’s milky instead of icy, creamy, and offered in a handful of fun flavors on any given day. Case in point: COOKIE DOUGH WITH PRETZELS AND CHOCOLATE CHIPS. Not exactly a flavor you’d likely find in the Dreyers or Haagen Dazs sections of the freezer aisle (which is a shame, since it’s awesome).
In a way, this particular flavor was kind of similar to the Compost Cookie from Momofuku Milk Bar in NY, using something salty (and random) to play off the sweetness (which wasn’t over the top). In addition though, the pretzels, along with the chips, added a slight crunch to the otherwise silky smooth texture (the liquid nitrogen freezes the ice cream without forming ice crystals). Too bad there wasn’t more of the cookie dough though!
Quality aside, while the city’s other premium ice cream spots are a little pricey as well, Smitten admittedly ranks among the highest. Although $ 5 for a small isn’t terrible, the portion size is relatively light compared to what you can get at other places. Then again, there’s the novelty and uniqueness of it being nitro ice cream, so it’s not like you’re paying for the regular sort either!
All in all, FOUR AND A HALF STARS rounded down for the value as well as the fact that the flavor I had wasn’t quite as good as the Lemon Shortbread I had in Oakland, as well as the likes of Bi-​Rite and Humphrey Solcombe. At least I finally got the bitter taste out of my mouth from my first attempt at coming here. Seriously… how could they run out of liquid nitrogen?!