Audrey A.
Yelp
This was my second time going to the The Big Gay Ice Cream; 1st time at this location, and post COVID, and in the current economic rut we're in, so my review of the Washington street location is impacted by so that (I believe.)
This is why I choose to indulge in a Big Gay Ice cream treat again:
Sometime between 2011-2014, The Big Gay Ice Cream was featured on the Food Network and they highlighted the Salty Pimp as a must try. The first time I tried the salty pimp soft served ice cream cone was the summer of 2015. And it was amazing, it definitely lived up to all the hype. The Salty Pimp was on point from a taste perspective of creamy soft serve vanilla ice cream filled with a sweet caramel dulce de leche, and dipped in milk chocolate and sprinkled with sea salt served in a cake cone. The portion size was good (worth the $5.50/$6 I think I paid at that time) and the soft serve had enough firmness and coldness to withstand the summer heat (it didn't melt right away.) I had visited The original "Big Gay Ice Cream" shop in the East Village in 2015. (Please note that this original location closed its doors for good. It's been closed since the pandemic began in March 2020 and will not reopen.)
With that, I had to go to the Washington Street location of the Big Gay Ice Cream Shop for my second try at eating this Big Gay Ice cream treat on a hot summer day. This is near the Hudson Riverfront and fairly close walk to the Highline and Chelsea.
The time was after 4pm when I arrived at the empty cream shop (I was the only customer at the time of ordering). A young man (probably in his late teens) was working the counter all alone. The space was also shared with a coffee shop. The young man greeted me with a friendly smile and engaging disposition. I typically ask servers/staff their recommendations or what is their favorite thing on the menu to help me decide what to get.
Since I had the Salty Pimp before , I was open to try something new. The young man offered me his opinion on a few of the tasty treats.
He first recommended the Rose and The Rocky Road... i went with the rose.
ROSE
$7.59
Vanilla ice cream cone injected with dulce de leche, then rolled in ground Nilla wafer cookies and rose flavored crumbs.
First off the price of the ice cream cone increased from $6 to $7.59.....total paid after tax was $8.26. Yikes!!!! I don't mind paying a higher price, but the ice cream cone size was more than half the size less of when I first had it back in 2015. It looked like I was getting a kids size cone and the ice cream tasted worse than McDonald's soft serve.
And the soft serve vanilla was not firm to form. It was very limp and didn't stay up in the cone. It melted right away even before the dulce de leche was pumped in. The server had a hard time pumping the dulce de leche into the cone. It was hard and it didn't want to come out of the plastic squeeze bottle, so I got very little dulce in my cream treat, then he rolled the slightly melted cone in the rose and vanilla flavored Nilla cookie crumbles. The guy didn't take any care in making this ice cream cone for me.
He handed me this unexciting, already melted, small ice cream that I paid $8.26 for. I needed the rest and get out of the summer heat of the day, I decided to eat my ice cream in the shop. It would have melted even faster if I walked out in the sun with it.
After the first taste, I instantly regretted ordering The Rose. I didn't care for the flavor profile of the Rose and the texture of the soggy cookie crumbles.
I should have stuck with the Salty Pimp.
My second go at having a Big Gay Ice Cream treat was an epic fail. I mentioned to the young guy who made my ice cream that I didn't like it, His response was "I guess it's a matter of personal taste ". What?!?!? This guy, though he tried, is probably a minimum wage worker with an after school job, didn't really care what kind of product he was creating. There were hundreds and hundreds of other ice cream/gelato experiences I could have had on this day, yet I chose The Big Gay Ice Cream.... My mistake.
Overall, I was very disappointed in my second, and probably last, Big Gay Ice Cream experience. It wouldn't surprise me if this location closes soon too.
