Daniel B.
Yelp
Since 2014, Butter & Cream has been one of my favorite ice cream shops in Atlanta. Among locally-owned ice cream shops, it's been No. 1. My wife, who I met in 2016, independently agrees. Maybe that's why we're married.
I've been a big fan of Butter & Cream's original location in near Decatur Square (https://bit.ly/3kmHdg0) and was happy to this location open on the Atlanta BeltLine's Eastside Trail in 2018. It's part of the row of restaurants, bars, and retailers that belong to Studioplex Alley (a.k.a. SPX Alley with Guac y Margys, Playa Bowls, Hawkers, Nina & Rafi).
Like many BeltLine vendors, there's no dedicated parking for Butter & Cream, but there's plenty of free street parking in the surrounding area. I recommend parking on Edgewood Ave SE (park on or near the bridge), Auburn Ave NE, or Lake Ave NE. All are a short walk from entry points to the BeltLine that are close to Butter & Cream.
Like Butter & Cream in Decatur, the business' BeltLine store is modestly sized with a sort of rustic, Southern, charming, homey feel. I like how SPX Alley has allowed each of its tenants a customized storefront. Butter & Cream's aqua/cyan storefront attractively stands out. While seating is limited inside, there's actually a bit more space here than in Decatur. Outside, there's a bench and several picnic tables. This is perfect for the BeltLine. Quintessential ice cream for the BeltLine.
The same decor from the Decatur location has made its way here, from the blackboard chalk menu to the round mirror framed with ice cream scoops.
During my visit for this review, the store offered 21 ice cream flavors, eight toppings, five sorbet flavors, and four ice cream sandwich flavors. They also sold "pup cups" for dogs, sorbet slushies, root beer floats, milkshakes, and baked goods like cakes, bars, and cookies.
Butter & Cream is mindful of food allergies and dietary restrictions. They make sure to note which flavors contain gluten and nuts and which flavors are vegan.
Ice cream prices were as follows:
* Single scoop - $4.25
* Double scoop - $6.25
* Triple scoop - $7.85
* Kids scoop - $2.75
* Pint - $9.25
* Quart - $18.00
* Cones & toppings - add $1 for each
Shakes, sorbet slushies, root beer floats, and ice cream sandwiches were $6.75 each. They also offered sundaes.
All of Butter & Cream's flavors are original, even staple flavors like Vanilla and Butter Pecan. For example, their version of Vanilla utilizes single-origin vanilla beans from Tahiti. Their version of Butter Pecan has bourbon-spiced pecans. Their Vietnamese Coffee ice cream uses coffee from Trung Nguyen. Every one of their flavors is special and unique in some way.
One of Butter & Cream's flavors, Good Trouble, honors late Atlanta resident and civil rights leader John Lewis. It's chocolate ice cream with brown sugar cake, coconut pecan crunch, and caramel. 100% of the proceeds from sales of Good Trouble go to Fair Fight, a national voting rights organization based in Georgia.
A couple flavors I've gone back to again and again over the years are O.G. Goodness and Honeycomb Forest. O.G. Goodness is brown sugar ice cream with St. Louis butter cake. Honeycomb Forest is honey ice cream and honeycomb candies. They're really good.
During this visit, I had the Milk & Cookies and Earl Grey & Black Currant Jam. Unsurprisingly, both were outstanding. I've never tried a bad flavor from Butter & Cream. The Milk & Cookies is vanilla ice cream with chocolate chip cookie pieces. I think they make the cookies themselves and they're the same ones they sell in the store. It's simply a satisfying and comforting flavor. It made me feel like a kid again. The Earl Grey & Black Currant Jam was like the opposite, more of a complex and delectably-refined "adult" flavor. In general, all ice cream I've had from Butter & Cream has been superb in both taste and quality. Nothing tastes strange or artificial. Everything tastes whole, fresh, and all-natural. Creamy and gratifying.
One difference I noticed between this location and the Decatur location is the scoop sizes we received at this location were smaller than the scoop sizes we've received at the Decatur location. It's noticeable when you compare scoop sizes in pictures I've taken at both locations. I tweeted about this and Butter and Cream picked up on it, even following up with me separately on Instagram to make sure I was taken care of. I eventually had an email conversation with Henryk who said:
"Thank you so much for making us aware of your scoop discrepancy! We have instructed our staff to pay closer attention to their scoop sizes. It is something we are constantly enforcing. Apologies for the inconvenience."
Henryk offered me free scoop cards to be left at the location of my choice. When I asked if the cards could be mailed to me instead, he obliged. Now that's A+ customer service. Thank you, Henyk.
I look forward to my return visits to Butter & Cream for many years to come.