Jeff S.
Yelp
Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams has a good thing going with the low overhead space they've chosen at this location. However, the tiny store does not have an inside area for customers at all and I would expect that (at the least) they'd provide a few tables and chairs or even just a few benches for us when we come to get an ice cream.
They did put out a couple trash cans- one for biodegradable materials (bowls, wooden spoons, napkins...) and one for non-biodegradable materials (plastic spoons etc).
Upon first coming up to the window, we stood for a few minutes in a line on the left (turns out that it was the pick-up line) and didn't realize that the order window was free of patrons. When we did notice, the girl at the counter was helpful, cheerful, and polite. She was also excited to hear we were with the Yelp Elite Squad! Yay!
Customer service is great on the employees part! I tested her knowledge and intentionally ignored some print on their menu (it says pints only for the truffle ice cream), but she didn't bat an eye and didn't get annoyed or snarky. She just smiled and said she was sorry that it only comes in pints and that they can't open those and scoop out of them because of store policy on selling them as a separate product.
My sister ordered exactly what I got, so I didn't get to try a bunch of flavors- though the girl at the counter did offer any samples we wanted to try. I did sample the brambleberry crisp - essentially blueberry pie ice cream. It was ok. I guess, because of the name, I kind of expected more of a sour berry flavor. The blueberry flavor was subtle.
So, for our ice creams, we ordered the trio (starts at $6.95) salted peanut butter with chocolate flecks, salted caramel, and darkest chocolate in a waffle bowl (add $1.50). Out of these flavors, we decided that the darkest chocolate was the best. The salted caramel was good and salty, but if it had actual caramel in it, then it was completely incorporated into the cream of the ice cream. It was somewhat lackluster and I thought it would have been much better with actual swirls of caramel. The salted peanut butter with chocolate flecks was pretty good- even peanut butter flavor throughout, but it also had a strong peanut butter aftertaste. The darkest chocolate was creamy, decadent, and deeply flavored with dark chocolate.
It was kind of difficult to tell whether the ice creams were flavored or if they actually had real peanut butter or caramel in them. However, one great thing about their ice cream was that it wasn't ridiculously sugary- obviously it was sugary, but it wasn't sweetened to a point that it was overbearingly so. I liked that aspect of it. The waffle cones stayed crispy the whole time we ate our ice creams too.
Some things to not about the location:
1.) From 7am to 7pm its free parking, but before and after, there is a parking meter across the street!
2.) There is absolutely no seating anywhere! And there's no area for people to just hang out either. This is the sidewalk y'all! Keep it moving!
3.) During traffic hours it is loud as heck! They are right by the main road and sometimes trucks go by, others people are honking horns at drivers sitting at the light, and then there's also people driving by with stereos blasting...so, it can be very loud.
4.) This was clearly an ice cream shop meant for people to grab and GO. Keep it moving!
The price was a bit steep. Before the Yelp Elite discount, the bill was about $19 for 6 scoops and 2 waffle bowls. The scoops are not huge, so don't go thinking that you're going to get a massive ice cream for $9.
All in all, the special thing about this ice cream is that they don't use eggs for richness or creaminess- it's all cream and milk. That's great news for lacto-ovo vegetarians- which is the largest group of vegetarians!
I probably won't be back myself, but only because it's both far away AND a bit pricey for ice cream. It's double the price of Bruster's and they only had 1/3 the flavors (see the menu picture).
I took 2 stars because (a least at THIS location) they didn't think ahead to provide any seating or at least get themselves situated in a place that has available seating in other places around them.
Some advice for the owner(s): invest in either some benches that can be bolted to the sidewalk or some fold-up chairs that can be brought in at the end of the day. In the meantime I would recommend talking to "Southern Belle" about maybe allowing you to send customers looking for a spot to sit their way- if only for a short while.