Chris V.
Yelp
I would love to have tried more than one item here before writing the review, but I'm just not in the Galleria Mall very often despite how close it is to my place of residence.
I did go once though. Made a pass to grab a to-go menu and read up on it without feeling pressured, I kinda skimmed through the shakes, which look pricey ($4.75-$7.25+, depending on size and add-ons), and I wasn't feeling up to a waffle ($3.50) or a waffle on a stick ($4.95). When I got to the page with the sorbet sticks ($3.75) and gelato sticks ($3.95), I was interested to see the special dietary considerations highlighted for each option (vegan, dairty free, gluten free, or sugar free).
Come to think of it, I wonder why only 4 of the 24 flavors are listed as gluten free. I don't care about that stuff really, but I'm just curious to learn what they use that contains gluten.
Anyway, I spotted hazelnut on the gelato stick list, so I went back to purchase it. I saw that they have a bunch of their ice cream / sorbet on a stick options lined up in their glass display, ready to entice regular customers who don't grab a to-go menu and run away. I also noted that they use a Clover-based cash register with a unique swiveling screen that I hadn't seen before. Not sure why, but it felt more difficult to sign my name on this screen than the screen of the Square machines that I've been seeing more and more of. Overall, I think that it's worth the novelty not to use cash.
I took my gelato stick, presented in a paper tray that some might describe as cute, and I found a table so that I could slowly enjoy my treat. I thought that the texture would have been more thoroughly creamy, but it was noticeably icy at times. This is disappointing because even a Haagen-Dazs ice cream bar from the freezer aisle is thoroughly creamy.
The gelato stick's flavor did have some decent hazelnuttiness though, so props for that. However, it seemed a little syrup-y at times, as if they'd added enough sugar to change the texture of both the ice and the liquid "melt" that appeared over time. I can't help but compare this to when I've previously enjoyed hazelnut flavors, whether it was in gelato or in chocolate, and it doesn't quite measure up.
I'll probably try them again next time I somehow find myself at the mall to see if their other flavors are interesting, and/or if the texture wasn't a bit of a fluke. Or I might actually go the distance and get it dipped in chocolate and covered in something nice, like hazelnuts, instead of cheaping out like I tend to do. But even if I had gotten the "full dip & top" today, I probably still wouldn't have been impressed.
Overall, I can't recommend them over the aforementioned frozen aisle ice cream, the true gelato just a manageable drive away at Art of Flavors, or even over an alternative nearby frozen treat place like Yogurtland. Sticks and Shakes is not worth going out of your way at all.