Scoops
Categories: Coffee & Tea, Ice Cream & Frozen Yogurt [Edit]
Neighborhood: Wilshire Center712 N Heliotrope Dr
Los Angeles, CA 90029 (323) 906-2649
- Hours:
Mon-Thu 12:00 p.m.-10:00 p.m.
Fri-Sat 12:00 p.m.-10:00 p.m.
Sun 2:00 p.m.-6:00 p.m. - Price Range: $
- Accepts Credit Cards: No
- Parking: Street
- Wheelchair Accessible: Yes
- Outdoor Seating: Yes
- Wi-Fi: Free
3 reviews
Neighborhood: West Hollywood
"I've only been smoking cigars for about 2-3 years and let's just say they've taken over my life. Some people call me in addict, but…" read more »
510 Reviews for Scoops
Scoops. The one ice cream king I had not yet visited in LA...but I went FINALLY and now I want to come back again...and again...and AGAIN...
I ordered banana oreo and soy salty chocolate...both were delicious and if I had a bigger appetite, I would have gone back in for a refill for scoops of Guinness coffee and brown bread.
Thank you for the love and ice cream.
Love this place. Love Tai, the owner. Sweetest man alive. I have yet to take him up on his offer to display and sell my art in his store.
The first time I went to this place was 2 years ago. I had never known of this hidden little biker's enclave.
I love this place because of the inventive flavors. Brown Bread and 4 vegan selections are a constant. Some of my fav past flavors have been almond horchata and blueberry marscapone. Also a cool place to meet guys if you're single.
Everyone is friendly and patient--even when they're handing you sample after sample.
Parking is a bitch, so I recommend going after 6 so the meters at LACC are free, but go before 9:30 because flavors will run out.
Just had to comment after reading a certain other review posted here yesterday.
"The owner is an old geezer who is not cordial, and just plain rude."
Wow, certainly he must have said something truly offensive. What's the substantiation?
"I drove all the way there, based on all the reviews, but when I got there today, before its 2 o'clock opening, he wouldn't let us in."
Wait, so she's upset because she got there before it was open, and the owner didn't open the place up special, just for her? Did I read that right? Wouldn't a sane person fault themselves for having made the mistake?
"We didn't realize it opened late on Sunday. obviously. But, c'mon, it's 95 degrees outside. Let us have some ice cream! lol.... :) f there was a NO STAR score, I'd give that. We got no service and no ice scream. Bad , bad, bad."
Wow - even in LA, this stands out as a impressive feat of entitlement. A business proprietor is "bad, bad, bad" because he didn't sacrifice his personal time for a single customer who admitted she didn't know the correct hours of business.
I award this review the GOLD MEDAL OF ENTITLEMENT. Now let us all rise as we play the Los Angeles Municipal Anthem, "This is Why I'm Hot".
1 Previous Review: Show all »
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04/06/2007
Each of Scoops' ice creams are thoughtful flavor pairings with a really nice light texture.… Read more »
Scoops--like Manna from Heaven. Brown bread is a staple and also my fav. (vanilla-y goodness with tiny, crunchy pieces of sugar cones mixed throughout) while other flavors change daily. Mr. Scoops mixes his flavors with love and you can taste it. He combines the most unlikely flavors and makes them taste better than you ever thought it could be. He's a genius and that's that. Pinkberry ain't got nothin on this.
The owner is an old geezer who is not cordial, and just plain rude.
Not worth it. I drove all the way there (45 minutes) for his sour attitude?
Okay, why am I annoyed? I drove all the way there, based on all the reviews, but when I got there today, before its 2 o'clock opening, he wouldn't let us in. It was 15 until 2 p.m., and he was chilling outside, and just sat there for 35 minutes. So, we asked if we could get some ice cream. He wouldn't let us. He just continued to sit there and enjoy his afternoon.... lol.....
We didn't realize it opened late on Sunday. obviously. But, c'mon, it's 95 degrees outside. Let us have some ice cream! lol.... :)
f there was a NO STAR score, I'd give that.
We got no service and no ice scream. Bad , bad, bad.
It was hotter than my crotchal area today, so after church when I heard a couple of my friends talking about Scoops, I thought 1) ice cream sounds REALLY good right now and 2) I can yelp this place when I get home!!!
You know you're a Yelp addict when you get that 2nd thought in your head. You're especially an addict when it's the FIRST thought you get in your head
We headed on over there and found parking just around the corner on Melrose.
The place itself is pretty simple. Just the basics. A few small round tables to the left and the kitchen and ice cream cabinets to the left. Overall, it was just a nice change from all the freakin' frozen yogurt shops that have been popping up like acne on the face of a skinny virgin teenage boy finally going through puberty.
I wonder if maybe their cabinets were working overtime, one of the brokedown, or because it was just so F'N hot today, but they only had one cabinet of flavors, totallying... 8? 9?
The thing about scoops, or at least what my friend told me, is that this place is known for your out of the ordinary but not so gross nobody would eat it flavors. Like today, they had Guiness coffee, mascarpone oreo, salty chocolate (balls!!! Southpark reference...), brown bread (?), green tea honey, and... vegan/soy based alternatives of the oreo, salty chocolate, and.... I forgot what else.
One scoop is $2.75. But what's really cool, you have a choice of 2 flavors. I sampled the green tea honey, which was good, and the guiness coffee, which was good. I'm normally not a big fan of coffee ice cream of any sort, except for Jamoca Almond Fudge at Baskin Robbins, but I was curious about it being mixed with guiness.
It was good... slight taste of guiness and the coffee flavor wasn't overpowering. So was the green tea honey, light green tea flavor with an aftertaste of honey, but it wasn't too sweet. That's what made it good, that none of the flavors were overpowering. So I got one scoop of those 2 flavors.
In the 2 hours we ended up eating our ice cream and sitting there hanging out, this place had a steady flow of customers. Of course on a hot day like today, any ice cream place or frozen yogurt shop probably did pretty well today.
If it was a little closer, I'd probably come more often, which I guess is a good thing because otherwise I'd be here a lot more and I'd gain so much weight.
Oh, another thing. If you save your cup, you can bring it back in and the one scoop will only cost $1.75. My friend told me its probably their way of "going green". But I like that it would save you a buck on your ice cream.
Oh, yet another thing... off in the corner, they have a "suggestion box" in the form of a small white board and you can offer up a suggestion for a flavor if you can find space. One suggestion that stuck out to me was Greygoose Pear.... I'd love to try that... of course I could always just try it myself at home because I have my own ice cream machine
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The staff is always friendly; the place is more or less spacious; and samples abound!
I have to take away a star from what would otherwise be a five star rating (I know math...I rock!) since the flavors all kind of blend into one another. It could be that the consistency of the ice cream is a bit wetter than I'd like it to be. Nothing a bit more carrageenan wouldn't solve, I reckon. Or it could be what I'd consider to be an overpowering sweetness that gets to my tongue before the mango in my mango-basil seed, or the salt in my vanilla salt, or the banana in my banana-oreo does. I imagine it would be no different for their infamous Nicorette flavored ice cream.
It's right next to the Bicycle Kitchen, where I go periodically to help out, so I can traipse three buildings northward to reward myself after standing around for three hours twiddling my thumbs.
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I realize I am just one in a huge line of people reviewing Scoops and its amazingness.
I'm sure after reading all these reviews, you're aware of the multitude of flavors they have. I had the Salty Chocolate and Coconut Thai Iced Tea (yum on both counts). You're likely aware that it's in a "blink and you'll miss it" location. And you're definitely aware of how friendly the staff is.
What you might not know is that you should not show up at 5:30 on a Sunday if you expect to have a selection. There were only 3 flavors to choose from when I got there! This made me mega-sad. So a word to the wise...their limited Sunday hours also means less selection, and those flavors like Brown Bread are among the first to go.
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Monday night:
Grapefruit Mango Sorbet + Passion Fruit Sorbet
Yoshi had: Green Tea-Something + Peanut Butter Cappuccino
No Tai sighting, but Peter was there, happy to give out samples and smiles.
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2 Previous Reviews: Show all »
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06/23/2008
It's a zillion degrees out and I think the world is melting around me...
Time to cool off with some… Read more »
do you really exist scoops? or was it an amazing dream i had about the best gelato ever...
you are very nice too.
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Looooove this place! The unique and absolutely delicious flavors, great service, the ridiculously cheap prices (for gelato that is) and the location (bicycle district), make it easy for this to become a regular stop.
love it! If I had an ice cream shop, I would hope it was like this one: unpretentious, creative, and yummy!
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I can now say I've had ice cream from Scoops. I can't say it was the best ice cream I've had (then again, I really can't say what the best cream I've ever had was), but it was pretty good...and cheap! I didn't really understand how it all worked since the menu states that it's $2.75 for one scoop, but everyone, including myself, got two different flavors (2 scoops) for one. I"m not complaining. The owner didn't seem especially friendly or anything, but the other guy working and the second who came to replace the owner were nice. We tried the brown bread, which is basically Grape Nuts cereal and vanilla ice cream (hello, people, this is not real bread!), the blackberry and orange water, the banana oreo, and strawberry w/ coconut and jasmine. All four were good, even the one with coconut, which I generally detest. I probably liked the brown bread and banana oreo the best. Too bad this place is so far away from me and not really close to anything!
Originality.
- Coconut Horchata
- Hazelnut Caramel
- Brown Bread
- Pandan, something & something
- Oreo Banana
Mmmmm. Their flavors change ever so often, and the guy behind the counter is oh so friendly... he lets you sample anything & everything. So do it! It's location is a bit hidden, you may easily miss it if driving by because the "scoops" sign blends in. They have a white board on the wall where you can jot down your ice cream creation ideas. And believe me there are some original ones on the board.
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As a scientist, I have to give credit to a business that is willing to experiment while taking customer input. That takes chutzpah. Also results in RIDICULOUSNESS.
Black currant and basil ice cream. ...will forever be with me.
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Vanilla Jack Daniels flavored gelato.
No words.
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So, not too original of me. Everyone wants to write about Scoops.
For two fitty a bowl (really one scoop is a generous serving), the value is unmatched anywhere else.
And the braveness of the flavors is worth at the very least a look. Last time I went, I realized the flavors were totally different than just the week before. The nice folks behind the counter told me they change em up every single day. That is ambitious. Really really ballsy. They admitted that sometimes they don't work out but that is even more proof of their courage.
I loved what I've had but I don't know if I am ready for the goat cheese (yet).
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To me, this place is a hit or miss. I love how the ice cream flavors are so unique, but sometimes the variety is so limited (which depends on when you go), that you end up just settling for something you may not necessarily be all that in to. However, even though I end up settling for a flavor, the ice cream is still good.
The other day, I came here I had the green tea dolce de leche and the strawberry jasmine ice cream. My friend had the brown bread (which is far too sweet for me) and the chocolate raspberry (the chocolate was very overpowering). The day we went was exceptionally hot, so the ice cream was becoming melty. We ended up with ice cream soup. :-(
I've had a lychee pineapple sorbet before which I fell in love with, but haven't had it since. That's another thing: you end up falling in love with an ice cream flavor and then you may not necessarily ever see it again.
Pros: Unique flavors, tasty ice cream, two scoops for the price of one, friendly service.
Cons: Flavors change daily, may not get the same flavor ever again, limited variety on the evenings and weekend afternoons, parking can be a beeyotch.
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Scoops, you're so crazy.
I can't make up my mind.
Strawberry Balsamic? Vegan Salty Chocolate? Let's make out.
Unfortunately, parking sucks unless you park next to the "flying dog shit" bum dumpster behind the ultimately delicious "Pure Luck" restaurant across the street.
Fuck you, bum. Fuck you.
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I can't find my skinny jeans and my fixed gear has a flat! Shucks i cant make it to Scoops to try their new flavor tapioca squid tomato corona!!! Shit. ill go hang out with the emo scenester kids instead!
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I just need to note the unique flavors I got the other day: red tea dulce de leche and brie pear. Oh, I made it just in time for a full scoop of the red tea. I could see the bottom of the tin there...If they allowed it, I would have asked to lick that tin clean. It was so, so, so good.
If you're in the area, you HAVE to make a stop.
The price has changed since my last review. It's $2.50 for a "scoop" (which is actually two scoops -- so mix and match your flavors!).
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1 Previous Review: Show all »
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01/22/2007
I ran out of the car before it was even parked because it was 9:50PM and my friend warned me that it… Read more »
The date was July 17, 2008. On this date, I had the best ice cream of my life. Rolling off the spoon and into my grateful, salivating mouth were chocolate lemon, strawberry lichee, and blackberry triple sec flavors, tickling my taste buds and sending them into an orgy of taste. After finishing the bowl with my wife, we did the next logical thing: order an identical bowl, in the same heaping quantities, for the same ridiculous price of $3.75. We indulged as we synchronized our spoon movements into competitive bobs for more of the tantalizing substances. So, other reviewers (I note now) did not approach their serving with as much gusto. Good! More for me!!
Btw, parking's a bitch.
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dude, vegan ice cream! 'fo reals. I wish I lived near Heliotrope because I would stop by every day!
I know that I'm in my foodie heaven when I say a little too loudly "OMG that's surprisingly good!" about the goat cheese rosemary & the couple behind me gets really excited with me instead of looking at me like a freak.
That day they had vegan banana oreo, vegan salty chocolate, vanilla bean cocoa nib, almond horchata, salty dulce de leche, brown bread, goat cheese rosemary, and lemon chocolate. (Yes, I memorized the flavors because I have having issues deciding...)
After trying almost every one of them, I chose salty dulce de leche & brown bread. Brown bread is a typical flavor, so in an attempt to be a regular, I got it. I also can't resist anything salty sweet.
Unfortunately my vegan friend couldn't get anything because they still use refined sugar in their vegan ice cream, so I had to describe it to him. The brown bread was kinda a caramel/vanilla with crispy sweet brown bread croutons. The salty dulce de leche was a deep deep caramel flavor with a touch of salt.
I love the fact that they have a mini self serve topping bar! There are colored sugar, rainbow and chocolate sprinkles and peanuts.
It was also a ridiculously cheap $2.50 for 2 scoops & $1.75 for refills.
We added "Brioche French Toast" to the flavor suggestion board. :)
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I LOVE Scoops. I'm only giving it four stars for the sole reason that you fall in love with something and will probably never see it again. Like the vegan blackberry balsamic vinegar. This is however the nature of the beast for a place that makes their own sh!t and I'll take it. I'm just sayin.
And hooray for shops with vegan frozen treats!!!!!!!!!!!!!! You can usually get three or four choices in the vegan category, which is around three or four more than any other flippin' ice cream shop in town. Three cheers!!!!!!!!!!!!
A Girls gotta love her ice cream and I have to admit before scoops I would've considered myself a Pink Berry lover(a past i'm shameful to admit). Scoops converted me as soon as i tasted a vegan lychee sorbet. Not that I quiet my religious experience at that flavor. How could you, there are almost all new flavors everytime you stop in? Plus! The brilliant craftsman who owns the shop and makes the ice cream is the most pleasant man! With his skill, creativity and the dry erase board covered in flavor suggestions. This is not a place that gets old. Take the best 2 dollars you've ever spent and eat the large lovely portion outside while you enjoy interesting people, graffiti murals and watch the cyclists ride. Talk about your perfect hot LA afternoon.
So many reviews, will mine really make a difference? Maybe, maybe not... probably not, but this place is so great that I just have to write a review and maybe this will get me out of my Yelp review funk.
I had fairly high hopes when my friends told me about this place a few while back. They told me of incredibly friendly staff and unique and amazing flavors of ice cream that will blow my mind. Well it took over a year but I finally had the opportunity to stop by this place a month or so back and I'll have to say Scoops has met my expectations and blown it away.
The ice cream here is fantastic! Everything is made the day off and the flavors are totally out of the ordinary, occasionally you'll even get something off the wall too. The few times I've been here there has been nothing too out of the ordinary, but where are you going to find flavors like:
-banana avocado (the bananas a little too ripe)
-strawberry honey (good super sweet)
-almond oreo, black sesame (totally reminds me of Chantilly http://www.yelp.com/us...)
-chai tea
-thai ice tea (just like the drink)
-pistachio date (the flavor at the date hits you at the end)
-brown bread (the classic creamy ice cream with grape nuts and brown sugar)
-kiwi jackfruit (one of the best ice cream flavors i have ever had)
This was just a sampling of the random flavors that the owner makes and don't be afraid to ask for a sampling of anything and everything that you want. The sad thing is that he doesn't repeat flavors often, so you may taste the most blissful thing you've ever had to comeback to see it missing. But like the saying goes, "It's better to have love ice cream and lost, then to never love at all."
Do come early as the ice cream goes quick and the lines are incredibly long at night, not to mention terrible parking. There are soy and vegan flavors as well as sorbets so even your veggie friends can enjoy the goodness of Scoops!
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Scoops! Scoops!
I would give it a 3.5, as it's better than average but I wouldn't call myself a fan.
It's way out in the middle of randomnia, east of Thai Town and west of what I believe is K-town.
It's a dinky little place that looks like a typical ice cream shop except for the funkified flavors. And they let you try whatever you want and don't give you dirty looks!
Brown bread. Strawberry basalmic. Mango margarita. Black tea someting something, grape papaya... what fun. I went with the mango margarita as I am a sucker for the sorbet.
Whoa. So EFFING sweet and not in a particularly good way. It's the kind of sweet that makes you want to kind of pass out. If my friend hadn't brought water, it would have been a problem.
So that's that. Decent prices, cool flavors, but unbearably sweet. Bring water. And fries or something.
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So many delicious flavors to choose from! It took me several minutes to decide which one: Salty White Chocolate. YUMMY! Highly recommend if you're in the neighborhood or even if you're not. Make the trip. Its right off the number 10 and 11 bus lines.
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I love Scoops not just because they have the best vegan ice cream I've had since I was in Italy. And I love Scoops not just because they make ice cream for people that want adventurous experiences with their food. I even love Scoops not just because they give you two scoops of said hedonistic ice cream for $2.50. No, I love Scoops because they do all this and always have a smile on their faces, even when the line is twenty deep. And it doesn't hurt that Pure Luck is right across the street.
I do wish they'd stop using plastic spoons, though. Considering how many taste tests must take place in a day, that's a lot of landfill cutlery.
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Champagne/pear
Chocolate/Guinness
Brown bread
I will update this as I try different flavors, but everything is so damned delicious looking/sounding/tasting. If you're not one of the 461, you really need to get here.
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So I know I'm number 470 . . . but I just can't help to shout from the rooftops (or in this case my laptop) "Scoops is AMAZING!!!"
I've been dying to try this place after reading how it has vegan ice cream and man oh man did it live up to its reviews. The texture, the intense flavor, the choices . . . I think we've found a winner. Boyfriend also came along (or dragged along one of my many yelp adventures) and had a almond cardamon mixed with coffee peanut butter milkshake.
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Overrated, y'all.
It's like fantasizing about the captain of the wrestling team, getting him drunk enough and then finding out he's hung like a newborn.
I was recently here (Shhhhh! Don't tell my boss!) to experience what everyone in LA has raved about...and was disappointed. The brown bread ice cream and smoked tea something-or-other gellato were a huge let down. I wanted bold, pronounced flavors to pop through the creamy lusciousness of the ice cream but all I got was a weak sugar rush.
Maybe it was the fact that I had to battle crazy LA traffic to get here and back to Long Beach in less than 2 hours that put a damper on my experience. But still, I liked SF's Bi Rite creamery a lot better. But then again, I was standing in a huge line on 18th street basking in post-bj euphoria...so I may be a bit biased. And yet, it's not 500 miles away, so that warrants at least 4 stars.
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I finally had the opportunity to give this place a try (after a KBBQ session!).
Very good. Interesting. Strange. And a little bit of scary!
The owner of the place was really nice. He came out and talked with all of us (yelpers) and we had a huge group shot.
Very original ice cream flavors.
I wish I had some right now... I'm freakin' hot.
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This ice cream is the perfect texture. Its not too rich like Ben and jerry's or too boring like Dreyers. The texture is just the beginning though. The flavors are experimental and fun. It is exciting to see people tasting all the flavors (which they will let you do) and discussing their choices. This is a great place to come for a date or when you want a small evening activity. The atmosphere is simple and its unpretentious attitude is refreshing. If you come expecting an interesting combination of flavors, a quite spot to sit in the shade and a humorous take on an ice cream - you have come to the right place. I recommend the brown bread ice cream. Cash only.
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Everything's been covered. Cool flavors.
Parking sucks. Running out of all the good flavors sucks. Judgmental hippies suck. Drive your gas guzzler there wearing a business suit and constantly be on your blackberry just to spite them!
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What can I say about Scoops that hasn't already been said? It's freakin delicious! I think their quality allows me to go beyond my comfort zone, leading to scrumptious results. Chocolate wasabi? I hate wasabi! I like chocolate wasabi ice cream, though...
I always feel guilty for asking for too many samples.
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Wow, I was impressed with their fancy flavors. The customer service is fantastic and the quality of the ice cream is really good as well. Will come back (probably for dessert after a night at Pink's haha).
Dear Hottie who served me gelato-
The fourth star is for you, babe.
After a fine meal at Pure Luck, we walked across the street to Scoops. Apparently on weeknights, they don't have those crazy flavors I heard so much about.
So, I got:
marsala wine with raisin
vanilla cherry
almond honey ginger
A scoop plus an extra is $3.75
Pretty darn cheap!
A regular scoop (really two scoops) is $2.50.
You can get a refill for $1.75.
I couldn't finish it all and it was melting too rapidly. The gelato is very soft which was interesting but I think it contributed to its instant melty-ness.
So my favorite of the three flavors was the honey ginger one. I loved the marsala wine which I think they poured almost a whole bottle in but compared to Bulgarini's marsala wine, I think Bulgarini is a little bit better. Both are good but in different ways. I got the vanilla cherry because it's so hard to get a really good vanilla. Plus this one had real cherry bits and not some awful frozen mess.
I loved the gelato spoon sculpture mobile thingy above the counter. Nice!
I scream, you scream for ice cream!
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This place is super awesome!
The flavor concoctions are wonderfully unqiue and delicious. And so reasonably priced! A very chill spot. Be warned that they only make like a batch per day of each flavor, so if you come towards the end of the day, be prepared to have slim pickings.
