Amy's Ice Creams — Restaurant in Austin

Personally, there is a certain amount of skepticism that I approach "city favorite" locations with, but Amy's Ice Cream deserves every ounce of its of its reputation.

Many of my favorite memories of Austin are somehow surrounded around Amy's. Walking over right at closing, unknowingly, with my girlfriend as we looked for treats before starting a pinball competition at the Spin Cycle laundromat (see review: ) across the street, sitting in the parking lot with my bike and laptop in the middle of the night after finishing a sharing size of ice cream by myself to use the free wi-fi during the two miserable weeks of my life I waited for the internet to be hooked up at my apartment, and the hot summer days I spent just sampling the new flavors and chatting with the employees (who gladly served me knowing fully that I was just looking for some place to cool down and not purchase anything) as I biked to my local HEB (see review: ) for groceries.

Amy's offers something unique about Austin while remaining to be a chain. Each restaurant is a bit unique in design and decor, and the employees bring an appealing "ice cream parlor" aesthetic while maintaining their Austin personality. Something like the clash of Andy Griffith's favorite ice cream stop, Walker's Drug Store, meets Rock 'n' Roll High School. The wall offers a bit of Austin happenings and Amy's history, and a weekly trivia question to keep your mind busy while you wait (expect a wait at times, but it's worth it.) The trivia ranges in difficulty so expect to get at least one a month right if you know anything about pop culture - doing so will win you one free mix-in or a prize of the staff's choosing depending on the difficulty.

Down to the nitty-gritty. Amy's menu offers a variety of flavors with staples remaining constant and a few that change every week, plus most any of the toppings that you would reasonably be craving in your delicious, creamy, fresh-made ice cream. Plus they offer a number of things other than ice cream such as frozen yogurt, fruit ices, ice cream cakes made-to-order, malts, and shakes. Plus they have banana splits!

Sizes are reasonably priced and come in three sizes: Tiny (4 oz), Small (6 oz), and Large (8 oz). The toppings are almost always static...

"Oh is it your first time here?!" asked an Amy's staff to the person in front of me. The first timer smiled and said yes!

The staff asked "Well how about we throw you your ice cream while you catch it in the bowl?" The first timer hesitated and eventually agreed.

"Well great," said the staff, "Come on outside and I'll throw it across 6th Street!" The first timer froze, eyes widening.

All the customers ran outside watching the staff member happily trot to the other side of the street, a bowl of ice cream in one hand, an ice cream scoop in the other. The first timer stood awkwardly with an empty bowl in her hands.

"Alright you ready?!" shouted the staff member. The first timer started to shake her head, panic showing through her eyes. After all cars had cleared the street, the staff member tossed up the ice cream in the air. The first timer flailed her bowl around in the air, helplessly trying to catch it. The ice cream scoop splattered on the cement sidewalk ground. All the customers awed in disappointment.

"No worries" said the staff, "I have another scoop." This time the first timer vigorously shook her head, but it was already too late. In a perfect projectile, the scoop came flying across. I could see the first timer struggling with the bowl, probably also praying in her head she wouldn't get splattered by the scoop.

All eyes were on that one scoop of ice cream. In slow motion, the scoop slowly went into the first timer's bowl, making a "Boop" sound. The crowd went wild! The first timer looked into her bowl, and a huge grin started to form on her face. She had caught her first Amy's Ice Cream scoop.

Moral of the story: Tell Amy's if it's your first time at...

In my honest opinion, this place does not live up to the hype. Speaking of the hype, it's hard to tell if it's genuine, and Amy's has a loyal following, or if was generated by the company itself. Either way, the praise is not deserved. The flavors have fun names, and some of them are actually good, but I've had better. They might use exotic and organic/local ingredients, but even that is not enough to make this one of my favorites. I'll give them honorable mention for putting chocolate and jalapeño together at the the AC's Hot Sauce Festival a few weeks ago, however.

Amy's gets points for having personality, but the service leaves much to be desired. The girls at the window were friendly enough, but another one actually squeezed past me without excusing herself, bumping into me and not apologizing. I gave her a look, but I think she already knew it was rude and just didn't care. Not cool.

As for the ice cream I got at this location, it was okay. It was the Mexican Vanilla, which has a lot of sugar, but the flavor itself is not as strong as the sweetness. Fortunately, I added a Reese's cup to it, so it was a decent snack. Still, I wish it had more vanilla flavor and a touch less sugar. The chocolate jalapeño I had at the Hot Sauce fest seemed to suffer the same balancing issues. The jalapeño flavor was the kind of intense you want in such an ice cream flavor, but the chocolate was very bland and overshadowed by the jalapeño . Not perfect...yet.

I encourage anyone who is new to Amy's to try it at least once, but know that there are better places to...