Far Out Ice Cream — Restaurant in Brookline

Dear Far Out Ice Cream, I am hoping this 1-star will get your attention. I am writing to give you constructive feedback on your business, which I support and genuinely like. You deliver a premium product and the staff is friendly and they work non-stop to take care of the customers. My complaint is that my family had to wait 40-minutes to get one (1) $11 ice cream on Sunday 4:45pm 6/16/2024. My experience is from walking in, waiting 10-15 minutes to order, and then another 20-minutes - I walked up to the counter to ask what happened? The fine young man told me he didn't have my order #147, he was already at #149, but he would make it immediately for me. You deliver a quality product, your staff delivers with a smile, but delivery of product in a timely and efficient manner that you failed. My feeling leaving the store is that I will never come back again because time is money/value, and I never want to wait 40-minutes for a $10 ice cream -- and your ice cream is not that more superior compare to other competitors that can deliver in a more efficient time frame.

Here are my observations and feedback and I hope your business will thrive for many years to come:

Install more touch screen order menus - Far Out Ice Cream is a popular spot in Brookline near Coolidge Corner, there is a long line that goes out the door, but you only have 1-machine to order. That means every person who orders is taking 5-minutes to order. Could you add a 2nd machine or possibly a 3rd?

Simplify your menu, maybe use a number system: in my observation, your popularity is the customization of the ice cream, there are many choices and combinations. But for someone like me, I just want an ice cream and not necessarily all the customizations - I am there for the experience. If you are able to simplify your menu selection, this will streamline the ordering process with the order machine - and which as of Sunday 6/16 you had only 1-order machine.

Machines, I watched as your employees continually had to clean the ice cream machine, and each time that he cleaned it out, he took a lick of the cream before pouring it out. There seems to be inefficiencies there that is delaying the delivery process. Please take a look what is happening there.

I would be happy to share my thoughts but I will leave it as is. If you are able to make improvements I would be willing to re-visit sometime in the future, I work only 5-minutes away from your store.

Thank you.

Update - Hi August, I will send you the email. Yes #147 was my order, the money is not the concern, I wanted to share my feedback and...

IMPT DF/VEGAN NOTE THEY DO NOT CHANGE OUT OR RINSE THE EQUIPMENT BEFORE EVERY ORDER!!! Even if your order is non-dairy/vegan & the previous order wasn't, they will NOT automatically change out the equipment for your order!!!

I was watching the employee make orders b/c I was interested in the process & had to stop them as they were about to make my non-dairy order with equipment coated in the previous order's full-dairy blueberry vanilla.

The mixing cone & spiral blending tip holds onto A LOT of the previous order's ice cream & you'll definitely be eating these leftovers if you don't specify for clean equipment—just look for the color change near the bottom of your cup or cone.

The employee told me they ONLY automatically change the equipment if you're ordering vanilla but the previous order was chocolate (or vice-versa) OR if you have an allergy (there's a note field to specify this on the kiosk when ordering). ........But a lot of people will order non-dairy/vegan NOT b/c of an allergy so they won't type anything into the allergy field & not know they aren't eating something 100% non-dairy/vegan.

I've ALWAYS seen places use clean equipment between orders for shakes, smoothies, froyo, etc so I'm confused why they don't follow the same protocol here?? Idk if it's b/c they don't have enough equipment to rotate, time to clean, or are just lazy, but I highly suggest they update their workflow to also include switching out equipment for vegan orders when the previous order wasn't vegan. It seems like such a logical conclusion. At least add a note under the vegan options so 1st time customers are informed & can ask for clean equipment, if needed.

I tried the vegan vanilla kookaberry. It was really creamy, no weird non-dairy aftertaste—I'd get it again! However, no mix-ins or toppings are included so it can quickly get expensive...

I'm almost speechless. Almost....

I've loved Far Out since the summer of 2022, and while their ever-changing seasonal specials are an obvious draw, it's the consistency in quality that keeps me coming back. It's clear that a lot of thought and care is put into sourcing and creating everything at Far Out - from their ice cream, to their coffee (Counter Culture!), to their hot chocolates.

Upon entering, the staff will immediately welcome you into the shop and ask if you want an explanation of what New Zealand style ice cream is (which I really appreciated my first time in because I had no idea what it was). The employees here give amazing recommendations and have always been mindful of my dietary restrictions (vegan) when I bring it to their attention.

The kiosks are easy to order on and the photos of all the menu items really helped to give me a better idea of what I was getting. While I haven't always been a fan of self-ordering systems, I've noticed that the staff is always happy to help first-timers navigate the menu and find something they love.

It's been fun to watch Far Out expand this year to Fenway and Cambridge and I'm super excited to see what they do next. Definitely check them out next time you're in the...