Marianne’s Ice Cream — Restaurant in California

Between two people, we have tried 75 of Marianne's flavors so far. This is our review, based on full scoops because small tastes of each flavor wouldn't do these flavors justice.

Overall: super polite staff that can handle a rush, quality stretchy (New England style?) ice cream with unbelievably bold flavors. An ice cream experience you cannot miss if you’re in the area. Even if you don't go for a unique flavor, their classic flavors like mint chip and chocolate are top notch!

Our favorite 10 flavors: 1020 50/50 Butter Brickle Cardomon Pistachio Green Tea Heaven Irish Coffee & Chocolate Chip Mandarin Chocolate Mint Chip Root Beer Swirl

Honorable Mentions: Horchata; Mango; Mexican Chocolate; Mint Oreo; Peach (seasonal); Peanut Butter Cup; Pumpkin; Spumoni; Maplenut

We also tried (and thoroughly enjoyed) all of these flavors: Banana Almond Fudge; Blueberry Cheesecake; Chocolate Ripple; Coconut Pineapple; Coffee Almond Fudge; Eggnog (seasonal); Fresh Banana; Fudge Brownie; Lavender; Licorice; Northern Oregon Blackberry; Peppermint Stick; Snickerdoodle Cookie Dough; Strawberries & Cream; Oreo; Cantaloupe (seasonal); Rocky Road; 2AM Truffle; Lemon Custard; Malt Ball Fudge; Koffee Krunch; German Chocolate; Cookie Dough; Chocolate Almond; Strawberry Cheesecake; Kahlua Krunch; Salted Caramel; Pralines n’ Cream; Cinnamon Caramel; Caramel Fudge Crunch; Bittersweet Chocolate; Macapuno; Mocha Chip; Ginger; Butter Pecan; Chocolate Chip

The ONLY flavor we found off-putting was the bubblegum. We just think it is a weird to chew gum while eating ice cream, but we won’t yuck your yum if...

Marianne's ice cream tops my list of ice cream places. They have an amazing variety of ice cream and sherbet that there's something for everyone!

My favorite is their green tea ice cream. Though I like Cream's green tea ice cream, Marianne's tastes like matcha green tea; not overly sweet and a touch of slight bitterness. I also enjoy their butter brickle, horchata, cantaloupe...I've never had a flavor I haven't enjoyed.

Marianne's can get busy at times (especially in the summer since it's on the main road to Highway 17) and you will have to grab a number but it's well worth the wait! There's parking in the small lot they share with the liquor store (make sure you don't park in the spaces designated for the liquor store) and street parking.

They also now offer Marianne's ice cream at the Pacific Cookie Company on Telegraph in Berkeley but the selection is so small that going to Santa Cruz to experience the true Marianne's is a must! I mean, you don't want to miss out on the singing cow...

I ordered a sundae but they said they were out. Yet the people before and after me ordered one. Then I ordered 3 milkshakes, 2 cones and a jr scoop. When I walked up to the pick up table I noticed that one of the cones was upside down in a cup. Not the end of the world. However I than realized the cone was floating in a cup of melted koffee krunch. I paused and looked up and asked politely why my ice cream was in a deconstructed form. Then she tells me like it's my fault or I should've known, "well the It was too soft so we had to put it in a cup". Honestly the milkshakes had a better chance of standing up on the cone. It was now inconveniencing her that I wanted a scoop in it's correct form. I opted to just have the same thing as my wife since I figured that would be the easiest and I could see that it wasn't a risk. Hers was a scoop and not a puddle. We spend a lot of money there, I always tip well, it wasn't busy at all and I didn't understand the uncharacteristically bad service...