Little Man Ice Cream Factory — Restaurant in Denver

If you were to ask most people in Denver where they should go to get ice cream, the answer would probably be Little Man, regardless of the location. I think the ice cream is delicious, no doubt, but I was surprised at how this place flows. We came here on a Monday afternoon in February, so, not exactly prime ice cream season, but when it's 57 out and your kids have just biked 2.5 miles, you treat yourself. I can imagine on a weekend this place is bumpin' and with that said, I'm very curious to know why there isn't better features/flow to this place. When I think about going to a "typical" ice cream place, you walk in, youre greated with the ambiance of pure frozen joy. There's cones galore, toppings abound, and a magical lighted case with tubs of ice cream (after all, we eat with our eyes first, right?). Here, you walk in, you skirt along a curved counter, and the only way you know what's being served is a rotating sign at the top of the circular counter. Not only is this, well, a bummer for kids who can't read and go off of what they SEE for what they want, but even someone like me is sitting there wondering, ok, we have chocolate, we have mexican chocolate, we have hot cocoa, and we have 16th street chocolate. And it isn't until I get up to the counter to order that I can find out what it all means . . . it's a bummer to not have the ice cream on display and to not have a simple description of what's in the magical mixtures (especially when the name isn't obvious . .hello purple cow). So you're left not really making a decision at all about what you want until you're all the way at the front to order at which point you have to ask the person your 5 questions about what the flavors are so that you can THEN make a decision. It just doesn't flow well for me and is not my preferred ice cream experience. Then, why in the world would you put your toppings in mason jars with canning lids? Not only is it quite frankly not very sanitary to be opening and closing the jars, setting down lids, getting utensils, etc., but it takes more time, and agian, the toppings are over hiding in a corner where you can't even see them. Why not making them visually appealing so the customer WANTS to order them, and the employee isn't fumbling over 6 jars whilst the line waits to ask her what the heck 16th street chocolate is? I digress . . good ice cream, experience could use some improvement, which would help not only the customers but the employees and I'd imagine the...

Went to this location yesterday and parking was scetchy on the side in an alley with no parking signs saying parking...went inside and it was nice but there were 3 what looked to be teens working who said hello and all but when I was standing there obviously confused on where the menu was and choice of ice creams were and they did not really direct me right away saying oh the prices are behind you and the flavors are on a spinning thing on top in front of you..so I had to ask while I stood there looking for everything then they directed me🤷 anyway the children working were not that helpful as far as explaining things and showed very slight interest in smiling. When I asked if the dipped cone was like the one at dairy queen where they dip it into chocolate that creates a shell they looked at me dumb and pointed to a literal cone that is dipped and clearly had no idea what a dairy queen dipped cone is lol. I was confused on the smaller sizes because they have what looks like a sample size then the small is maybe a spoon full🙄 so they force u to buy at least a medium + or u will get just enough to taste. The employees weren't engaging or seemed to care that it was my first time there though I have been to another location standing in line for 45 mins after finding no parking but found it 2 blocks away lol idk why either. So anyway the ice cream is ok but I think next time if I want ice cream I will go to Baskin Robbins or dairy queen because you know what your getting and the employees can talk and put on a fake smile at least. Not saying they were mean but not very...

First the good things - excellent ice cream and friendly staff. Then mixed - the design of the place is stylish, but is chaotic. The ice cream counter is in the round, surrounded by milling customers. The room is noisy and crowded. Then the bad - a terrible take a number system. When your number comes up, you don’t get served; you get in line, so you wait twice, with no sense of how long anything is going to take. Also, no one is checking numbers in line or at the counter, so some people just get in line ahead of you without a number. We complained, but they said they don’t have the staff to make the system work. I’m not sure the ice cream is good enough to be worth the hassle, when there are so many good places like Sweet Cow and Mile High Creamery in Denver. Edit: A staff member later came over and went through the line, checking numbers. A few people, either through misunderstanding, or just taking advantage, who were not in their right place, were sent to the back of the line, which is fair, but I bet they didn't enjoy that any more than I enjoyed people getting ahead of me. The only way this system is going to work is if two staff members spend all their time making it work. I hope Little Man abandons this aggravating system, and goes with the norm of when your number is up, you get served. I will be watching Google reviews and their website. Until then, it will take a lot to get me back in. Getting ice cream should be fun,...