Bruster's Real Ice Cream — Restaurant in Gaithersburg

I've driven past Bruster's many, many times over the past 16 years and they are ALWAYS busy, super busy! DH & finally stopped for ice cream this past Saturday and sadly we were disappointed. He ordered a brownie sundae with strawberry ice cream, I ordered a small waffle cone with a scoop of sea salt caramel with toffee & a scoop of chocolate raspberry Truffle. DH enjoyed the strawberry ice cream but said the brownie was flat & not very flavorful. I thought the waffle cone was pretty tasty and held up really well with the ice cream = it did not become soggy or mushy. However I did not enjoy the ice cream, It did not taste fresh and reminded me of store brand generic ice cream from the early 90's. The sea salt caramel with toffee ice cream had a LOT of ice chunks in it as though it had not been thoroughly churned, and it was melting before the cashier handed the cone to me. I think Bruster's makes their ice cream in store so perhaps they served it too soon after making it? The chocolate raspberry wasn't terrible, but there was nothing special about it.

I guess I was expecting a real treat after seeing how much foot traffic the Gaithersburg location consistently has, both standing and in the drive-thru. Our total for those two items was just over $17 which I thought was pretty crazy! I'm not sure if that's standard pricing for ice cream these days, but if I have to drive 13 miles for ice cream I would like it to feel & taste like a treat. Sadly...

I usually have a great experience when I visit but yesterday evening the 2 young men working the drive-thru around 7pm did not deliver the service I usually receive. I ordered 1 kids cup of 1 scoop & 1 doggie sundae. When paying, the price was way over the norm. I asked if I got charged for a kids cup of 1 scoop, he said yes. So I paid, when I got the ice cream it was visibly way bigger. I inquired about it yet again & they said that was the kids cup when it clearly was not. They made up a lie saying the peanut butter sauce overflows & that’s why they put it in the big cup which doesn’t make sense. I proceeded to open the cup & saw 3 big scoops of ice cream. I asked for the receipt since they did not give it to me & for a good reason on their end. When I reviewed it lo & behold I was charged for 3 scoops. I do not like the dishonesty & they should not be working at the window handling people’s money if that’s their customer service. They had multiple opportunities to admit to their mistake but instead kept making things up as if I don’t order the same thing every time I come. At that point since they ran out of excuses, they simply said “do you want a refund?” with no apology for being dishonest. On top of that, the doggie sundae wasn’t even in the bag either. Double check...

There aren't enough words to describe how perfect this place is. Ultra creamy ice cream, with unique flavors and generous portions sizes. Our favorites: chocolate peanut butter buckeye, cookie craze, and graham central.

The star of the show for us, though, are their ice cream cakes. They make the BEST ice cream cakes we've ever had -- embarrassingly, we end up ordering one at least every other week. You have real, fluffy cake on the bottom, a gooey layer of any sauces you like (go for marshmallow!), a huge layer of unique ice creams, and then creamy and soft vanilla ice cream topped with thick, rich ganache and icing that reminds you of the best childhood birthday cakes.

The other star, though, is the staff. I've truly never had more consistently positive interactions at a store in my entire life. I don't know how they select such excellent humans, but I'm always wowed by their warm willingness to go out of their way to make your day just a bit better. Everyone, from the youngest trainee to the owner himself, takes the time to listen, smile, and indulge whatever weird request you might make -- last minute cakes, special toppings, etc. They even wrote us a card to go with our cake for a special day! We're Bruster's Gaithersburg...