Bruster's Real Ice Cream — Restaurant in Huntington Beach

My older son warned me before going to Brusters in Huntington Beach (near Warner and Gothard) last night..."don't do it. Go to DQ or Cold Stone instead". However, I remember my previous experiences a few years ago and I liked Brusters. Since it had been a while since I had gone, I decided to go to Brusters.

The location has really gone downhill from when it opened. The outside sitting area was not clean and it did not look like the employees really cared about the store's appearance. The lack of caring is more than likely because the employees may not fall under Newsom's $20 minimum wage for fast food franchise workers.

The ice cream tasted much better a few years back. In the words of my 14 year old son upon receiving his mint chip ice cream (he had tasted two other flavors that he stated tasted like (donkey)), "the mint chip tastes like the fluoride you get from a dentists office".

There is a Cold Stone less then 2 minutes away on Warner / Golden West...last night will be the last time I visit Brusters. For $6 at Brusters, you receive a very small scoop of ice cream and the staff seemed to be upset that I only tipped $1 on an $18 order. However, when all that's involved is opening an upright freezer and putting in a little ice cream, what do you expect? I regret tipping at all.

At Cold Stone, the portions are way more generous and the taste is far better. I have no problem tipping at Cold Stone as there is actually work involved in making the ice cream.

During the pandemic in the summertime when Brusters opened up, there was a huge line out the door. However, there was only one other family sitting outside. I would be surprised if the Huntington Beach location stayed in business.

To make the location better would suggest: (a) giving more generous portions and (b) improving the flavors of what is being offered via add ons (similar to Cold Stone) or improving the quality of the ice cream.

Best of luck and hopefully the location can make the necessary changes to bring...

Popped by at 9pm on a Saturday evening. There was definitely NOT a line...which made me either feel :a) lame that I didn't have exciting plans outside of my craving for ice cream...or b) super awesome that no one else came up with the brilliant idea of eating ice cream on a Saturday night here. Let's go with B, shall we?

Everything here is fresh and made daily and you can definitely taste it! They do offer samples of flavors here. I'm more of a visual person when it comes to selecting my ice cream. Everything is behind the counter, so your just gonna have to go with intuition on this one folks. (Sorry guys, it's why I took a star away)

We tried the 'Graham Central' and the 'Pistachio". If you're looking for a different type of ice cream, I recommend the Graham Central...it's a graham cracker based ice cream with choc chips. I sampled the 'Jamaican Me Crazy' which was a coconut based ice cream. SOOOO GOOOD! I'm coming back for that one the next time around.

The portions here are pretty massive. I ordered the Graham Central in a sugar cone and was completely taken back by the fact that there were 2 massive scoops on my tiny little cone....and that's the small BTW.

They have some picnic tables right in front if you opt to sit outside and...

You'll either love it or dislike it when you try it. I say this with Baskin, Haagen, and Hans in the area. Bruster's isn't going to be as pure as Haagen for its ingredients, nor as creamy for the mouthfeel. More of a regular ice cream, so decent for the strawberry on cones. The flavor on the Haagen for the strawberry seems infused throughout the ice cream, whereas Bruster's is more separate - pieces of strawberry in ice cream. Baskin has a wider variety of flavors, each one more distinct. Hans has far more fat - that's a known differentiator - so it's never "icy" or "thin". For example, got the Oreos along with the strawberry + matcha flavors this week. Sure, pieces of real oreos in ice cream, but the ice cream doesn't stand out - bland. I'd rather do a pint of Haagen's cookies and cream. And matcha? They didn't make it with enough cream and / or didn't freeze it right. Icy throughout, more like a frozen Slurpie and not at all creamy or smooth. And strawberry didn't wow at all. Bruster's best when you pick the regular flavors, nothing crazy, and get it on a cone. Otherwise, better ice cream and flavors...