MN Nice Cream — Restaurant in Minneapolis

Unfortunately I feel that MN Nice Cream is a bit of an Instagram fad trap. I was really excited, after seeing all of the colorful pictures so when I was dining five minutes from the place I had to stop by.

Soft-serve is seeing a bit of a grass roots revival in places like Portland. Homemade and sustainability conscious ingredients make some really good soft-serve for a savvy foodie. I was really excited about this place, and had high hopes for my visit.

Needless to say, we paid $15 for two cones. That price is pretty damn outrageous for what is often the free dessert at many a buffet, but I digress.

To summarize I would say style over substance. My cone had sugar bead decorations that were molar breaking. I had to pick them off before I could eat my cone. You pay extra for some toppings and with the way they're put on the cone you're going to run out of toppings long before you run out of ice cream.

The runny chocolate-like syrup dripped straight off the ice cream because it was too runny. Half of it got all over me and the table. The whipped cream had more flavor than my soft serve, which I quickly ran out of. The donut on the cone was stale.

The soft-serve itself isn't good. It lacks both texture and flavor. I was completely unimpressed. The black vegan soft-serve had a very odd, fake after taste.

For the price --- all of these things are just egregious but if you're in it for the Insta-pics and you've got $15 - $20 to spare for mediocre soft serve then by all means. As for me, for that price expect something to taste great, not just look kitschy in edible glitter (which on my cone you...

I was so excited to find a place with dairy free ice cream because I have a dairy allergy; little did I know ice cream was not what I was going to receive this fateful day... I came to this shop with my dairy consuming siblings so luckily they were spared from the atrocities that would behold me. I had ordered a cake batter soft serve with vegan cookie dough and Oreos. The toppings were lovely and delicious; however, the soft serve was not serving. Have you ever accidentally had a taste of foundation when applying make up? Well, if you haven’t this cake batter flavor will change that for you. Never in my life did I ever think I would eat licks of the most salty foundation that could have been made... but you know what they say life’s full of ‘fun’ surprises. This ice cream made me scream that’s for sure. I even shared some spoonfuls of my cone with my siblings and offered them seconds, and to no surprise they whole heartedly declined refusing to suffer through the pain that was this flavor. Now I have no hard feelings to the shop, their employees were super nice and the place is so cute, but man, this vegan cake batter... that flavor will kill somebody one day.

P.S. my photos speak for themselves. You see me, a simple girl excited for ice cream, a delicious treat. And then you see me, suffer. That is...

The place: MN Nice is a small counter service joint inside a larger building that collects other businesses. There’s a tiny fairy door outside the building if you know where to look (think tiles). Once you get into the actual MN Nice location, it’s clear you’ve walked into an ice cream place that values color and fun.

The walls are covered in art by @ashleymaryart (Instagram) accompanied by real neon signs (not sure if the muralist also made the neon).

The location: Easy to spot, there’s an ice cream cone shape attached to the exterior of the building. There’s a generous outdoor patio shared with Able Brewing. Parking was challenging for us midday on a Tuesday, but it looks like there are lots of free options if you keep your eyes open.

The food: Based on the menu, it looks like it’s mostly soft serve: four flavors with the option to swirl. The real star of the show is the toppings and the list is long.

I opted for cake batter (vegan, made with okay milk) and blackberry hibiscus swirled on a plain waffle cone. The rich cake batter swirled with sharpness of blackberry was fantastic, just what I needed on a hot afternoon.

Next time: I’ll actually get some toppings. I feel like I missed out on the chance to add sparkles...