Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams — Restaurant in Pittsburgh

My second Elite Experience after doing my first earlier this year also at Jeni's, not that this ice cream addict is complaining! This time it is at the South Side location. Despite being in the North Hills, I was able to quickly drive down on a Wednesday evening after work. I'm not as familiar with this area, but it was fairly quiet for a weeknight and easy to park only a block away.

We were again generously given three scoops to choose from in a dish or waffle bowl, so I wanted to take the opportunity to try entirely new flavors. Last time I chose chocolate, vanilla, and coffee flavors which all paired together perfectly, but this time I went wild with three random ones: Boston Cream Pie, Brambleberry Crisp, and Green Mint Chip. And of course I went with the waffle bowl, it's kind of hard since the smell of the home made waffles hits you right when you open the door! The Boston may have been my favorite with just the right amount of cake and chocolate. The Brambleberry had a a surprising amout of gooey fruit in it unlike other brands that hide it in a mountain of boring vanilla, perfect for pie lovers. And the Mint was pretty standard, not the strongest mint flavor I've ever had but perhaps that was for the best considering this trio.

The place was nicely laid out with a bar to sit at along the window and in front of the counter, good lighting, bright colors, and a little shop by the checkout with Jeni's merch for the fans. Despite being a weeknight I was surprised at the steady stream of customers that rolled it, at one point about a dozen people were getting served so I can only imagine it on weekends! It very much resembles that of it's local competitor, Millie's, who I also enjoyed but ultimately have the same issues with: price. I see why these places are put in the revamped, higher end parts of South Side, Bakery Square, Lawrenceville, etc. While I enjoy the unique flavors and asthetic the prices are too steep for what I'm used to at most of the ice cream shops I frequent. $5 for a relatively small scoop is a lot even if its good. $9 for a pint is high, but $12 for a pint is...

I saw a news segment about the founder on YouTube, a couple years back, and since then I was curious to try it. And I have to say it was very good. I went to the one in the South side, and it’s a bright, but simple space with couple of seating facing the main street. I went on a weekday afternoon, and it was comparatively empty. The staff was extremely friendly and were very helpful. Unlike a lot of other places, where asking for samples can raise eyebrows, here the staff was insistent on trying on samples because I wasn’t sure what I wanted to get. They were also very helpful on recommending a couple of options for my third flavour because I wasn’t sure. I got the wild berry lavender, which was absolutely divine. I also got the coffee and unlike in a lot of other places, you could actually taste the coffee in the ice cream, and then I also got an almond, which was very good, but nothing mind blowing. What I like about these ice cream is the fact that you can actually taste the flavour and it is not all masked by sugar. it did not feel artificial like it does in a lot of other mass produced ice cream and I appreciated the subtleness of the flavours where it was not in your face. A lot of people here were complaining about the prices and while I understand that the prices are on a higher side, I still felt that they were completely justified. I got three flavours for around seven dollars before tipping and to be honest, it was a lot of ice cream. They also do a little waffle, crisp on top of ice cream, which is a nice touch. I will definitely...

friend and I came in because it was a nice day and wanted ice cream but when we got to the store, staff didn’t have proper communication, one of them stared at someone and ignored the other customers infront of them, then when i ordered i was given smaller scoops then what i’ve gotten coming here for the past year, ice cream was melting as they handed it to me- i don’t know if it was because they had a fan on in the back of the line and their product wasn’t temping correctly but it wasn’t good. I live just across the bridge and when I got home with no traffic my ice cream basically looked like milk compared to times i’ve driven fifteen mins and my ice cream still had its shape. The person i’m complaint about the most is the one with the different hair color and mulptiple piercings and name starts with a B i think. When they checked me out they were talking fast and uninterested and didn’t look up from...