à la Minute Ice Cream — Restaurant in Redlands

We were intrigued by the liquid nitrogen signs when we went inside. It had been 106° that day and ice cream sounded like a treat.

Decor

The place has a very hip feel and a lot of interesting decor items. You can also watch the workers make the ice cream from a window outside of the shop which is nice.

Menu Selection

The menu is very eclectic with such entrees as Olive Oil Vanila, Balsamic Strawberry, Orange Chocolate, Chocolate Lavender, a selection of sorbets, and the generic chocolate chip, vanilla, and strawberry flavors.

Ordering and Wait Time

The gimmick and downfall of this shop appears to be the liquid nitrogen. The line was out the door when we came so we made a lap around the block to burn some time and Calories. When we came around a second time, we went inside. There were 10 to 15 people waiting to order in front of us and another three or four waiting for their ice creams out of line. The line didn't move at all for more than 10 minutes and two girls in front of us gave up and left. Behind the counter, two workers were furiously making every ice cream apparently from scratch which must have contributed to the extreme wait times.

I noticed that several of the orders in front of me had all kinds of junk on top of them but I didn't think it looked appetizing. When it was finally our turn to order, I asked about the olive oil vanilla and the worker told me they actually drizzle real olive oil onto their vanilla ice cream. I thought it sounded disgusting so I asked for chocolate. The worker said they only carry chocolate chip and the chocolate lavender / orange chocolate flavors. The worker said the chocolate chip is vanilla based which was fine for me so I ordered that. My friend ordered the strawberry balsamic. Our orders were ready about two minutes later since another worker came out from the basement and started helping and we were excited to finally cool off.

Food experience

I thought my ice cream was good at first but I was soon to be disappointed. There were these little chocolate sprinkles on top that were initially tasty but they started to have a weirdly bitter aftertaste like someone had put some olive oil on my vanilla ice cream. Despite the shop being located in Southern California, they still seemed to make it at exactly it's melting point; my ice cream completely liquified after no more than 5 minutes in the air conditioned car. Normally I would enjoy drinking melted ice cream but this stuff tasted like straight up milk and bitter oily chocolate so I gave up and let my friend give it to his dad. The balsamic strawberry ice cream tasted exactly like cheap strawberry jelly... like the kind you put in peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. It was also extremely oily and difficult to finish.

Verdict

I don't think I'll...

I am writing this review in hopes that the owners see how disappointed and almost depressed that they changed the ice cream we loved for years! No longer do they have the liquid nitrogen ice cream or the fresh tastes that they used to. We went with our college kids home for Christmas and we all shared the same bad experience with the new changes. The creamy nitrogen consistency that we used to have were no longer there, as well as the taste or the same charm which it offered. My daughter was soooooooo disappointed with the orange honey which used to have fresh orange pulp in the ice cream which has been replaced with bits of dried orange rind or something which leaves a bad after taste. What made this place so popular was the liquid nitrogen which gave the ice cream such a unique texture and wonderful flavor. We all left disappointed and my kids even said they needed to go somewhere else to get dessert to get the bad after taste out of their mouth. The Claremont location hasn't changed yet but the worker said the other stores will change by the end of the year. When I asked the worker why they change, she said it was because they could offer more vegan options without the liquid nitrogen and now they could offer double, triple scoops which is what people were asking for. I believe people wanted 2 or 3 scoops of the same ice cream...not this new stuff. Rite Aid ice cream is mch better! If things remain the same, we will not be back! We will go to the Claremont location tomorrow to have the ice cream we fell in love with...

Update:

The delivery system seems faulty. Customer service isn't that great. The only redeeming factor seems to be the fact that the flavors in this shop are unique and good. Also the fact that there are dairy free options. That seems more and more the only reason to come back.

Original Post: Came here for Valentine's Day with my daughter, it was quite a treat! I bought two medium sized ice cream with waffle cones. One of them was chocolate lavender and the other one was chocolate chip, one of their kid friendly flavors. The lavender flavor was very apparent, possibly a turn off to some people but I very much enjoyed it. I didn't think it was too pungent and you could definitely taste the chocolate as well. It was rather decadent, however; a very rich dessert. I tried a bit of my daughter's ice cream and the chocolate chip was very delicious, a great alternative for people that would not like to try something like their more extreme blends but that want the same fine quality ice cream. The vanilla was very rich, and the chocolate was speckled throughout to complement it. The only problem we both had was that it was a lot of ice cream for the two of us, and it was melting pretty quickly through the waffle cone. I finished mine in due time, but if you have children then perhaps it would be best to start with their small size ice cream and cups instead of cones. I loved it and can't wait to try...