Bev's Homemade Ice Cream & Café — Restaurant in Richmond

I would have given this place 4 stars, since it's pretty good but not as amazing as other places I've tried. The reason why I have to remove another star is because they completely butchered the Ube ice cream. It tastes nothing like Ube. It was extremely plain, just vanilla ice cream with pulp pieces. Ube typically has a very strong flavor that's in your face, and it also usually has a beautiful bright vibrant purple color (which I know is because of added coloring, but still). This Ube ice cream had neither of those things. I was so taken aback by the lack of flavor that I genuinely thought the server gave me the wrong flavor. When I went up to ask, she told me that it was in fact Ube ice cream, that they had just used less of the root meat so it tasted different. Either way, it just simply was not Ube ice cream.

I also got the Mexicali Chocolate flavor, which I very much enjoyed. It was really good, and I usually don't like chocolate ice cream.

Both of these flavors were part of their specials, so I'm not sure how good their classic flavors are. They had lots of great things on the menu, including pastries like a blackberry lavender cake and a cherry pie. They also serve coffee. I may come back to try their classic flavors and some of these other menu...

I got very lucky and walked in here after work when there were no lines, I just walked right up to the counter. Had a nice chat with the girl behind the counter who shared the history with me. I learned about Bev, who was in business for like 20 + years who sold the company years ago to a college student and how this young lady now works there too. I looked around and saw all the newspaper articles, and accolades on the wall of fame. There was a sign on the wall that said " ice cream solves everything, and I cant disagree, nothing I love more than ice cream all year round. There were so many delicious treats on the counter, cookies, brownies, cakes, and I noticed they sell ice cream cakes and cones too. I love a good waffle cone, but today was about the tea and brownies. Next time ice cream for sure! I eagerly grabbed that brownie and chose my favorite tea ... Earl Grey" Creme Tea. If you are a tea drinker, then you know this tea smells like heaven. Even the girl behind the counter couldn't deny, and she said, omg this smells so good, I'm going to have to have one tonight too. I was so glad I stopped by here and sampled a bit of...

I am in agreement with everyone else in reference to the customer service. No one was in the front of the shop upon entering. After calling the server out from the back, she looked annoyed that my friend and elderly aunt needed help. She seemed uninterested in explaining the different flavors or offering a sample.

The young lady serving ice cream that came from the back doing something eagerly without WASHING her hands nor WEARING gloves mind you scooped and "knuckled" flavors into a cone. This was disappointing because the ice cream was pretty good.

Hygiene is not a priority here that's for sure nor is customer service. I asked for whip cream and received unsweetened cream that fell. Charged .15 cents gave her 25 cents and never offered my change as I stood there waiting. The server went to the back as I was still waiting and looked at me as if my 10cent was a donation to the terrible excuse for whipped cream that ruined my ice cream. Sigh.

There is so much to say about the $17 and 25 cents we wasted in our first experience here. Maybe we were the wrong color for this...