Creamistry — Restaurant in Round Rock

Short story: Creamsitry is just too expensive. The cheapest offering is a regular size cup without any toppings. You'll pay over $7 for this if you throw in a tip. For a family of five, your total will be over $30 if each family member orders his own. There is nothing about the product or experience that makes this worthwhile. In fact, after receiving his order, my 8 year old was mad and asked why we came here since I wouldn't let him order any toppings at $1 each. Go to Amy's Ice Cream or OrangeLeaf yogurt instead for a better experience and happier family.

Longer story: There are so many opportunities to improve the customer experience and operational efficiency of this place.

When you come in for the first time, it is just disorienting. Where am I supposed to go to place my order? Do I wait for someone to help me in front? Do I head towards the POS terminals in the back? The latter turns out to be the correct answer here. However, this is unclear and it is different than virtually every other ice cream store. Can you think of another one where you pay before you receive your order?

How does this work? What decisions do I need to make to place my order? I didn't hear any employees explaining this to any customers. Once I take it in, I see the signage explains this. To understand though, I have to read three sections of the menu. Why are the sections (i.e. steps) layed out from right to left? Maybe this would make sense if I had to make a decision in front of each sign and communicate it to an employee. But, I have to proceed to the POS terminal and communicate everything all at once.

When I was at the location on a Friday evening, there was a steady stream of customers coming in and ordering, but there was no wait. Why are there 6 or 7 employees working and dancing around each other? At Amy's Ice Cream, I don't recall ever seeing more than 3 employees even at their busiest times.

The layout of the counter is stupid. There are two POS terminals, but they are packed so closely together that they could only both be in use if two individuals were ordering. When a family or group walks up to order, there is no room for anyone else to order from the second POS terminal. I only ever saw one in use.

At the other end of the counter, there are four stations for mixing ice cream. There are both too many stations and they are too spread out, not leaving enough room for the POS terminals. I only ever saw two of the mixing stations in use, and it appeared that the second was only momentarily being used because there was some trouble with the first.

Lastly, despite the many employees that were trying to make themselves appear busy, not once did anyone come out to wipe down tables as people left. No one wants to sit at dirty tables that are sticky from kids (and adults) who have...

I give them 1 star because I can't give lower. We went to this place as a treat. The ice cream is good, but it is not better than other places that offer premium ice cream such as Amy's or Maggie Moo's. So, it is on par with these places for taste. As for price, it is not. They charge $8.50 for a large and that does not include any toppings. Each topping is extra at an additional $1 each.

Now, part of the experience of going to get ice cream here is the liquid nitrogen gimmick. It's "cool", but not worth the time it takes. We were there waiting for ice cream for 30 minutes. We could have gotten a meal in that time at some places. Not only that, but the employees seemed very downtrodden. I could see why when the manager/owner came out from the back and started helping. He actually created more of a problem and slowed down the process. I could see this since we were there for 30 minutes watching this train wreck. Many others customers who came in after us received their items before us because he got the tickets out of order.

Also, we were charged the incorrect amount for our items. We discovered this when looking to see what we ordered because we received the wrong items. The items were corrected. It added more time to our wait. The manager was unapologetic and in fact kind of yelled at me and one of my kids about it.

I have seen the owners response to some of the posts and he states that people are always welcome to come back. Why wouldn't they be welcome back if they are paying a huge markup and he is not offering an an apology?

We will not be going back and will be referring people to other places in the area that have a similar product at a better price and friendlier owners.

Update (2018-03-07): The owner stated in his push-back that only "all natural and premium" ingredients are used. Unless his definition of "all natural" includes artificial coloring, this is false. One of my children had mint ice cream and it was bright green. Mint extract is not bright green. What all natural ingredient was added in order to create a bright green ice cream? I'm not really complaining, but I am pointing out a false statement made by you and...

I don't like giving bad reviews but I have concerns. The young lady at the register took my card with her right hand and processed my payment then proceeded to make ice creams without washing her hands and only put a glove on her left hand after touching a few items first and never put one on her right hand. Even though I don't think they touch the food products directly in front of us, she is touching every scoop, multiple bottles of milk, and handles of the ice cream machines and I couldn't help but think about how many other credit cards she touched without washing her hands before mine. I understand that a lot of pathogens couldn't survive the nitrogen, but it's still just gross. WE ARE IN A PANDEMIC, and even if we weren't, that level of cross-contamination without regard is cause for concern. Please make sure the employees wash their hands or at least put gloves on both hands; ideally both. I will say the manager was nice, I tried to quietly just ask him to have them stop my order but one of the employees interjected and unfortunately the other patrons heard of my concerns at that point. He was nice enough to say he'll refund me, I just can't bring myself to eat the ice cream at that point. I have tried their Cookie Monster one yesterday and that employee was careful so maybe this was new employee. The ice cream is good, just keep an eye on the staff, and maybe think about having a touchless process for the employees? Just my suggestions. Sorry guys, I...