Marianne's Ice Cream — Restaurant in Santa Cruz

We recently visited Marianne’s Ice Cream Shop on the hunt for some quality spumoni, which we’d heard good things about. Unfortunately, we learned it’s only sold in quarts, so we pivoted and sampled a few other flavors instead: Irish Coffee & Chocolate Chip, Lavender, and Green Tea.

The shop is in a popular area, and the parking situation reflects that. The parking lot was completely full and extremely tight, so we ended up finding street parking and taking a short walk.

Out of the flavors we tried, the Irish Coffee & Chocolate Chip was hands-down the standout. It had a rich, slightly bitter coffee flavor that was nicely balanced with the sweetness of the chocolate chips. It felt sophisticated without being too heavy, and we’d definitely go back for that one alone.

The Lavender was quite pungent—probably a good choice if you really love floral flavors, but for us, it was a bit too intense. The Green Tea Ice Cream was the most subtle of the bunch. Unfortunately, it didn’t quite deliver on the distinctive matcha or green tea notes we were hoping for; it felt more like a lightly flavored vanilla than a true green tea.

Service was okay—our server was efficient, though not particularly warm or engaging. Nothing bad, just neutral. One thing we did appreciate was how easy it was to pay by credit card—always a plus in our book, especially for a small shop where cash-only policies can still sometimes pop up.

All in all, Marianne’s is worth a visit, especially if you’re an ice cream lover looking to try unique flavors. While not everything we tried hit the mark, the Irish Coffee & Chocolate Chip alone made the trip worthwhile. We’ll likely return to give other flavors a shot—and maybe pick up that quart of spumoni we were...

Not what they used to be. The employees are never happy or in a good mood. The manager is rude, derogatory and unprofessional. She called the police on my wife, who was standing outside playing music from her phone. When asked to turn it off my wife was more than happy too comply. She then proceeded to tell my wife she had to leave after she had just given business to the convenient store next door. She also made the entire interaction about race. The manager for some reason had felt the need in this situation to emphasize that she was a "black woman" over and over. Wich was extremely weird and completely of topic from the original reason that she confronted my wife. It also made my wife extremely uncomfortable and feel as if she had done something to racially offend this girl... We are Santa Cruz locals and live around the corner from Marianne's and grew up going there for a scoop of ice cream. I have 3 children and we also a regulars at Marianne's and have continued the tradition. This whole event was very unsettling. I work at one of the hotels here on Ocean St and see thousands of guest each month. I have always recommend Marianne's to them. I will no longer be recommending Marianne's as a local business to my guests after this experience. I do not want someone else to have the same experience as me. There are lots of other local Ice cream shops in Santa Cruz. Sad what this wonderful local business...

So this place has quite the line both times we've gone...a decade ago and then again in Aug 2022...crazy! But all in all I would say the wait was worth it. The value was pretty good for what we got (single scoops), but if I go back I'll just get a Jr Scoop or a Double Jr Scoop which would be plenty.

• Be advised that many reviews say cash only but they now accept debit/credit.*

Parking is extremely difficult and the shop nearby will tell you to move if you take one of their only 2 shops with a nice but direct explanation that they rent 2 spots for customers to come in for 3-5 min while ice cream takes 15+ minutes. So plan ahead and don't be that person.

Make sure you grab a number when you get to walk in the store -- no need to grab a number while in line, the line gets priority over the number. The number is just how they call your party over.

There's a choice of 3 cone types and there are 50+ flavors!! There's many "normal" flavors, many fruit flavors, as well as "unique" flavors. We didn't get to try any of the fruits flavors this time but for "unique" we tried the Cardemom Pistachio which was def unique but pretty good. Would love to try Ginger next time. Lavender was good, but not as fragrant as we expected. Wonder if it's real lavender or just flavor and purple food coloring...was VERRRRY purple 🤔🤨 The overall fave was...