5T Ice — Restaurant in Virginia

This was actually my 2nd visit to 5t Ice. The very first visit, the door was sticky and it looked dark inside, so we thought they were closed even though there were employees in there and were about to leave. Second time was a charm for sure!..which left me feeling overwhelmed and excited about the choices.

This review is mostly about my recent visit. I'll briefly describe my first visit in 2019, which was a little disappointing. I didn't know what to order and randomly picked something with stale brownies/cookies and chocolate ice cream. We also got some soft serve, which they no longer have. The snack were also a little stale as well, so I won't even get into that.

6/26/24 visit:

I literally walked in there and asked if they had cheese foam and she said YES (but that it is new and not on the menu yet)! I wasn't expecting her to say yes AND they have other drinks I've been wanting to try (in general) AND they have ube foam. I can't even....she was laughing at how speechless and confused I was with all the options. Ultimately, I asked her if I can have the iced Vietnamese coffee with cheese foam, basically created my own drink (typical me....). The drink was absolutely amazing, with a very strong coffee flavor, the way I love it.

They do carry different snacks (Japanese cheesecake, ube cake, pre-packaged croissant, etc.), but I'm definitely more interested in the drinks. I love that they are keeping up with the trends, so I definitely will return for a 4th and 5th (etc.) visit to try the coconut matcha foam and the ube foam.

The location itself is kind of in the corner of the structure. It looks a little bit like a "hole in the wall" type place, but this time, I wasn't fulled, I made sure to order the right thing. Also, it helped that the employee was super nice and helpful...I do wish I got her name, but I was just too busy being overwhelmed...

Been here multiple times and its been decent, but today I was disappointed to see how bad customer service has gotten. I went in and ordered a new Mangonada ice cream for my 4 year old.

Unbeknownst to me, it contained something called, Tajin which is some spicy mess. The giy behind the counter says nothing, even though he knows I'm ordering it for my child. I pay roughly $20 for that ice cream and a couple others.

My wife gets the Mangonada and notice it's smothered in this red.powder, so she asks if it's spicy. At that time, the same guy behind the counter who sold me thebice cream, says, yes it's spicy.

At that point I ask him if can we swap it out since it's for my 4 year old. He tells me I'm supposed to know it's spicy. Mind you, I've never heard of Tajin until today. He then refuses to make it right by allowing me to substitute a single scoop of Mango ice cream. So I throw the $5 Mangonada thing away and ask for a scoop of mango ice cream for my 4 year old little girl.

He then goes to charge me $2.69 for the scoop and then tells me there is a $5 minimum purchase to use my credit card. He does this despite the fact I just spent $20 not even 3 minutes prior and even threw a $5 ice cream away after he wouldn't accommodate.

I took my family and left and went to Brusters so I could get my 4 year old some ice cream after this guy refused to care about a child or make any attempt.

He made zero effort to try and correct the situation or even show a tiny bit of care for a 4 year old who simply wanted to enjoy their ice cream. They lost a long time...

This was my second time trying this place. I don’t usually live in the area, but I recently moved back, and since my workplace is only five minutes away, I decided to stop by. I ordered the Suong Sao Hat Luu, a traditional Vietnamese dessert drink. However, when I took a sip, it tasted like sour yogurt instead of the creamy and sweet flavor it’s supposed to have (I’m Vietnamese, so I’m very familiar with how it should taste). It didn’t seem right at all, so I went back to let the staff know.

The girl at the counter was polite and offered to make me a new drink. Instead of ordering the same one again—since I was worried that one of the ingredients might have been expired—I chose something else. Unfortunately, the new drink wasn’t sealed properly. I saw her take it out of the sealing machine, notice something was wrong, but still hand it to me. It wasn’t a huge issue since she was kind enough to replace my original drink, but it stood out to me.

On a side note, this may come across the wrong way, but if you look through recent reviews, you’ll see the store is under new ownership. I don’t believe the current owners are Vietnamese, and that might explain why the taste and quality don’t feel authentic. Since Vietnamese culture and flavors are so tied to the food and drinks, this can affect the overall experience...