Bi-Rite Creamery
3692 18th Street
San Francisco, CA 94110
Yelp
Ever since I fell in love with the ice cream at Portland’s Salt ‘n Straw, I have been a big fan of ice cream eating and making.  Over the years, that has probably morphed into ice cream snobbery.  I’ve just developed a very discerning preference for ice cream.  It can’t be too sweet.  It can’t be too icy or too melty.  It can’t be boring.  The classic flavors of vanilla, chocolate, and strawberry need to take a hike.  These days, ice cream and hipsters seem to go hand in hand.  So there’s all sorts of wacky novelty happening in that scene.  Salt ‘n Straw is probably the craziest with flavors featuring ingredients like foie gras, fish sauce, and various other strange salty tid bits.  San Francisco’s two most famous ice cream shops are Humphry Slocombe and Bi-Rite Creamery.  I actually own the latter’s ice cream recipe book.  It’s given me a lot of great inspiration.

This place has been around for years, and it still draws a line, even on a cool night.

Their most popular flavors are probably the ricanellas and salted caramel.  

Ricanellas
Roasted Bananas
Black Sesame
Melon Berry Mango
Despite being so full from our dinner at Delfina, The Annoyer insisted on getting 4 scoops of ice cream.  To be honest, I wasn’t super excited by any of the sample flavors.  Ricanellas was a nice safe choice.  I can see why it’s so popular, with its subtle cinnamon flavor and dots of snickerdoodle cookies.  Solid.  Roasted bananas was The Annoyer’s choice since he loves anything bananas.  It was actually pretty rich in banana flavor.  The black sesame was sadly my least favorite.  It was a bit too sweet, and didn’t pack enough roasted nuttiness.  And to both our surprise, the melon berry mango was the clear winner.  Each flavor of fruit was equitably represented, and it was delightful.  

Bi-Rite delivers an ice cream that is not too melty or icy.  It’s texture isn’t as smooth and creamy  as Salt ‘n Straw’s, but it’s better than Humphry Slocombe’s offering.  I wished for more exciting flavors, though I walked away impressed by that fruit sorbet.  Bi-Rite is worth a visit for any ice cream lover in San Francisco.

10 – You NEED to eat here
9 – Awesome
8 – Very good
7 – Good
6 – OK
5 – Average
4 – Not bad
3 – Not good
2 – Terrible
1 – Do NOT eat here