Fairfax Scoop
- Price Range: $
- Accepts Credit Cards: No
- Parking: Street
- Wheelchair Accessible: Yes
75 Reviews for Fairfax Scoop
I guess I'll update my review since the last one wasn't very helpful. Don't worry, I'll try to avoid verbal diarrhea. The honey lavender is excellent and if that is to mundane for you, they have fro-yo flavored ice cream which is also quite tasty. Not sure if it's the flavor for you? like many other shops, you can sample first before committing to a whole cup/cone/bowl.
1 Previous Review:
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06/23/2008
yum.
Their strawberry ice cream has the freshest strawberries. I think that they are stealing the strawberries from my garden, which are the best in Marin, in my opinion.
Then again, I also think that aliens from outer space have descended on Marin--oh wait, that's just the hippies who are still lost in the 60s/70s.
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My 2 /12 year old nephew points to the strawberry ice cream and declares he wants the "pink" flavor. He then sits like the perfect child he is, with his hands in his lap and sticks out his tongue so that you can start working the cone along it. Is that just a 2 year old thing, or is that a spoiled, mama's boy thing?
Whatever, if he is spoiled I don't care. He's fucking adorable and corrected me when I called him "Diaper Face" by saying, with a serious expression "No, it's 'Diaper Butt.'" Oh man, the kid kills me.
On my very first trip to the infamous Faifax Scoop, I decided to stray from the pink flavor and try the "Latin Jazz." I figured it sounded spicy, like salsa dance...which is considered a workout...so eating something with jazz in the name would mean that I was actually doing something to benefit my body rather than add another roll to my newly forming cankles.
Latin Jazz consists of bittersweet chocolate with bits of spicy red chili pepper. It was delicious and creamy with just the right amount of kick. I'm thinking that wasn't low fat milk they used to churn the cream into the sinful palate pleaser I was sucking on Saturday night.
Did I mention that I loathe this new found sweet tooth I've acquired? It's wrecking havoc on my swim suit-wearing plans this summer.
I wish I were still two years old. Then it would be acceptable to have those extra flaps of skin on the back of my leg, parallel to my knee. It would also be acceptable to expect others to feed me and remove of my fecal matter and bring me things while I'm in the bath, and think it's cute when I cry myself to sleep.
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Have yet to actually survive the line down the block to even taste ice cream!!
Been to the movies, and tried to grab a cone after wards - 45 minute wait... Went to the brewery up the street for dinner, tried to grab a cone - 30 minute wait, went for a hike with friends in Fairfax, well, you know the rest of the story...
WHY would a business owner (s) continue to have ONE person working a counter when they KNOW that there is demand for their product?
Is it stupidity? Is it arrogance? One - or both - it sucks. You should respect your customers and HIRE a staff to SERVE your customers.... Business 101...
Nothing can beat this place on any day. Yes, we've read that the line gets long and yes, we've read that there's only one server, but people keep coming back; they must be doing something right.
Expect a wait on a hot day - the store is small and capacity limited - but it is well worth the wait: all organic, all handmade ice cream, lined up like buckets of delicious jewels.
Just go and try something new. And please, if they have avocado ice cream, pick me up a pint, will ya?
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I like that it's organic and they stick to their principles and don't create flavors or put in add-ins that don't adhere to their standards.
The line was a half hour long, with one guy working the counter. But in the literature, they say that with their ice cream making capacities, if they had more servers, they'd actually run out of ice cream. Ok, so I don't like it, but i get it. The most impressive piece, aside from the yummy ice cream in yummy fun flavors, was the guy at the counter. People were asking, can I taste this, can I try that, and the lines out 15 people deep, but mr. ice cream server is just as mellow and cool as a cucumber. Must be the water in Fairfax. Or something in the ice cream...
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What a better way to spend a hot summer afternoon than at the local ice creamery? And Fairfax has a charming scoop shop indeed. The small store is decorated with ice cream paraphenelia and a collage of photos of local kids enjoying their frosty treat. Note that they do not take credit or debit cards, so come prepared with cash or checks. The place is swarming with kids, their mouths covered in ice cream as they scrape the sweet confection from the home made waffle cups. All the ice creams here are made from local organic ingredients and they even use metal spoons for tasting (how eco friendly!). The ten or so flavors of the day are indicated on a board behind the counter. Today's flavors included vanilla honey lavendar, mexican chocolate, yogurt (ice cream flavored like yogurt, not actual fro yo), cookies and cream, strawberry, raspberry, meyer lemon sorbet, soy mocha almond fudge, and a few others. We each got the single scoop (which allows you to choose 2 flavors) in the famous waffle cup, my choices of the day being yogurt and meyer lemon sorbet. Gaelen went for the vanilla honey lavendar and mexican chocolate. The yogurt flavor was very interesting- since it was actually ice cream laced with tart yogurt, it had a very tangy yet creamy finish which was a perfect contrast to the icy and zingy lemon sorbet. It comes as a given that the mexican chocolate was amazingly delicious- how can chocolate and cinnamon ever go wrong? The ice cream here is on par with Mitchell's although I am not giving it five stars due to the rather small selection. However the service was extremely friendly and helpful, and I was very pleased that they recycle and use eco friendly products like potato based spoons. Quick tip- if you bring your own container you get a small discount on your ice cream!
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This is the best ice cream I've ever had in my relatively short, lactose-intolerant life.
I recommend the honey-lavender flavor with a fresh waffle cone. I don't know how these people do it, but it is incredible. Another reason why Fairfax is the best place in the world.
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Ok, I get it, I get it. It's fresh. It's good. It's high quality ingredients. It's delicious flavor combinations. It's a store that cares about the environment - they encourage you to eat it there and use re-usable cutlery (if you need it), they have potato based cutlery to take away, and they give you a discount for bringing in your own containers.
BUT WOULD IT KILL YOU TO HAVE MORE THAN ONE FUCKING GUY WORKING ON THE HOTTEST GOD DAMNED SUNDAY NIGHT OF THE YEAR???
It would be 5 stars, but I hate having to wait 30 minutes for ice cream just because they only have one guy serving people and one guy making cones. Plan better.
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Nothing is better on a hot day, cold day, rainy day, hailing day, windy day and i would imagine snowing day (if it ever snowed here.)
Everyone else has pretty much said it all, so let me list some of my favorite flavors over the years:
vanilla honey lavender (obviously.)
mexican chocolate
avocado
chai spice
love parade
grasshopper
mud pie
cookie and creme
latin jazz
chocolate hazelnut
lemon poppyseed
maple walnut
vanilla almond rose
...and thats all i can think of now, but the list goes on to pretty much include almost any flavor thats been on the flavor board!
I have to say, I think this is a REALLY fun place and totally accept it as part of the communal family in Fairfax. They are super nice inside and it is a warm environment with cute artwork and pictures of customers on the walls.
But from an ice cream purist, the selection is pretty slim(10 - 12 total) and they NEVER have certain staple flavors like Mint Chip. Also, none of the tastes have floored me. If you are a big fan of delicious home-made organic ice cream style places, you likely will not be blown away. Also, during busy hours, the line is HORRIBLE. It can seriously take 30 - 45 minutes or longer.. probably because I have never seen more than one person scooping ice cream and nearly every customer tastes a few different flavors before deciding.
I'm sure a lot of people adore this place, love to come with family and friends, enjoy the Fairfax community and such things, which is valid reasoning of course, but the ice cream is just OK.
Wow! Not only are the employees super sweet, but the ice cream is amazing. I really dig the cardamon and the Mexican hot chocolate. No matter what they dream up they seem to nail the complex flavor. Sitting outside the shop the air is drenched with the scent of fresh waffle cone. It is mouth watering. Also for the environmentally conscious, they have biodegradable spoons.
Impressive. Top-Notch. All their ingredients are organic from local farms and if not, it's because organic was unavailable and they will tell you so. Plus they bake their own cones and waffle cones, and have totally rad original flavors such as Lavender Honey, Mexican Chocolate Chip, and "Grasshopper" mint ice cream with Spirulina. Once you step inside, you'll smell the homemade ice cream and won't be able to leave until you get some.
Every time I go to Marin, I make sure I stop by here. The ice cream will make you panting for more, seriously, I used to eat a scoop every day until I decided I didn't want diabetes and cut down.
Be warned though, this place is very popular and the line is very long, you may end up waiting 20 minutes for a cone but it's totally worth it.
Even if its cold and rainy and miserable out, i can't seem to stop in fairfax without getting at least one scoop of ice cream here. and usually there are at least two incredible flavors I can't decide between. if you need a place to start, make it the honey lavender vanilla in a cone. The Tamales Bay Strawberry is also pretty amazing, and I'm not even a fan of fruit-flavored ice creams. everything is delicious and totally worth a wait when there's a line. plenty of nifty window shopping and lots of benches nearby for enjoying your tasty treat outside the itsy bitsy shop.
when i'm a grandma someday, this is the sort of place i'll take my grandkids and then let them order whatever they want, so they'll think i'm the coolest grandma ever.
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Second best in Marin. Awesome place to stop on the way home from the coast. Get the strawberry ice cream. Tastes just like eating fresh strawberries.
Yah, yah, good ice cream.... all organic, etc., etc. But note to the guy behind the counter: The fact that ATMs spit out currency in the form of $20 dollar bills is NOT a conspiracy devised to get people to spend more money!!
Geez, Fairfax, I luv ya, but you need to GROW UP.
Honey Lavender ice cream.
I rarely get the sweet tooth for ice cream, but a friend of mine said this place had to be tried, and it had to be then and there! So, we left our hangout in Lagunitas and drove on down. He was right. We got our ice cream after a wait in line and sat on the steps across the street to indulge. It was almost inspirational ice cream. Definitely hippie, definitely tasty.
The ice cream is good, I'll give you that.
But the lines are crazy. I live in F-Fax and, like clockwork, see the line winding out the door, down the block as soon as the weather gets warm. Here's the thing: I think the line is not just because the ice cream is yummy, the flavors unusual and the product locally-made.
I THINK THE LINES ARE LONG BECAUSE THE SERVICE IS SO FREAKING SLOW!
There! I said it! In fact, I yelled it right here on Yelp.
The servers at Fairfax Scoop have no sense of urgency. It's like, the line is 50 people long, folks! Doesn't that get a fire under your ass? Can't you put a little umph into your ice cream scooping or hustle your waffle-cone cooking just a little? Just because people are fool enough to wait in line 45 minutes for a $5 ice cream cone doesn't mean that they like to do it! (Except, apparently, Tito from Redwood City--see review below.)
Other than that, like I said, the ice cream is really yummy and it's nice to support a local business.
When I want really, really good ice cream and no line, I go to Ciao Bella. It's in a mall and I can't walk there from home, but in the time it takes to drive there and back with my super-yummy Key Lime Gelato, I would probably still be staring at the photo wall at Scoop. Another option: Pick up a pint of Laloo's fig goat cheese ice cream from Andronico's.
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Finding a perfect ice cream cone in Fairfax Scoop is so much more probable than finding even a suitable man at a bar in Marin. Oh well, at least you know you can count on something! Although both men and ice cream come in all different flavors, (with the option of take out - or take home!), below are the formost reasons to support my hypothesis:
1) The flavors of ice cream at Fairfax Scoop are always unique, creative and tasty.
At the local bars, you'll often only find one type of man. It's not really the receeding hair lines that bug me, because I personally love bald men, but, it's the egos that come along with them. The forgoing example was used on me when I was reluctant to leave my house on a rainy stormy day to get a drink with this guy was: (and I am soooo serious)
"I'll pick you up in my ROVER if it makes you feel better"
BORING......
Now, I understand that Land Rovers are safe and that is probably what he meant but, REALLY - couldn't he have just said "my SUV?"
2) You will not be judged for eating ice cream at Fairfax Scoop. At Fairfax Scoop, if you get bored, you can always go with another flavor, like Lemon Almond or Chai. So, you can either have your ice cream sweet, spicey, sour or.... well a combination of all three. And, even if you try one of them one day and decide to go with another flavor another day, you will not be considered a "slut" or a "whore".
3) Eating the ice cream at Fairfax Scoop is so much more enjoyable.
No one will spill a drink on you or throw up on you. No one will offer to buy you a drink only to talk your ear off about their latest divorce malady, like how his ex-wife is now being whored off by some Russian. And, no one cares if you show up to eat ice cream wearing your pajamas.
4) Not only does the ice cream at Fairfax Scoop never leave you with a sour taste in your mouth, but you will never regret it in the morning!
Men are unpredictable - they may come to your place and leave unwanted stains behind in places we would rather not speak of, or the toilet seat up or something. Or, perhaps your drunken fog the night before causes your face to wrinkle the next morning when you realize the guy laying next to you is not the George Clooney look alike you thought he was. Unlike the aforementioned scenarios, The ice cream at Fairfax Scoop is always predictable. It's made from all natural, organic ingredients, and many of their flavors are made from local farm ingredients, like Nicasio Strawberry. Plus, you can always count on them having at least their 3 standard flavors (Vanilla Honey lavendar, chocolate, and strawberry) along with an assortment of other creative flavors which may include:
Avocado, Chai, Cardamon, Pumpkin, Earl Grey, lemon Almond, espresso chocolate chip and love parade, or rum raisin.
So, as the saying goes, ICE CREAM YOU SCREAM WE ALL SCREAM FOR ICE CREAM.
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I appreciate their efforts to be green. From their non-plastic utensils to their use of local, organic ingredients, their commitment to sustainability definitely shows.
I definitely don't think it's the best ice cream I've ever had, but I do like to support local businesses and I think they have a quality product. Their prices are definitely reasonable and the fresh waffle cones/bowls make the line worth the wait.
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I can't tell you how much I love ice cream. After seeing this place featured on a local TV station, I made a trip here after spending the day at Point Reyes. I parked in downtown Fairfax, started walking around and by chance came upon other strangers looking for the ice cream place as well.
Normally I am a chocolate/coffee flavor ice cream girl but wow, after tasting their vanilla honey lavender, I'm a convert. There are a bunch of different ice cream flavors but I'm sold on the vanilla honey lavender, served on a perfect homemade waffle cone.
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Yes, the line can sometimes be RIDICULOUS! Last weekend I got lucky, there was only 1 person in front of me... Total Luck.
Anyway, the line is worth it, it's delicious, they're "green", and you can probably count the ingredients in their ice cream in only 1 hand.
I like that they vary their flavors, you never know what you'll find. If I'm really lucky they'll have their version of mocha-almond-fudge... It's the best.
Last weekend however, they surprised me with lime ice-cream, just like they make it in Mexico... I almost cried.
When I'm in Fairfax and it's hot, I want something cold and sweet. I always end up here every time I'm in the area. There's not a lot of flavors to choose from like Mitchell's in the city but I like a small menu, less of a headache trying to figure out what I want. There's always four on the menu, vanilla, chocolate, strawberry and vanilla honey lavender. The other four rotate but always include a sorbet and a soy alternative.
I always opt for the chocolate and vanilla fudge (when it's on the menu. The chocolate is always rich and creamy and the vanilla has a nice rich ribbon of chocolaty fudge throughout the creamy vanilla. You get to choose two flavors in one cone. I like how the waffle cones are house made!! The smell of the waffle cones is already a star.
What makes me coming back is not the ice cream itself but also the super friendly staff and is open til 10pm every day! They have a line out the door when it's hot or if it's the weekend.
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Five stars because they have the guts to create Avocado ice cream and it is good. It's not super sweet like the lavender vanilla honey (which is really good too), but it's nice, creamy and refreshing.
I like this place because they have a flavor of soy ice cream. It's nice to be able to go out for ice cream once and a while and this place is where I go. Last time I went they had soy chocolate. I hope in the future they have something more exciting.
**Updated**
I went back and they had soy cookies and cream. It was amazing! They also had kiwi sorbet, which I didn't get to try. I hope they have it again soon!
I like ice cream. Especially good ice cream. I was warned about the wait to be encountered here, but what the heck. For something hand made by a locally-owned business, why not?
It was worth it. The reason the line moves slowly is because there are only two people working in there. Couldn't be more, as there's no room. One person's busy making the waffle cones and cups on a griddle from fresh batter, while the other does the scooping.
Its rich and thick, plus it's organic. While I've had better, this was still delicious and well worth the wait. I'm sure I'll be back.
Delicious and interesting flavors.
The consistency is fantastic and the style is through the roof.
No amenities, no toppings and that's how it should be. Totally organic and local definitely adds a feeling of environmental contribution, but the ice cream is what it's all about.
Any other ice cream place overloads, looking at ice cream as indulgence and expecting customers to gorge on gummi bears and chocolate dipped cones. At the Scoop, the food is far better than any of these places because they have focused so well on the basic ice cream and basic cone that no more achievement is necessary.
I'd recommend going for the flavors that might seem odd. They're not an attempt at Fairfax oddness, but a legitimate effort to make interesting flavors. None are offensive.
Quintessentially Fairfax: quirky and focused on quality all while being environmentally conscious. It's like eating a delicious scoop of the city! Sure, there are flavors that aren't for everyone: some people like lavender in their ice cream, some people like that weird guy that runs around town only a red sarong; it's a matter of taste. What's important is the overall effect; there are always one or two flavors that are undeniably delicious, and coupled with the home-town feel and commune-like pricing, this place is everything you could want from a little hippie town on the way to the beach.
While strolling around Fairfax amusing ourselves with unusual stores, my gf and I happened upon Fairfax Scoop. Although we weren't hungry, Fairfax Scoop teases you with odors of amazing smelling waffle cones wafting (or is it "waffling"?) out the door. Once inside, their menu sports a short list of all-organic ice cream flavors for the day. We sampled the lavender-vanilla-honey. It was jaw dropping, especially combined with their waffle cones (limit of 8 per customer, by the way, if you were thinking of eating these for every meal). I noticed that another reviewer complained of tasting the lavender, but this is precisely what makes this ice cream so delicious and unique.
The shop itself is rather utilitarian, offering almost no seating, and no real ambiance; if it weren't for the amazing smell/taste sensory vacation, you would pass right by and never know what you missed.
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On our way back from Point Reyes, we were awfully full from the brunch, so we decided to take a walk around fairfax because it looked like a very cute town on our way to Point Reyes. So we walked around. All the sudden, there was this incredibly sweet smell. It was just incredible so we had to find out where it's from. So we turned around and walk back a couple stores, there we found fairfax scoops. So we went in, but just wanted to check it out since we were so stuffed. But how could you turn down the freshly handmade waffle cones with handmade icecream? So we got the honey lavender vanilla ice cream. It was Heavenly!! So good that I'm willing to drive back there just to get some ice cream in the waffle cone!!
It made me laugh that you need to call in advance if you want to buy more than 8 waffle cones. Next time when my mom's in town, i'll have to buy 3 dozens for her cuz she won't be able to stop eating them.
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I love lavender.
I love lavender scent in my shampoo, soap, lotion, potpourri. I even have a bundle of dried lavender on my desk at work. However, it has never crossed my mind to EAT lavender.
Well I crossed that line this weekend. The vanilla lavender honey ice cream at Fairfax Scoop is utterly amazing. Now I want to put lavender in all of my desserts. I think the Body Shop should create a body butter in this flavor. I think I want to marry this flavor.
Walking into the tiny shop, you're overwhelmed with the sweet scent of fresh waffle cones being made. I love the simple offerings of the daily flavors with no crazy options. The sizes are very appropriate and controlled - not like some ice cream places where bigger is better and quality plays second fiddle. The prices are right, especially considering the quality ingredients used.
We were a group of 17 (9 kids and 8 adults) on their way home from a camping trip - smelly and tired but with ice cream karma on our side as there was virtually no line on a warm Sunday afternoon. The place is tiny but we all managed to get our ice cream cones without incident, all were able to sit/stand/loiter on the sidewalk to share the wonderful scoops.
The kid sized cones for $1.50 is a great deal - perfectly sized perfectly round perfectly scooped scoops of goodness securely nestled in the fresh waffle cones for safe licking and avoid ice cream overboard that force us to stand in the now long line to get another scoop with a crying kid in tow.... I had the small scoop with coconut and vanilla lavender honey. The coconut tasted fresh and intensely coco-nutty. Hubs had the double scoop with Mexican chocolate and strawberry - both were delicious. He finished his and half of mine and most of our kids. He is the human garbage disposal for ice cream but lucky for me he still manages to look hot.
So, I have decided...
when we become millionaires, we're so going to abandon Oakland and move to Fairfax where we will wear expensive clothing made of organic hemp and eat nothing but VLH ice cream on the sidewalk of this totally cute hippy town. We will grow heirloom tomatoes and our children will turn goth and pan handle in the Haight for extra income.
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Years ago this guy I knew described Fairfax to me as "a little hippie town". Until today I had never actually gone anywhere in Fairfax, but every time I'd drive by it on Sir Francis Drake on my way to Point Reyes I'd be all "Aw, look at the little hippie town. So cute."
So today I was on a hike with a guy who could not stop raving about the ice cream at Fairfax Scoop. Intrigued, I got directions and stopped by after the hike. It's a small shop and the line was out the door - you know that means it's good! When I got in line, the guy in front of me turned around and beamed and said "Isn't this a great day for ice cream?" Indeed. The line moved fairly slowly, but that's OK because it gave me time to read the signs in the shop, like the FAQs explaining why certain flavors are available at certain times or not at all. They clearly have a commitment to being green, like the signs asking that you use a metal spoon if you're eating in.
I ordered a cone with a scoop of Chocolate Hazelnut and a scoop of Tomales Bay Strawberry. I rarely order strawberry ice cream, but something about putting the words "Tomales Bay" in front of it made it impossible to resist. The ice cream was great, as was the waffle cone - inside the shop you could small the cones baking. Very reasonably priced, too - just $2.35, a bargain compared to some other fancy ice cream shops.
Take note: these hippies have some interesting math. On a "one scoop" cone you can order 1-2 flavors. On a "two scoop" cone you can order up to four flavors. Four flavors on one cone? Awesome! Next time I go there I am totally doing it. What the hell, nobody knows me in Fairfax.
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The Scoop makes the very best ice cream and waffle cones in the world.
Fairfax Scoop is HANDS down one of the better, if not the best ice cream place in the immediate Bay Area. And I have eaten my way through many of them.
Small very community oriented ice cream shop located in downtown Fairfax. On a warm night I have waited in line for a good 45 minutes, and it is totally WORTH it. All the flavors rotate on a scheduled basis, and they keep 3-4 stock flavors. All of the ice cream is hand made at the Scoop with local, fresh and organic ingredients.
Best part is they make the waffle cones there, WHILE you are waiting. The smell permeating through the store is enough to drive me insane. All the flavors are great, from the standard Vanilla Honey Lavender to Grasshopper to the Cardamon. Go with a single scoop, and try two different flavors.
On more than one occasion I have seen CELEBRITIES here. From Santana to Toby from the West Wing. And we talked about how great this place is for a good twenty minutes in line while we waited for the crack ice cream.
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Amazingly awesome ice cream - perhaps, even the best ice cream I've found in the bay area. This place is tiny, so don't expect Baskin and Jerry and their 32 thousand flavors. Instead, you'll find 8 flavors (4 that stay the same, and 4 that change around). On my visit, I tried their peach ice cream, which was filled with fresh, locally grown organic peach slices.
The store is cutting edge sustainable friendly - they have little metal ice cream cups to use if your eating at one of their few tables (although I'd recommend getting the waffle cone or cup), as well as potato based to-go utensils.
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They use Straus (yay!!), they are environmentally conscious (yay!!), but their ice cream is just not very good. The stars all go for the fact that they do things small batch, home made, local ingredients, with a flare of green. The flavors are either over the top, or kind of bland. The Honey-Lavender was just a train wreck in my mouth. I can't understand why they left lavender blossoms in the ice cream. I kept feeling like I was being punished with soap in my mouth for doing something bad, but I couldn't think of a bad thing I'd done to have my ice cream ruined. The line is out the door typically, and it's a schlep unless you live locally. Oh, they also do their ice cream seasonally, which is awesome, but still, I don't think I'll be schleping here to find out the newest flavors.
I want to like you Fairfax Scoops..I really really do. You use Straus Cream..you are all about environmentally sound practices and supporting local agriculture...but why the hell do you have to put whole lavender buds in your honey lavender ice cream? The end result is an overpowering almost soapy taste that destroys the superb ingredients used to make the ice cream. I was so turned off by the experience I have failed to go back and try other varieties. I'll get over the trauma someday and return in the hopes of discovering a redeeming flavor.
If you love Honey Lavender Ice Cream check out Bi-Rite Creamery. The lavender is infused into the cream creating a far more pleasing result (both in flavor and texture).
Ice Cream.
There are thousands of places to go get ice cream in the bay area.
Fairfax Scoop is one of the hands down BEST.
As someone who was recently put on a doctor ordered diet, ice cream has become the one thing I miss most. I love ice cream. It's one of those things I didn't realize I loved so much until I couldn't have it any ol' time I wanted it.
So on this cursed diet I have what I like to call an "Elizabeth Taylor Day". Back in the day when La Liz lost a ginormous amount of weight, her secret was to have one day a week where she could eat anything she wanted. Her drug of choice was supposedly Chasen's Chili, mine is ice cream.
We took the Lou-pup to Fort Cronkite for the day and the plan was to head back to Oakland so I could have my Fenton's fix. As we were walking back from the beach, a MUNI bus pulled up. We were both amazed that MUNI went all the way to Fort Cronkite. That reminded me of my Yelp friend Brad L.'s review of Fairfax Scoop. That food freak boy took BART plus three buses to check out Fairfax Scoop so I figured it was worth the detour.
Fairfax is a tiny town on the outskirts of San Anselmo. As a child, I went there a lot to go to the Fairfax swimming pools. Not much as changed. Still a bucolic little town, kind of crunchy and granola - one bumper sticker I saw put it perfectly: Fairfax - Mayberry on Acid. Yup.
Fairfax scoop is a sliver of a storefront right off of Sir Francis Drake Boulevard on the four block long main street of Fairfax. You'll quickly find it by the long, snaking line that rolls up Broadway.
There are usually 8 flavors on the menu - four that are always available: Vanilla Lavender Honey, Chocolate, Strawberry and Vanilla. The ones available on the day I was there were Cinna-a-whirl which is cinnamon ice cream with fudge swirls and graham crackers. Chocolate Covered Grasshopper - chocolate mint ice cream with Newman's Os crumbled into it. Peach made with Blossom Bluff Peaches (I *LOVE* those guys!). Berry Sorbet made with local blackberries, strawberries and raspberries. Love Parade which is vanilla ice cream with peanut butter and chocolate. Soy Chai Spice. And last but not least, coffee. That's it. Just scoops of ice cream in either paper cups or freshly made cones or waffles cups. No toppings, no milkshakes, no nuthin - there is no room and the demand is too high. It's kept very simple. AND DID I MENTION ALL ORGANIC WHENEVER POSSIBLE?!
The line was long and we waited for about 20 minutes. I agonized over what to get. In the end I went with a double size which can have up to four flavors. I got three in a waffle cup - Chocolate Covered Grasshopper, Cinna-a-whirl and Love Parade. The chocolate mint ice cream was incredibly good. Balanced chocolate and mint. Creamy. Perfect. The Cinna-a-whirl and Love Parade were good but I wanted more "stuff" swirled in - but the cinnamon base was amazing and the vanilla ice cream is otherworldly. My sweetheart got a triple with peach, strawberry and Chocolate Covered Grasshopper. OMG - get to Fairfax Scoop while peaches are still in season - that ice cream was INCREDIBLE!!! LouLou even highly recommends it! It was just so damn good! So much so that as we sat on a little bench watching the world pass by my boyfriend sighed.
"What's up?"
"I want more." He says.
"Go get some more then." I say.
"I don't want to look like a pig." He says, forlornly.
"Honey, how many times are we going to be in Fairfax? Who cares if you eat more ice cream?" He toddles off for more. I sit and watch the moms, dads and kids of Fairfax trickle in and out of the ice cream store. A couple sits next to me and they eat their ice cream. As the woman finishes her ice cream, she sighs contentedly and says:
"That has to be the best ice cream I have ever tasted."
Amen, sister!
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Hello Scoops. I heart your ice cream so. Honey Lavender? Yes please, Tomales Strawberry? Yes yes. The ice cream is creamy and delicious and not too sweet. It's just sweet enough to enunciate the delicate flavors, which are so so so good. Every time I find myself in Fairfax, I make an excuse to stop by for some ice cream. Cuz, you know, ice cream makes me happy. And happy me is a good thing.
So I've realized something about myself today. I love lines. Waiting in them excites me. So I'm strolling through Fairfax and I see this ridiculously long line. I stop and wait. My friends are like "What the hell are you doing?" I'm like "Waiting." Turns out I was waiting for some good ice cream. My friends were pleased as well.
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