Bi-Rite Creamery

Mission District 
3692 18th Street
(415) 626-5600
http://biritecreamery.com/

Look, I like ice cream just as much as the next guy, but what idiots wait in line at all hours of the day and night in the rain to pay for ice cream?  It must be spectacular, right?  That's the only feasible explanation I can offer.  This must be the best ice cream on Earth!

Perhaps embarrassingly, I have gone to pretty extreme lengths for the tasty delight (and Tasti D-lite).  In college, I think I convinced my marketing study group to do a project on the local ice cream parlor just to have an excuse for frequent visits and required sampling.  Tales of me getting ice cream shipped in from Ohio for a cousin's birthday celebration in New Jersey still make the Fishman Family storybook of legends.  Anytime dry ice is involved you know it has gotten serious.  More recently, I even made my family trek to Santa Cruz to experience what's supposed to be epic ice cream (and that was)!  I set the bar high, but these icy adventures have always lived up to my wildest imagination.

But, here you wait in line to ultimately arrive at an unimpressive selection of options.  I don't need an Italian gelateria-style display where the flavors go on for miles.  In fact, I am usually a big fan of the simple stuff.  Oldies but goodies are some of my favorites, but they need to pack a punch in some way.  Nothing beats an incredible vanilla, but a boring vanilla is just a boring vanilla.  Do you follow?

So, these uninspired flavors were all I had to work with.  Again, shocking considering that this is the Mission district of San Francisco.  Isn't everything supposed to be uber hip and awesome?  The limited menu once again raised the bar.  Okay, maybe they don't need many choices.  Their focus just means each must be done to perfection.

Nope!  My Cookies and Cream was average, at best.  Granted, average for ice cream is still enjoyable.  However, add a stale cone and no more excuses allowed.  If I'm going to wait in line in the rain, or just in line at all for that matter, I expect something worth the wait.  Better off going to any grocery store freezer aisle.

Go or No Go? No Go.