Smitten Ice Cream

Smitten produces some of the most heavenly ice cream I’ve tasted in a novel way. They use nitrogen to produce it, which apparently makes super small ice crystals and therefore smooth delicious and creamy ice cream is the result. All of the ingredients used are high end and organic, and it’s all made to order (when it’s busy you’ll see lots of nitrogen smoke).
My personal favorites are the cookie dough with pretzels and chocolate chips and crème fraiche with pear caramel sauce. A small is $ 5, regular is $ 6, and a pint is $ 11. The only downside is that you can’t mix flavors, unless you want to order a flight, which ends up being a few dollars more.
Price wise, the add ons are where you have to be careful. If you want a sundae, it’s an additional $ 2.25 to the original $ ⁵⁄₆ price, so ends up being a little too expensive in my opinion. They also have lots of toppings and sauces, all ranging about $ 1, and cones (made in house) can be added for $ 1.25.
This location is convenient, always friendly, and larger than most.

There is something about the freshness and the quality of the ingredients that have helped this place to redefine ice cream.
Amazing combinations that sometimes sound like they don’t work, but end up blowing your mind. A few that I can think of that are making my mouth water as I type are Earl Grey with Milk Chocolate Chips, Strawberry White Balsamic, and Cookie Dough with Pretzels.
They make the classics the way they were meant to be made. The chocolate, vanilla, and mint chip have bold flavors and are insanely creamy.
You get what you pay for here. A steeper price for an excellent ice cream.

It tasted good and I enjoyed it, but it’s also $ 5 for a scoop. In the end, you have to remind yourself that:
1) anything with cream and sugar is pretty hard to mess up
2) you’re paying for the liquid nitrogen

This place is pretty amazing. And very unique. Their ice creams are made to order, and are made with liquid nitrogen in their own patented machines. Pretty cool. Unfortunately, that makes it hard to try their flavors, but they only have a few rotating flavors at a time. I tried the earl grey, my brother had the vanilla, and his GF had the chocolate. The ice cream is super smooth and rich. I’m glad I chose the earl grey, because it wasn’t too sweet. The chocolate was pretty good too. I’ll definitely take my BF here the next time we come to visit.

I’ve been meaning to come here since they first opened (quite awhile ago) because I’m a huge fan of their ice cream concept. I always enjoyed going to the little stand in Hayes Valley but parking is a pain even at night. It’s nice to have a full on store & indoor seating.
It was really cold the other night & decided what better time to get some ice cream?! It won’t melt as fast and there will for sure be little to no wait. I was right LOL.
I studied the menu for a min & ordered a 4oz EARL GREY with chocolate chips (doesn’t sound like ALOT but it’s actually two little scoops which was just the right amount) YUM!!! So rich in tea flavor — I was savoring every bite! They also offer 6oz ($ 6) and pints for $ 11. You could also add toppings or get a sundae if you’re feeling fancy! The flavors are seasonal & made to order.
Gift coins available and starts at $ 5 all the way to $ 50. My only concern with gift coins are they are so small I would be worried about losing it. Fun idea for a gift though. They also have t-​shirt swag available.
The store was really cute in my opinion. The workers were friendly & the music selection was fun. Couple really long benches to sit & people watch. The back of the store has a history board which is fun to check out if you are unfamiliar with their origins & concept.
Parking is probably easiest on Birch Street in the semi-​residential area. Free 2hr parking. You could try to park on College Ave. but it’s such a busy street it might be take you awhile to find anything.
I will certainly be returning to satisfy my sweet tooth — nice to have you in the neighborhood! :D :D I’m SMITTEN for your ice cream hahah.

I’m more than smitten with Smitten.
I’ve been wanting to try this place for months and ended up going with some Berkeley Haas students for a trek. The girl who led our group, I can’t remember her name, was wonderful! The story of how the business was founded down to how the machine is a unicorn was nothing short of magical.
Ok, the ice cream was the creamiest I’ve ever tasted and the texture is very mousse-​like that I almost forgot I was eating ice cream. The two flavors we had were the chocolate and the cookie dough with pretzels. I recommend getting both! You can always get a sample, too, if you’re not willing to take the plunge right away.
I want to go back for a pint. Since there are no preservatives and nothing artificial, the shelf life of the ice cream is only 5 days. Someone help me eat some ice cream!

I think people were on a sugar high when they wrote their review for this place.
The liquid nitrogen process is what lured me in. The price for a 4oz (two scoop) was $ 5. Cone or waffle bowl for $ 1.25. The ice cream was okay, nothing to rave about. The mint was so nasty. It literally taste like mint leaves. My friends and I took our first bite and made this face to each other. That’s how bad it was.
The guy taking our order was not friendly at all.
I rather use my money to pay for the non fancy artificial flavoring ice cream.

This is a new Rockridge branch of the original Smitten located in Hayes Valley. Smitten’s claim to fame is its proprietary liquid nitrogen machines that make your ice cream to order. It all looks groovy and magical, like a middle school science experiment, and the ice cream has a uniquely airy consistency going down. Alas, the flavors are just average, and the cost is quite steep, as I guess they have to take into account the intensive, made-​to-​order nature of the whole operation.
Rounding what would otherwise be a 3.5 star review up to 4 stars just because of the novelty of the whole experience. Not necessarily something I’d come back for over and over again, though.

They use liquid nitrogen
Watching it is as cool an zen
Concept is cool at smitten
Their dessert so cold you need mittens
But the taste is ok I’d give it 3 and a half
One thing for sure they got really nice staff
Wish it was a little more taste
Pretty expensive but I wouldn’t call it a waste
Had a berry crisp sundae and that broke my wallet but it was ok for what you spent. You get more toppings and stuff. Cookie dough was good too. Wifey liked it a lot more than I so just take this as a very subjective review. My palate craves McDonald’s vanilla ice cream cones ;)

«I’m ice cream crazyyyy, no ifs and buts or mayyyayaybeees!»
Shout out to baby Olsen twins for perfectly describing me way back when. Ice cream is good all the time. even the liquid nitrogen kind!
As an ice cream aficionado, I just had to try this new ice cream trend and Smitten did it justice. Though their flavor selection is small, it’ll make you want to come back to see what’s available next season.
I had the Choc Full o’ Mint sundae ($ 8.25 for regular size) and that mint ice cream is legit mint. Not the sweet kinda milky mint you’ll find at other places or in grocery stores, but the real mint leaves fresh kinda flavor. Paired with the chocolate krispies and syrup or standing alone, it’s a great choice!
They’ll make your ice cream to order and it’ll be ready in a jiffy. If you’re an ice cream lover like me and you’re in the area, you’ve gotta stop by!

I had been wanting to come to this place for a while and I finally did & I’m so happy i did!
The ice cream was so much creamier and richer than other ice cream parlors i had went to. I hear at night on the weekends it gets pretty busy but we were there around one and they got to us quickly.
At first we weren’t sure what to order and one of the employees suggested and gave us a sample of the Crème Fraiche with pear caramel sauce. That one was really really good it tastes like a cheese cake! So my friend ended up ordering that one in a medium size which was around $ 6. A medium gives you about three small scoops. He loved it but barely finished it because its so rich.
I ordered the classic vanilla with tcho chocolate syrup, brown sugar caramel, rainbow sprinkles in a small for about $ 5. The small gives you about two baby scoops. It looks REALLY tiny when you get it but ends up being just the right amount. I paid around $ 13 total but I really enjoyed it. I’ll definitely be returning to try other flavors.

Line out the door, but worth the wait if you want some freshly stirred up, nitrogen ice cream lovin’!
Their mint chip is really minty. I was surprised. As for their berries with sweet corn, that was different. I didn’t mind it, but I wouldn’t order it. It’s not my cup of ice cream, per say.
Ultimately, I am Smitten-​ed by their unique make on ice cream.

I think you go to Smitten for the experience rather than the ice cream.
I ordered a small cookie dough and it came with salted pretzels and chocolate chips.
It was my first time and I was excited to see the ice cream transform! However, it’s not really that amazing and you couldn’t really see the process that closely, just the smoke from the liquid nitrogen.
Actual ice cream tasted good. It was creamy and dense.
Overall, pricey for what you get.

It is good quality ice cream. Smooth, fresh and the flavor is authentic. I tried the tcho chocolate with my daughter. $ 5 for a small cup with 2 baby scoops. At first I thought it was kind of expensive, but then at the end we almost couldn’t finish it.
The ice cream is made fresh right in front of you when you order it. You get what you paid for. The experience, the freshness and the taste. I want to try other flavors next time and maybe bring more people with me so I can try them all!
There are benches inside and outside for you to sit, wait and watch. It’s a great corner location by the Rockridge BART station. There was plenty of parking when I came on a Saturday afternoon too!

Food: Cookie Dough and Pretzel Ice Cream — Very creamy and I love the addition of pretzels to the basic cookie dough ice cream (I hope I didn’t offend anyone). ⁵⁄₅
Service: Friendly. ⁴⁄₅
Final thoughts: I think the concept of using liquid nitrogen to make the ice cream is pretty cool. Everything is fresh and made-​to-​order. The cost is a little on the pricier side but it’s worth it.

Their icecream improved! The first time I’ve been to Smitten was almost a year ago. Despite the cool concept of making your icecream on the spot with liquid nitrogen I never really bothered to go back again because the icecream was too soft and I didn’t like that.
When I went back a few nights ago (while some of my favorite icecream stores close at 10pm, smitten closes at 11pm on Fridays woohoo!) I was pleasantly surprised by their improved texture. It finally felt like an actual legitimate scoop of icecream.
Smitten itself is a great icecream place but does not get five stars from me because all their features (I.e. Hip vibe, local good quality ingredients, fresh flavors) have all become too common in the Bay. Only thing special is the liquid nitrogen part but not worth having to pay $ 5 for a small cup of icecream all the time.

I’ve heard so much about this place and tonight, it all finally came together! It was definitely worth the hype! First impression: brand design is definitely on point, props! Second, friendly staff — who wouldn’t want to work alongside ice cream?
The bro and sis-​in-​law suggested I get the ice cream flight — 2 flavors and it was worth it! I had the TCHO chocolate with the spicy caramel topping — I’m a chocoholic but this got a bit too much for me! It’s good but it was just really thick and too creamy for me. The salted spicy caramel really went well with the ice cream though. The second flight I had was the cookie dough with chocolate topping and I just fell in love with that one! I’m a cookie dough fanatic to begin with so that was an easy sell. The cream was just right, the dough was well proportioned… It was jut right.
Over all — definitely worth the hype and definitely looking forward to the next time! Oh and of course I just had to buy their tshirt to represent down south ;)
Keep up the good work Smitten management!!!

They say the ice cream is ready made, but ours was already made and put into a pint container right after we paid. It sucked a little to not be able to watch our ice cream being made, especially since that is their specialty. The person who filled our ice cream container did a very messy job and there was ice cream all over the container.
As for the texture of the ice cream, it was prettttty good, but not as good as Haagen Daaz! It almost tasted like… frozen pudding that could be melted in your mouth. An interesting texture, but easy to get used to. I’m not sure I’ll be back because I didn’t think the ice cream was worth the price, but we’ll see!

I’ve been to the one in SF and that one is half the size of this one. This place was surprisingly not as busy as the SF one. Their flavors were good as usual and the prosecco sauce was sensational! Their homemade waffle cones are thick and crunchy. No sogginess over here!
Honestly, nothing bad to say about this place. Glad I found out I don’t have to cross the bridge to get smitten!

In my opinion, Smitten’s ice cream is one of those cases where the hype is a little better than the actual product, although the ice cream here is not bad by any means.
I’ve tried the chocolate, the blue bottle espresso, and the mint. All are extremely packed with flavor. So for someone like me who generally doesn’t enjoy sweets too much, it’s a bit difficult to handle. The chocolate is super rich and sweet. I found myself wanting water or something because the sweetness was too much for me. The espresso is STRONG. And the mint really tastes like… Mint. So the flavor packing is definitely there, I’m just not sure how much I actually enjoy it.
However must admit that the service is great, this location is modern and cool, and watching the ice cream being made with their special liquid nitrogen machines is a great, fun and unique experience. I think it’s also cool how they have a new flavor each month.