Crunch Time

Super yummy ice cream and cookies. They make it all in-​house. The owner is SUPER friendly and helpful. They’ll let you try every flavor before you decide. He really wants you to be happy with your choice. The dark chocolate ice cream was awesome! It’s a bit pricey but you get a lot for your money.

I dont know how many time i walked by this place without stopping in. From the outside it looks a little cluttered, but once you walk in and smell the fresh waffle cones… SOLD! The flavors are so true. I’m not sure how the owner makes the ice cream, but everything taste exactly like whatever its supposed to be. What do i mean? No chemical or perservatives… just the true flavor. Now personally i stick with the butter pecan. But try mixing the abuelita chocolate and peanut butter. Or the cheesecake and cherry. So good!!!

Delicious homemade ice cream. I had the cherry and chocolate with some fudge, great flavors, very creamy. Perfect treat.

Don’t let the name fool you, no one is going to make you drop and give them 20, or do pull ups or run a circuit here. No exercise involved, just delicious cold treats. Have you ever wanted to combine the texture of a cookie with a smooth, cool ice cream treat? Well if so, this is the place to do it. A chocolate cookie on top, peanut butter cookie on bottom and abuelita’s hot chocolate ice cream in between = treat heaven. I thought for sure the cookies would be an afterthought day old, hard… oh was I wrong. They were superstars on their own. Delicious, soft on the inside, crisp on the outside. The ice cream… amazing. Not too sweet, almost a little spicy, not burdened by too strong of a chocolate flavor. Ridiculously good.

Great owner and amazing ice cream. Don’t sleep on the fig ice cream… it seriously was like a fig newton presented as a creamy hug.

Best ice cream I have had in a long time! It’s made in house and the flavors are diverse and never so sweet that it will give u a headache. The owner give me a free ice cream sandwich to take back to the office. I will always come back when I’m in San Diego.

Amazing! Homemade ice cream and cookies. Wonderful service and so delicious. The cheese cake ice cream is to die for. The owner is clearly committed to giving his customers the best service and food possible.

Random little place in the Gaslamp on K across from the Marriott. They serve hotdogs, gelato and other quick snacks. Went in to grab a bite out of pure necessity. They were open and in front of me when I was hungry…
Grabbed a couple dogs, chips and a drink. Bill came to just over $ 10. Wasn’t too excited about the dogs themselves. Quite a bit smaller than the ones you can get at Costco, but better options on toppings. Had a Chicago and chili dog. I know, random combo, but that’s what I wanted. Flavor on the Chicago was pretty good. The chilis gave a nice bite of heat to it.
Overall not impressed with the dogs, but service was good.
Keep on Unilocal’n!

After seeing many social media posts, I had to check this place out after a Padre game. They have many ice cream flavors to choose from (all home made which makes the unique). We sampled a few before we made out decision. I got coffee and my friend got peanutbutter. Both ice creams were delicious. We also go it in a chocolate dipped cone & butterfinger dipped cone. There were a few other fun options. They also had the option to make it an ice cream sandwich with cookies. I enjoyed the ice cream and the staff was friendly and courteous. I would go back if I am in the area but nothing I would go out of my way for.

Ordered an ice cream cookie sandwich with coffee ice cream and chocolate chip cookie and buttered rum popcorn. The cookie was not good at all. No flavor and dry. Just ended up eating the ice cream out of the middle. The ice cream was creamy but overall just average. The popcorn was fresh and good. Couldn’t really taste the buttered rum, more tasted like kettle corn.
Overall, wouldn’t go out of my way to come here. Lot’s of other better dessert places in downtown.

Delicious ice cream and cookies. Homemade ice cream and cookies. I kept it simple and got the vanilla ice cream with the chocolate chip cookies. I paid $ 6.50 so it is a little pricey for ice cream but find it to be well worth it! You get a huge scoop of ice cream. So keep in mind that you probably can’t eat it as an ice cream sandwich. I had to sit down and eat some of the ice cream before I could bite into it as a sandwich!
I sampled many flavors and found them all to be delicious. I usually don’t ever order plain vanilla ice cream but found theirs to be so delicious!
This ice cream stop is a must go in the gaslamp quarter. From the outside it doesn’t look like much. But go in and get an ice cream sandwich! They sell Hot dogs and popcorn too. But I haven’t tried that!

First time coming here. I do got to say place is legit so far. Gave me a lot of ice cream on my ice cream sandwich. Nice good customer service and was greeted once I got it. Most defiantly coming back here for more ice cream sandwich!

Really really loved this place!
Of course we all had a hankering for something sweet and we found Crunch Time right down the street from Meze. Lucky for us! We stopped in and we were greeted by a very nice man behind the counter. He definitely knew what he was doing because he could explain everything you could ever want to know about their ice cream. They had an awesome selection, but we settled for their cheesecake and cherry ice cream in a bowl. It was amazing! Definitely the top ice cream places in San Diego for sure! I can’t even believe I’ve missed this place for this long. What the hell man, what the hell?
Prices were great, just under $ 5 for the two scoops. Seating inside and a little bit outside. I would love to try some of their ice cream in between their fresh baked cookies. Next time Crunch Time, next time!

Homemade Creative Ice Cream
With much gratitude to another successful Unilocal recommendation, I had a unique and very satisfying first experience tasting homemade peanut butter ice-​cream. The owner David explained why his peanut butter ice-​cream was better than others, being that it is obviously made with LOVE and unlike his competition he uses true peanut butter oil.
Honestly, I am always a little overwhelmed trying to select an ice-​cream flavor because I want to try it all especially when it looks so creamy and tempting. I’m fortunate my bf rescued me from my normal choice and had me step out of my ice-​cream comfort zone to try this delightful peanut butttery dessert.
The shop is small and clean with a urban vibe perfect for San Diego. The menu offerings vary from hot dogs to waffle cones. Customer service was on point.
I will be back to broaden my ice-​cream horizons.

We stopped here tonight in a series of events downtown with our friends. The guy helping us was super friendly! He was pretty awesome. We had the cheesecake and cherry ice cream. It was very good. The guy said they were made yesterday and tasted really fresh. The price was not bad less then 5 bucks for two scoops that my husband and I shared. There was quite a few tables inside and out to sit at. They had a lot of sodas. One I noticed that made me happy was Faygo. I’m from Michigan so it takes me back to childhood! They also had popcorn which seemed to be a hit. They even had two hotdogs for 5 dollars which is a good deal if you are hangry downtown. We will be back and happy we stumbled across this place.

Not only does this shop sell the most unique and delicious flavors of ice cream (I had Abuelita’s Mexican chocolate, blackberry, strong coffee, and frappacino), but it is very friendly! During a fun-​spirited laughter-​filled conversation, the owner found out it was my daughter’s birthday, put a candle and sprinkles on her ice cream, and we all sang happy birthday to her (the owner included!). We only had a short time to visit San Diego, and because of his friendliness, our family had the warmest and most welcoming impression of San Diego. My kids and husband can’t stop talking about it! We all agreed that we wanted to give this shop 10 stars, but Unilocal has a 5 star max.

Gentleman at the counter was very sweet. Came in after supercross, got a ice cream sandwich and a hot dog. Lots of variety of ice cream and you can have them made into a sandwich. Hit the spot.

Assuming it was the owner. But regardless the gentleman behind the counter was very polite and friendly. Don’t get that much these days. Hooyah great ice cream sandwiches

Someone thought they were being clever when naming this place. You see, it’s a pun because they serve crunchy items like popcorn or ice cream cones. And maybe the cookies are crunchy at the end of the day when they are less fresh? Of course, the phrase «crunch time» outside of the pun implies the need to put in one’s best effort tom complete a project. In this sense, I imagine it’s an exhortation to the Padres in the adjacent stadium to do their best.
However, much like the Padres on most game days can’t quite get it done, Crunch Time may not sports very well when it comes to their ice cream. Their cherry ice cream contained close to zero cherry flavor, and I might be too kind in saying so as the difference between close to zero and zero here might have been negligible. The cream itself had a somewhat unpleasant icy texture. I hope for their sake that either I caught them on a bad day or that their other flavors are that much better.
Summary: Time is up.

After a few minutes of wandering around lost around Gaslamp on a Friday night, David (the owner) had directed my boyfriend and I into his shop. We had told him we were looking for Ghirardelli for some ice cream and he directed us into the right direction; his shop.
David and his wife have the best ice cream hands down. If you want quality ice cream with good ingredients you can count on, come to crunch time!!!
David was super friendly from the start and we spent our time there that night enjoying some friendly conversations and some all around yummy ice cream. I’m so glad he found us when he did. Kind people like him are hard to come by these days. I recommend this place to anyone around the area and visiting!

The ice cream was amazing and the owner David was one of the kindest people I have ever met. If you are hankering for some ice cream and a friendly conversation this is a must visit.

What a find! Ever since arriving in San Diego I’ve been looking for homemade ice cream and finally found not only excellent cream, but two of the nicest people in Kim and David. Will be making this a part of my regular stops.

Ok, for starters, the ice cream is the best, but it gets better. The gentleman that served us was super nice. My child ordered a flavor she didn’t like and he just served her a different one, no problem. Highly recommend this place!

Just finished a five day trip to San Diego and I went to Crunch Time all five nights! Like others say, David really (really, really, really) takes pride in his work and it shows in product and customer service.
If you like Ice Cream, popcorn and/​or Hot dogs, visit this place, you will love it.
Enjoy!!!

Pro: Nice owner and selection of other snacks (hot dogs, soda, popcorn)
Con: Overpriced and disappointing ice cream flavor
Went in here one early evening after seeing the rave ratings on Unilocal.I thought it was going to be an ice cream/​gelato shop but it also sells hot dogs, popcorn, etc. A nice complement to the Subway next door I guess. The owner was very nice. He recommended some ice cream flavors and explained how the sandwiches worked. I ended up getting a single chocolate brownie cookie with some Dark Cherry ice cream for over $ 4. Add another $ 2 and you get another cookie to complete the sandwich and presumably more ice cream. Overall I thought the sandwich was ok… The ice cream was not the best quality; it was more icy than creamy or rich. Just as mediocre was the cookie. It wasn’t fudgy or chocolatey. The presentation could have been approved. My sandwich sadly sat in a sheet of aluminum and wax paper, with the cookie already crumbling before eating it.

I’m a major Chipwich fan so I was excited when i saw Crunch Time offered homemade ice cream cookie sandwiches. Unfortunately both my husband and i were disappointed. These are not sandwiches, they are a huge glob of ice cream between two small cookies that in no way be eaten like a sandwich. I tried and it only resulted in the cookies breaking apart and ice cream all over my hands.
The cookies were mediocre at best, but the ice cream was good.
He had dark chocolate ice cream between two fudge brownie cookies. Being a chocoholic, i was surprised when he said the cookies were meh. I had peanut butter ice cream between two chocolate chip cookies. My cookies were meh as well.
As I said, the ice cream was okay, so it’s not a bad place if that’s what you’re craving, just be sure to skip the sandwiches. I wouldn’t even suggest getting a bowl of ice cream with cookies on the side. They just aren’t that good.
As for the service, the man who served us was very friendly.

Amazing first experience at Crunch time in the Gaslamp Quarter!
I had a pecan ice cream sandwich with brownie cookies and it is AMAZING! The person whom was serving ice cream to my boyfriend and I was so kind to us and even gave us an umbrella when it started raining. My boyfriend loves their Frappuccino Ice cream and he isn’t a big fan of sweets and said «It really tastes like coffee!»
He’s always critiquing food and getting a thumbs up from him is hard since he is so picky. Kudos to Crunch time for making my boyfriend’s experience here awesome!
We had an amazing time and my boyfriend and I are definitely coming back to try more of their ice cream! Don’t miss out! Come in for the tasty sweets! Definitely worth the price!

Love homemade ice cream! This is a tiny little spot across the street from Altitude and the Marriott… but for the prices downtown, it’s totally worth it. We got a double scoop in a waffle cone for 4.95 each – they have flavors from chocolate abuelita to amaretto to traditional flavors like strawberry and mango. Everything we sampled was tasty and the lady behind the counter was very sweet. I wish they had more seating outside and inside and that it wasn’t so cluttered with goodies inside but overall, a nice little pit stop when it’s so hot out!

What an amazing ice cream parlor!
Everything is homemade at Crunch Time from the delicious cookies to the incredible ice cream. David takes great pride in his place and has a sweet, genuine kindness that only comes from a true mom & pop shop. This place is friendly and in the perfect part of town for a late night snack.
My only complaint is that the ice cream sandwiches were too big!!! To which David promptly offered to freeze the leftovers for me and I could pick it up the next day (yes people actually do this).
Loved my experience, hoping to get more delicious ice cream soon :)

Couldn’t make it to Baked Bear so we settled for Crunch Time.
The ice cream was really good and they were SUPER generous with the ice cream.
…but the chocolate chip cookie tasted weird. It was so weird that we just powered through and used the ice cream to get through the cookie.
Skip the ice cream cookie sandwich and just go for the ice cream.

Really great ice cream. Better than anything else locally. They make it fresh every day so it’s hard to beat the flavor. I’m a really simple guy when it comes to ice cream, so I just opted for the salted caramel I’m a chocolate chip cookie sandwich. The portions were much larger than I expected, but who would complain about that.
I returned on my second visit to get cookies and some popcorn which they also make fresh. I had a chance to you meet the owner is a really nice guy and really dedicated to providing good business.
Great experience.

$ 14 for two scoops of ice cream (with no warning of the price until checkout). They have a bunch of flavors but no prices listed for them. Regardless, when an ice cream cone costs more than your dinner at the best Mexican joint in town, that’s unacceptable.
The one extra star is because the ice cream was decent, despite them handing it to me dripping all over the place. I had to lay down a towel and put it in a bowel in my hotel room to stop it from making such a mess.
#firstworldproblems

We are waiting in line for the Game of Thrones experience at Comic Con and we were super hungry. Fortunately, we ended up right in front of this place. Looking in, there are lots of sweets: gelato, flavored popcorn, ice cream, ice cream cookie sandwiches, and also lots of regular foods like hot dogs, chips, sandwiches, etc. We had a strawberry milkshake and t was phenomenal; the perfect cool treat for a sunny and beautiful San Diego day at Comic Con. The people working are super friendly as well! That’s another star earned!

3.5 stars
I think I need to revisit earlier in the day. We stopped by late one night, after dinner, in the hopes of getting sweets. The shop was packed and way too hot on the inside.
After relaying the menu to the hubs (who was outside wrangling the mongrels), we both decided on our purchases. He wanted a malt made out of the sweet cream ice cream, and I was going to try the cookies and cream ice cream sandwich.
The gentleman working the store that night was super friendly and sweet, and piled up the ice cream for both of the orders. When I went to pay, I jokingly asked him if the ice cream sandwich came in a «small», to which he replied that it could be done, but that he wanted customers to know that they’re getting their money’s worth.
Indeed.
The sandwich was huge. The flavor of the cookie was a little more bland than I wanted, but the ice cream itself was sweet enough for the whole thing. Plus, the cookie was kind of stale, but that’s probably because it was almost 9 pm by the time we got down there.
All in all, I did love the service and the options, and I’m willing to go back for another round. Who knows, maybe I’ll have an update for this review soon.

This place is popular because of it’s location… right across the street from Petco park. It’s the perfect place to stop if you want to get some ice cream (or cookies, or popcorn) after a game.
The line was a little long when we went, but that was only because it was immediately following an opening week game. Despite the long line, it moved quickly, and we still had time to decide what we wanted to order.
We obviously had to try the home made flavors, so my boyfriend and I shared a scoop of cheesecake and a scoop of double dark chocolate. He didn’t even want to taste the chocolate but he really should have — it was amazing! If you’re a chocolate lover (or even if you’re not), double dark chocolate is the way to go. The cheesecake was also good, smooth and creamy and tasted like cheesecake! Amazingly enough, neither of us was left feeling like we needed a glass of water afterwards (like you usually do at coldstone).
Prices were reasonable for homemade ice cream, we paid about $ 5 for the two scoops. Next time I come back I’d love to try the cookies and cream sandwich, cookies are home baked also!