Bi-Rite Creamery in San Francisco, California: A Review

Bi-Rite Creamery is a San Francisco Mission District institution, serving up epic amounts of experimental and tasty ice cream flavors to lines of people day after day after day. Not only do they bring the deliciousness, but they are committed to sustainable production, obtaining all of their product via the local Straus Family Farms organic dairy. Their ice cream is made in a traditional manner with mostly milk, cream and eggs without artificial flavorings or stabilizers.

Local focus is a major theme of Bi-Rite's operations. The fruit for all fruit flavors is supplied by local organic farms and orchards, and Bi-Rite actually operates their own grape farm in Sonoma for the various grape flavors. They've even got a deal going with local coffee purveyor Ritual Coffee Roasters for their coffee-flavored ice cream.

So this is clearly all more ambitious than your usual Baskin-Robbins type operation. Bi-Rite has some regular standby flavors that are perennially popular, but the menu gets switched up quite often due to the seasonal cycle of produce and whatever flavor combinations the ice cream wizards behind the scenes decide to whip up.

Ice cream is served by the scoop, in a biodegradable cup or in an organic cone. You can also get pint-sized to go containers. Generally there are about twenty to twenty-five different flavors on the menu at any given time. In addition to the straight-up ice cream, Bi-Rite also serves up various types of sundaes such as banana, brownie and toffee. Ice cream sandwiches are available, and they serve one with coffee ice cream, which I've never seen anywhere else (and which is stupendously good.) There are also usually something like eight to ten different flavors of popsicles at a time, usually based on whatever fruit is in season at the moment. They even do a small selection of baked goods, such as buttermilk upside-down cake, chocolate souffle cake, seasonal fruit crisps and pies, brownies and a rotating cookie of the day. You can even have them make an ice cream cake or pie to take home, and wash it down with some bittersweet hot chocolate.

Staple flavors that usually seem to be on the menu (and are always good) are salted caramel, roasted banana, chocolate and vanilla, ricanelas and mint chip. I think I've tried enough of the menu at this point to suggest that pretty much anything you get will be good, just go for whatever grabs your fancy. There is the occasional dog of a flavor, but that's pretty rare. So hey, it's organic, they have pretty good business principles, feel no shame it getting in line to indulge.

Bi-Rite Creamery
3692 18th Street
San Francisco, CA 94110
# 415-626-5600
http://biritecreamery.com/