Bi-Rite Creamery, The Mission, SF

Bi-Rite Creamery is an institution in San Francisco. Located in the Mission District, across the street from Delores Park, Bi-Rite was (at least one of) the first "artisanal" ice cream shops in the Bay, using locally sourced ingredients in their ice cream. This is one of the reasons that Bi-Rite is probably the best known ice cream place in the city. And being the most popular ice cream shop in SF can only mean one thing...massive lines. Every time I've found myself near Bi-Rite over the last 5 years, there's been a huge line at least 30-40 people deep. Which is probably why I hadn't tried this supposedly amazing ice cream...until today!

I have a few weeks off before I start my new job at UCSF, so I decided to spend the day wandering around The Mission, seeing some of the beautiful murals the neighborhood has to offer, and of course...getting my hands on some Bi-Rite ice cream! I showed up at about 11am when they open, and there was only 1 person ahead of me. I'm sure if you go in the middle of the day you're good-to-go, but every time I've been there in the evening or on a weekend the line was crazy! The selection at Bi-Rite was really good, featuring flavors such as S'mores, Ritual Coffee Almond Toffee, and some really good looking Birthday Cake. I tried the Black Sesame, which was a bit too intense for me, before I settled on a combo of Ricanelas (cinnamon ice cream with cinnamon cookies) and my go-to of cookies n' cream. Bi-Rite, like several other ice cream places in the Bay, let you combine 2 flavors in a single scoop, much like the gelato standard. So that's a huge point in their favor.

Overall, I'd say the ice cream at Bi-Rite is really really good, but probably not worth waiting in line for 30-45 minutes. If you miraculously find yourself here when it's not crowded, definitely go in and get some delicious ice cream...or if you have 30 minutes to kill standing in line, then by all means get some Bi-Rite. The cookies n' cream was really good, but wasn't really anything special. The Ricanelas on the other hand, was fantastic! The cinnamon wasn't overpowering, and the cookie bits inside were really good. Overall, I'd rank it at 4/5, maybe even a 5/5 if there weren't always such long lines, and if they offered hand-made cones instead of the standard sugar cone. Although, not having to pay an extra dollar for a cone is definitely a good thing. I certainly hope to find myself here again in the middle of the day, so I can go for a second round.