Ben & Jerry's: 2014-2019, 2026

It is no secret that I love ice cream.  I grew up eating it pretty much every night after dinner.  Sometimes just a simple scoop, or uh, two, but more often than not, we made sundaes.  Or topped our homemade pie with it.  Yes, I was spoiled.

I grew up in New Hampshire, not far from the Ben & Jerry's factory in Vermont.  To me, the generic brand of ice cream was Ben & Jerry's.  Even the farm stand where I worked sold Ben & Jerry's, it was that commonplace.  Pints were 2 for $5.

I moved a bit further away for college, to upstate New York.  But Ben & Jerry's was prevalent even there.  Our little on campus diner stocked pints, and we had the option of redeeming our meals for grab and go items from the diner instead.  I will not admit how many pints I got over the years, and how many I may or may not have consumed in a single sitting.

It amazed me once I left my nest to learn that Ben & Jerry's is a bit of a novelty to people elsewhere.  For many years, I didn't have any in San Francisco.  Why would I pick that, over our local, artisanal choices?  But eventually, the craving for that experience of just digging shamelessly into a pint of Ben & Jerry's returned, and, so I did.

August 2026

7 years.  7 years since I last had Ben & Jerry's.  This fact is wild to me.

But the joys of being in my office, some days, random things like ice cream sundae carts popup, and sometimes, they feature outside vendors like Ben & Jerry's.  I hadn't sought out Ben & Jerry's in a long time, so this was quite fun.

Sundae Cart.

The sundae cart had 4 flavors, and I admit they were well curated: Phish Food and Cherry Garcia for the people who want the Ben & Jerry's classics (but not as boring as cookie dough or vanilla), mango as a total wildcard, plus of course a vegan sorbet option, because every event needs to accommodate the vegans.

I honestly had no idea that Ben & Jerry's made a mango ice cream, just, a pure simple flavor, with no crazy mix-ins, that seems very not on brand for them?  I obviously had to get that.

Mango w/ 
Chocolate Sauce + Whipped Cream.

"Mango Ice Cream Swirled with Sweet Cream Ice Cream."

The mango flavor was good.  Clearly identifiable as mango. Not overly sweet.  Not artificial tasting.  Just smooth creamy mango ice cream.  I liked it.  3.5/5.

After my ice cream was scoped, I was asked if I'd like hot fudge or ice cream.  I eagerly said yes, but was sad to then see chocolate sauce (NOT hot fudge, they are very different!) added from a squeeze bottle, and a generic can of grocery store whipped cream dispensed on top.  It is also interesting that they needed to apply these for you, which could make sense if it was really hot fudge and needed to stay hot, or if it was house whipped cream, but I guess they just don't trust us with squeeze bottles?  These were as average as expected.

Toppings.

We were trusted however with the other toppings: sprinkles, chocolate crumble, broken cone bits, and mini off-brand M&Ms.  They came in pails with cute shovels for serving, which worked really quite well.  I found these to all be very average as well, nothing really notable.

2014 - 2019

I've reviewed the flavors I've had over the past few years before, so I'll spare you a repeat, and this time, focus on the brand new flavors that they added in the past few years.  Ben & Jerry's always adds a few new flavors every year (and of course, sends some to the "flavor graveyard" to make way for them).  Many don't last long.  Flavors that are removed are often mourned.

2014

This year, the new Salted Caramel Blondie is quite a winner.  I hope it sticks around!

Salted Caramel Blondie, single, 2014.

"Sweet Cream Ice Cream with Blonde Brownies & a Salted Caramel Swirl"

This is an excellent new addition.  Basically a blondie sundae, turned into an ice cream.  The only thing it was missing was whipped cream.

The ice cream base apparently was sweet cream, although I assumed it was just basic vanilla.  Creamy, rich, good base.  Standard Ben & Jerry's.

The caramel swirl was exactly what caramel should be.  Buttery, sweet, delicious.  I didn't actually taste much salt, which would have been better perhaps, but it was pretty delicious as it was.  If they just removed "salted" from the product name, I wouldn't have minded the lack of salt.  The caramel was particularly fascinating because it didn't get hard, even inside the cold ice cream, it still stayed pleasantly runny, like caramel that had just been poured over an ice cream sundae.  My only complaint, which is a bit silly, is that there was too much caramel.  It was very sweet, and at one point, I wished to have a little more ice cream to balance out the plentiful caramel.  Perhaps that was just my scoop.

And finally, the blondies.  Chunks of just the right size, big enough to know you got a goodie, but not too big to be annoying to eat.  Sweet, classic blondies.  And again, like the caramel, I was impressed with how they didn't get hard.  They somehow stayed perfectly soft inside the cold ice cream.  Ben & Jerry's knows how to work magic here.

So overall, definitely a winner, and one I'd gladly get again.  Salted Caramel Brownie is only available in Scoop Shops, although a similar offering, Salted Caramel Brownie Core, is available in pints.  That one is the same sweet cream ice cream with blondie bits, with a caramel core down the center of the pint.  It seems like the amount of caramel you get in a scoop could be more easily controlled with the core version, although I did like it being all mixed in.

I also had the chance to sample the other new flavor, Cotton Candy: "Cotton candy ice cream loaded with cotton candy pieces."  It tasted, you guessed it, like cotton candy.  Super sweet.  I'm sure this is a huge hit with children, but for me, not quite something I'd want a full bowl of.

2015

The Tonight Dough™, Single, 2015.

"Caramel & Chocolate Ice Creams with Chocolate Cookie Swirls & Gobs of Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough & Peanut Butter Cookie Dough".

Wow, this had a lot going on, almost giving Everything But The ... a run for its money.

Let’s start with the base.  I didn’t realize that the caramel ice cream was actually caramel, I assumed it was vanilla, or perhaps sweet cream.  So, it was there, but it certainly wasn’t overly sweet, which is good, as a flavor with so many components easily could have been overwhelmed by too sweet ice cream.  The other ice cream was classic chocolate.  I don’t tend to care for chocolate ice cream, and probably would have preferred this to be all just the caramel flavor, but, the ice cream base is really not the interesting part of this flavor.

The interesting part, as is common with Ben & Jerry's, was the mix-ins.  First, the big shocker for me: "chocolate cookie swirls".  Now, I didn't really know what a "cookie swirl" was going to be, but I somehow thought something like chunks of a cookie.  Nope. Instead, the cookie was crumbs, integrated throughout as, well, a swirl.  It does match the description quite well, now that I think about it ... anyway, I really liked it!  It was almost like bits of brownie, but easier to bite through since it was loose, if that makes any sense.  Really a great texture.

Next, the cookie doughs.  I was seriously impressed with the amount of cookie dough in here.  Tons of chunks, all large sized.  Ben & Jerry's really nails the eating experience of this one, with the chunks large enough that you really, really get to enjoy your cookie dough, and don't need to struggle to build up a few little chunks in order to build your own ball (you do that too right?).  The chocolate chip cookie dough was standard Ben & Jerry's cookie dough, presumably the same as from their regular cookie dough ice cream, which I've reviewed before.  The peanut butter cookie dough was actually the reason I picked this flavor, I was very interested to see what that would be like.  Similar to the chocolate chip dough chunks, just, sans chips.  I actually didn't taste that much peanut butter to it, and would have preferred more.

Anyway, this was a good flavor.  I was worried that so many add ins would make it a disaster, but, it worked.  Not my favorite flavor, and probably not one I'd order again, but if someone had some, I'd certainly dig in.

Two Wild & Crazy Pies™.

"Coconut cream & chocolate cream pie ice creams with a chocolate cookie swirl."

I was inspired to get this one solely due to the chocolate cookie swirl.  I loved the chocolate cookie swirl in Ben & Jerry's Milk & Cookies flavor, and really just wanted more of it.

But this ... wasn't great.  I actually blame my scoop shop, as I think something was wrong with their freezers.  The ice cream was all crystalized.  That is NOT normal for Ben & Jerry's!

I love creamy chocolate ice cream, and instead, this was just icy.  I didn't taste much coconut, which is fine, I didn't really want to, it doesn't seem like chocolate and coconut would make that great of a mix anyway.  But the cookie swirl that I was soooo looking forward to?  Without creamy ice cream to go with it, it was just additional icy bits.

This made me really sad.  The texture was just sooo wrong.  If it wasn't my birthday free scoop(s), I certainly would have gone back to say something.  I blame the freezers.

Also tried:

• Spectacular Speculoos™: "Dark caramel & vanilla ice creams with speculoos cookies & a speculoos cookie butter swirl".  Tasting Notes: I wanted to love this, but it was icy, and the texture was all strange.  I'm glad I asked to try it first.
• The Tonight Dough ™: "Caramel & Chocolate Ice Creams with Chocolate Cookie Swirls & Gobs of Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough & Peanut Butter Cookie Dough."  Tasting Notes: This is a case of too many good things don't add up to great result.  Every ingredient was individually great, but, together they became too much, and I couldn't taste anything in particular.

2016

Spectacular Speculoos™ on top, Empower Mint on bottom. April 2016.

Two scoops this time, because you know how hard decisions are!  Starting from the top:

"Dark caramel & vanilla ice creams with speculoos cookies & a speculoos cookie butter swirl."

I picked Spectacular Speculoos to give it another try, because on my previous try, I disliked it because it was strangely icy.  I assumed that was a problem with ice cream storage, not inherent to the flavor, so, I wanted to give it another chance.  Plus, I have a co-worker who loves Speculoos, and I think his mentality is rubbing off.

It was ... ok.  I really didn't taste dark caramel ice cream, it just seemed like vanilla to me.  There were chunks in it, but I couldn't distinguish between cookie chunks and the cookie butter swirl.  Also ... I guess I just don't love Speculoos.

Overall, fine, not icy this time, but, not for me.  I won't get this one again.

"Peppermint ice cream with fudge brownies and fudge swirl".

I was pretty excited about the Empower Mint though, a brand new flavor, not even on their website yet.  I love mint and chocolate.

The ice cream was clearly not just vanilla, but, it wasn't as minty as I would have liked.  I didn't find a distinct fudge swirl, just, some vaguely chocolately bits.  There were decent size chunks of brownie though, soft, rich, good brownies, but, somehow, not really what I wanted in my mint ice cream.

So, overall, I wanted more mint, and, I wanted the chocolate in a different form.  I think I wanted mint chocolate chip with real hot fudge on top.  Or some kind of crunchy chocolate mixed in.

2017

Another year, another birthday free scoop, and chance to try some new flavors (including the trendy cereal milk flavors).  No real winners this year.

Milk & Cookies. Small. (August). $5.25.

"Vanilla Ice Cream with a Chocolate Cookie Swirl, Chocolate Chip & Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookies."

On this visit, I tried a few new flavors, and decided to settle on my old stand-by, Milk & Cookies.

I didn't love it this time around though.  It seemed to have a lot more chocolate components than I remembered, and, the signature chocolate chip cookie bits, that were more like a swirl before, were fairly non-existent.

Time to try some new flavors ...

Pistachio Pistachio. (July).

"Pistachio Ice Cream with Lightly Roasted Pistachios."

For National Ice Cream Day, the Whole Foods that I stopped into happened to have free samples from Ben & Jerry's.  I used the opportunity to try a flavor I had never had before: Pistachio Pistachio.

I didn't really care for it.  I liked the chunks of pistachio, but, the base ice cream flavor wasn't great.  It was standard Ben & Jerry's rich, quality product however.

Others:
Totally Baked:
"Chocolate & vanilla ice creams with fudge brownies & chocolate chip cookies."

I tried this one for the chocolate chip cookies that I knew from Milk & Cookies, and the brownies from chocolate fudge brownie (both of which I've liked and reviewed both before).

This was ... fine.  But boring.  Chocolate and vanilla, brownie and cookie, but, it didn't really add up to anything particularly amazing.

Truffle Kerfuffle™:
"Vanilla ice cream with roasted pecans, fudge flakes and salted chocolate."

I like pecans.  I like fudge.  I like salt.  And chocolate.  This basically sounded like an ice cream sundae, jammed into a single flavor.  Much potential.

But it fell a bit flat for me.  The texture seemed harder than most other flavors, and, my scooper actually told me he doesn't like this flavor, as it is always too hard (which he said after I said I didn't like it).  Not really sure why this was a miss, but, it was.

Frozen Flakes™
"Cereal milk ice cream with crisp cereal swirls."

Ben & Jerry's jumped on the cereal milk fad big time.  This summer, they introduced not one, not two, but three different cereal bases flavors: Frozen Flakes (e.g. frosted flakes), Frozen Fruities (e.g. Fruit Loops), and Cocoa Loco (e.g. Cocoa Puffs).

I tried Frozen Flakes, pretty excited.  I adore the Cereal Milk soft serve from Momofuku Milk Bar, and fully support this trend.

But, I didn't like the Ben & Jerry's version.  The "crisp cereal swirls" were not crisp.  Just like the waffle cone pieces in Americone Dream, and the potato chips in Late Night Snack, they were kinda soggy and really unappealing.  The base was also just far too sweet.

This was not for me, and the server told me he really didn't like it either.

2018

Limited Batch: Gimme S'more. Small.

"Toasted Marshmallow Ice Cream with Chocolate Cookie Swirls, Graham Cracker Swirls & Fudge Flakes."

I don't really care for s'mores.  Graham crackers are a useless item entirely in my world.  I don't like to munch on them, I don't like them for s'mores, and I hate them for pie crusts.  So, picking a s'mores flavor, even if new and limited edition, was a bit of an odd move for me.

But, I had hope for this, as it has chocolate cookie swirls, and I've found those so successful in other ice cream, like the Milk & Cookies I enjoyed before.  Add in an interesting sounding base (toasted marshmallow!), and a promise of fudge flakes, and I could overlook the graham cracker swirls.

Or so I thought.

While the graham cracker didn't necessarily dominate, it was very prominent, and added a strange thickness and grit.  I didn't like it.

Meanwhile, the base ice cream, while an interesting marshmallow-y flavor, was far too sweet.

The chocolate cookie swirl and bits of fudge chips were good, but overall, this was just too sweet, not balanced, and too gritty.

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough. Single.

"Vanilla Ice Cream with Gobs of Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough."

"We knew we were onto something big when we made the world's first Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough ice cream in 1984. It took us a while to iron out the details, but in 1991 we finally rolled the world's first Dough - in pints - out the door & into ice cream history. Today it still reigns among our all time most popular flavors."

My scoop shop really didn't have any new exciting flavors that were appealing to me, and, after sampling 4 (!), I felt bad and decided to just go with an old reliable.  Cookie dough.  About as classic as Ben & Jerry's gets!  And yes, they really do claim to have invented cookie dough, and really have perfected it.

Rich creamy ice cream base, studded with chocolate chips, and plentiful large chunks of good flavored cookie dough.  The texture of it all is spot on (creamy ice cream, crunch from chocolate chips, soft cookie dough), and this is a classic, reliable option for a reason.  I was happy enough with it.

Other flavors sampled:

MooPhoria Light Caramel Cookie Fix:
"Vanilla Light Ice Cream with Salted Caramel Swirls & Shortbread Cookie Swirls."

Well, ok, I didn't expect light ice to be amazing, but, this was awful to the point that I think my scoop shop must not have stored it properly.  It was so, so icy.  Really just ice.  And the shortbread cookie was really dry.  So dry and icy?  Yeah, not ok.

I'd be curious to try it again somewhere though, as it does have promise, it is real ice cream, just lighter, 140 cal per scoop, and the salted caramel and shortbread cookie swirls do sound good.

Cinndoughrella™ (New 2018 Flavor)
"Cinnamon & Caramel Ice Creams with Cinnamon Bun Dough, Shortbread Cookies & Oatmeal Cinnamon Cookie Swirls."

This one falls in the "almost awesome" category for me.  I loved the cinnamon and caramel bases, I loved the cinnamon bun dough chunks, the shortbread cookie chunks, and the oatmeal cinnamon cookie swirls.  All the components were great, and they worked well together.

So, the problem?  It was just too sweet.  Too much.

I would have gladly gotten this as a mixed scoop, and in the past, my local Ben & Jerry's has allowed split scoop for a single cup (not for a Kiddie size, but a single is actually two scoops but, the very new scooper I had wasn't up for it, and I didn't really care enough to press more).  But balanced with another flavor, or perhaps even whipped cream actually, I think this would be great.

Chocolate Therapy®
"Chocolate Ice Cream with Chocolate Cookies & Swirls of Chocolate Pudding Ice Cream."

Chocolate ice cream is rarely what I like, but, my scoop shop didn't have many flavors I was interested in, and I do love the Ben & Jerry's cookie swirl, so, I gave this one a try, also interested in "chocolate pudding ice cream" swirls.

This was however an ice cream for chocolate ice cream lovers, very much chocolate ice cream and even more intense chocolate ice cream in the chocolate pudding ice cream swirls.  Not for me.

Chocolate Shake It™
"Chocolate Malt Milkshake Ice Cream with Chocolate Cookie-Covered Fudge Truffles & Marshmallow Swirls."

It has been a while since I've had Phish Food, again, since I'm not a big chocolate ice cream fan, but this really reminded me of Phish Food as both have chocolate ice cream base, marshmallow swirl, and chocolate covered items inside.  And I almost like Phish Food, cuz the marshmallow goo is so tasty.

It really was just like an enhanced version of Phish Food for me.  I liked the chocolate malt milkshake ice cream more than standard chocolate, but it was still chocolate ice cream.  I loved the gooey marshmallow swirl, and thought it provided great balance to the marshmallow that I don't care for.  The "chocolate cookie-covered fudge truffles" didn't really seem that different from other chocolate covered things in Ben & Jerry's ice cream, and I didn't see what was "chocolate cookie" about them, but they were a nice component.

Phish Food lovers might want to try this just to mix it up, but, it wasn't the one for me.

2019

Another year, another chance to try a few more new flavors!  Ben & Jerry's introduces a bunch every year, many only at scoop shops, but few rarely stick around ... 

Cinnamon Buns®

"Caramel Ice Cream with Cinnamon Bun Dough & a Cinnamon Streusel Swirl."

"Our cool salute to cinnamon buns is so cinnamon-streuseled & dough-loaded, there's no telling where the cinnamon buns end or the ice cream begins. That's because it's one fun flavor all the way through. Enjoy!"

Yup, another cinnamon inspired ice cream from Ben & Jerry's.

The first cinnamon flavored ice cream I had from Ben & Jerry's was "Cinnamon Cereal Swirl", a sweet cream base with crunchy cinnamon cereal.  I didn't care for it .

In 2018, I tried the brand new Cinndoughrella™, a cinnamon & caramel base, with cinnamon bun dough, shortbread cookies, & oatmeal cinnamon cookie swirls.  It was almost awesome. The base was a success, as were the cinnamon bun dough chunks, as were the shortbread cookie chunks, and the cookie swirl.  But ... it was just far too sweet.

Cinnamon Buns® has been around for longer, and seems like a more toned down version.  Just the caramel ice cream base, not cinnamon and caramel.  Just the cinnamon bun dough, not cinnamon bun dough and shortbread cookies.  And a cinnamon streusel in place of the oatmeal cookie swirl.

It was definitely better, not nearly as sweet.  The base ice cream was fine, sweet caramel ice cream, classic Ben & Jerry's.  The cinnamon bun dough chunks were the perfect size and texture, and it was loaded with them, just the right distribution.    The streusel swirl didn't overwhelm or over sweeten, as it was generous, but not too much.

Overall, a good flavor.  I'd gladly have it again.

And it turns out, one I had before, and just didn't remember, although the version I tried was the European version, actually made in different facilities, with slightly different ingredients.

Wake & "No Bake".

"Vanilla Ice Cream with Peanut Butter Cookies & Peanut Butter Ice Cream with Fudge Chips & a No Bake Cookie Dough Core."

For my free birthday scoop this year, I went for a brand new flavor: Wake & "No Bake".  I was drawn in by the peanut butter and the fascinating sounding "no bake cookie dough core".

This was good, but not great.  I don't think I'd get it again.

I did appreciate the peanut butter flavors throughout, but I never really found anything that seemed like peanut butter cookies.  What threw me off for this was what I guess is the No Bake Cookie Dough Core, a very gritty layer full of chocolate.  I wasn't expecting as much chocolate (not that its a bad thing) and I certainly wasn't into the grit.  The texture just kinda ruined it after a while.

So sadly, this, after a few bites, as fairly meh for me.

Other flavors sampled:

Chocolate Peanut Buttery Swirl
"Milk Chocolate Ice Cream with a Thick Peanut Buttery Swirl."

I tried this one at the scooper's recommendation when the  P.B. Doughable Chocolate that I actually wanted wasn't available (even though on menu!).  I loved the sound of the PB Doughable, with both dark and milk chocolate ice cream, peanut butter cookie dough, AND peanut butter cookie butter, but alas, they were out.

The chocolate peanut buttery swirl was no substitute.  It was just fairly standard chocolate ice cream, with a tiny bit of peanut butter swirl.  I'm sure some bites are more loaded up than others, and since I was just trying a sample I didn't get a great one, but, this did not do it for me at all.

Nutty Caramel Swirl
"Nougat Ice Cream with Peanuts, Fudge Flakes & a Salted Caramel Swirl."

I liked the sounds of this one, lots of good mix-ins, but it fell pretty flat.  It was just ... bland and boring, really.  Again, perhaps just the sample I got didn't have much going on.  The base seemed liked regular vanilla as well.

Toffee Break
"Buttery Brown Sugar Ice Cream with Almond Brittle & a Toffee Caramel Swirl."

I *almost* got a full scoop of this flavor.  I may have actually kinda begged (er, nicely asked?) the scooper to let me split my scoop into two flavors, since I couldn't decide which to get.  But I was turned down.

This was a sweet flavor, no question.  Sweet base (buttery brown sugar I guess, it was fairly caramely), and sweet mix-ins (candied almond brittle and toffee caramel swirl).  Of course this was going to be sweet.  But it wasn't cloying somehow, and I liked the textures and flavors.

I do think a full scoop probably would have been too much sweet, hence why I went for the other instead, but I was very close to picking this one.

Read More...

Crumbl Cookies

Update Review, August 2025 Visit

My second ever visit to Crumbl.  We don't have a location in SF surprisingly, so I've only ever visited while traveling.  Even my hometown in NH has one now, so I find it a bit puzzling that they haven't opened any in SF yet ... but anyway, on to the review!

Display Cookies.

The week I visited, Crumbl had a fairly boring (to me) lineup of 7 primary cookies, along with one trendy Dubai Chocolate Brownie, plus the minis.  From the 7, two of the cookies featured Oreos (one golden, one regular) and I dislike Oreos, so those were out.  One was just the basic chocolate chip, which is just boring.  The Kit Kat, S'mores, and chocolate peanut butter just really didn't call out to me.  I was striking out.  But the final one, strawberry pretzel pie, was at least vaguely interesting.  Still, not a week that excited me, but I still picked up a cookie.

As always, the cookies were showcased in a display when you enter.

Strawberry Pretzel Pie Cookie.
(Chilled). $5.29.

"A buttery pie-inspired cookie rolled in pretzel pieces, adorned with whipped cream cheese topping, house-made strawberry jam, and more crunchy pretzel pieces."

My choice was easy, the only interesting (to me) one: strawberry pretzel pie.  Inspired by strawberry pretzel salad/pie, if you are familiar with that sorta retro Southern 1960s dessert with strawberry Jello, Cool Whip, and cream cheese, usually on a pretzel crust base as a bar, or made into a pie crust shell.  The Crumbl spin on it of course was a cookie.  This is one of the chilled offerings.

It was assembled to order, with the whipped cream cheese topping, jam, and pretzel garnish added to order.  It was presented to me for my approval, and handed over.  I immediately plucked off the pretzel from the top, dragged it through the jam and whipped topping, and plopped it into my mouth.

I was let down but also quite happy, all at once.  Let down because the pretzel was soft, soggy, kinda stale ... even though assembled to order and consumed literally on the spot.  This confused me.  Clearly the pretzels in the assembly station weren't exactly the freshest.  So, -1 point for the "more crunchy pretzel pieces" being well, not that.

But the jam!  Oh the jam.  The jam was incredible.  It looked a bit ho-hum, and I know people really like it and that it is house-made, and, yeah, it is rave worthy.  Intensely fruity, concentrated berry flavor.  It was far from generic strawberry jam you'd find at a diner.  They make it in-house at the individual stores.  Excellent jam, although it was very sweet.  4/5.

Then, the whipped topping.  This sorta reminded me of slightly cream cheese-y Cool Whip.  Far lighter and more like a mousse than cheesecake, but with some of those flavors in there.  It went great with the jam, just like it would go great with the strawberry jello in the classic pretzel pie, but it too was really fairly sweet, particularly alongside the jam, I found myself wanting it to have the sweetness toned down a bit, and the cheesiness amped up.  Probably 4/5 for that too, isolated, but maybe 3.5 in this application due to sweetness. (Oh, wow, I looked up the ingredients, and yes, it actually *is* Cool Whip and cream cheese, lol).

And then of course, there is the fact that this is a cookie after all.  The cookie base was quite interesting.  A thick, soft cookie.  Buttery, sweet but not too sweet, sorta like a softer shortbread almost with the high buttery flavor.  But also it was studded with candied pretzel pieces, so many pretzel pieces, baked inside and then it was rolled in them.  They added a lot of texture, flavor, and salt.  It was a fairly decadent tasting base cookie. 3.5/5 base.

Put it all together, and you have sweet, fruity, creamy, salty, yep, yep, yep.  But it still trended too sweet for me overall, fine in small pieces, or with black coffee or red wine, but hard to really devour on its own (not that you should necessary try to take this down in one sitting anyway. T his is actually one of their more modest desserts, only 620 calories (the rest of the lineup was more in the 800 range, or even over 1000 for the Dubai chocolate brownie), but still, an undertaking (it is also available in mini form).

I enjoyed trying this, but I wouldn't get it again. High 3.5/5.

Original Review, January 2024

I spent many years not really being into cookies, mostly considering them a snack, and not worthy of a full fledged dessert slot.  Sure, a cookie could be an element of a dessert, but you'd never find me eating just a cookie and calling that dessert.

Sometime during the covid lockdown, I got a bit more, let's say, adaptable, and settled on eating cookies more.  Yes, I did still normally warm them up and serve them with ice cream sandwiched in-between, or I'd dunk into whipped cream and sprinkles, but, I finally started eating more cookies, and even, gasp, craving them from time to time.

This past summer, when I was in New York for my birthday, I of course did my annual birthday freebie crawl, and was delighted to have so many more venues to hit up.  One of those was Crumbl, a fairly popular nationwide cookie chain, that somehow doesn't have a location in SF.

Crumbl is a relatively new chain, started only in 2017.  They have more than 800 stores in the US now, and some internationally.  Rapid expansion, for sure.

They started out with serving literally just chocolate chip cookies, but quickly expanded the menu too.  The concept now is actually fairly unique, with 6 cookies offered every week, the same 6 at every Crumbl location, and they change weekly on Mondays.  Seasonal offerings abound.  This gives a consistent experience across locations, but, a constant sense of missing out and thus needing to visit, stat.   They have a decent loyalty program, and, yes, a free cookie on your birthday.  I'll gladly return, and wish they'd open in SF.

Daily Offerings.

Every week features a new rotation of 5 cookies (I think chocolate chip is always offered), which run Mon-Sat (they are closed on Sun, nationwide), and every store can do a "mystery cookie" of their choice, which changes throughout the week.  The lineup includes a mix of both warm and chilled cookies.  They are all quite large, bigger than average cookies (I later looked it up, and saw the serving size is 1/4 of a cookie ... doh).  They do also make some mini (e.g. normal size) cookies.

The week I visited, the lineup was: semi-sweet chocolate chunk (warm), caramel pumpkin cake (warm), chocolate peanut butter ft. Oreo (warm), key lime pie (chilled), chocolate toffee cake (warm), and the mystery flavor was another chocolate one (also warm).

Box.

Cookies are prepared to order, so, warm ones are warmed up, and *then* toppings are applied as needed (which makes sense, as the toppings would melt as the cookies are warmed, and most have some kind of frosting/whipped cream/etc on top).

Since mine was a chilled cookie, I didn't realize it too would be prepared to order, but it was filled and topped to order, and then put in a box, perfectly sized to fit the (very large) cookie.  Again, these are not normal size cookies.

Key Lime Pie.

"Our refreshing classic key lime pie rendition includes a chilled buttered graham crust, zesty lime filling, whipped cream, graham cracker crumbs, and a fresh lime wedge to squeeze on top."

If you read my blog much, you'll realize what an odd order this is for me.  I don't tend to like citrus based desserts.  But ...  I didn't want something with chocolate (as it was evening and I avoid caffeine), so, that left with me with the choice of the pumpkin cake one, or this.  As it was just barely the start of September, and 95* out (!!!), I certainly was not ready to delve into pumpkin spice themes, I was in full on summer mode still.  Thus, key lime pie it was.

I was very pleased with this "cookie".  Calling it a cookie is a bit odd, but, I guess, at the heart, the base *is* a cookie.  It was a fascinating graham cookie, not anything like a graham cracker, more, well, like a sweet sugar cookie, perfectly soft and sweet, but ... it tasted exactly like graham cracker.  Also not like a graham crust you'd find in a normal key lime pie either, it was not crumbly and dusty like that.  Really unique and interesting.  Far better than any graham cracker I've ever had, or any graham cracker crust, which I generally really do not care for.  Very thick, yet so soft.  **** cookie base.

And then, the key lime filling.  This was a little bit more runny than what you'd find in a well set key lime pie, but, it was smooth, creamy, tangy, lightly sweet.  Not a curd, which I appreciated, as I don't tend to like citrus curds.  Nice lime flavor.  Also quite good.  ****.

The little dot of whipped cream, the sprinkle of graham cracker crumbs, and the half a thin slice of lime really elevated the presentation dramatically, even if they were fairly easily lost in the end creation.

Overall, soft, sweet, tangy, unique, and definitely one of the most interesting cookies I've had in a long time.  I'd get it again, but now really want to try more of their offerings!  **** overall.

I was a bit thrown off by the fact that the sign said "180 calories" for the cookie ... that just didn't make sense, given the size, and decadent taste and fillings.  When I looked in more detail on the website, I found the reason why: the serving size is 1/4 of a cookie.  Aha.  If I was to eat the whole cookie, it clocks in at 720 calories!  Which definitely makes more sense, but also is far more than I expected.

Read More...

Ike's Place

Update Review, Sept 2025, Mission Bay Location

It had been several years since I visited an Ike's location.  I have had such varied experiences in the past (some great, some very meh), and there weren't historically any locations near me, so it was always a trek to seek out Ike's, which, besides loving the dutch crunch bread, I just didn't have enough reason to do.  Ok, I did have a reason, once a year, to go get my free birthday sandwich, except that the past few summers I've been on the east coast enjoying summer for my birthday in August, and thus, no birthday freebie either.

This year I did seek it out, for 3 reasons.  1) they opened a new location that is much closer, and a far more pleasant walk, to my house, 2) I realized that even if I wasn't in SF around my birthday, I could schedule my order for future, after the birthday reward expired, but still redeem it as long as I placed the order before it expired, and 3) I saw they had ... lobster on the menu now?  So I was all in, although while Ike's is reasonably well regarded, I don't really think of it being a place I'd specifically seek out lobster.  If you are curious, you can get the lobster several ways, the basic "Buddy's Fave", which is what I did, or as a Surf & Turf with steak, mushrooms, and provolone added too (for a whopping $23.95).

Mission Bay Location.

My visit was to the newish Mission Bay Location, which seemed about the same size (in my memory) to the Polk Street location.  There were a handful of tables of varying heights, lots of light from floor to ceiling windows, and a central prep area.  It was clean in the dining room, although the bathroom floor was exceptionally sticky, and left my sneakers sticking all over the floor for a while after my visit.  Staff were friendly, and my order was ready on time.

#29: Buddy's Fave. $15.95.
on Dutch Crunch w/ All the Freebies.

"Dirty Lobster Salad, American. [1230 cal]."

This may be the first time ever at Ike's that I didn't modify a sandwich rather dramatically.  I left it exactly as specified on the menu with no omissions or substitutions, opted for dutch crunch for my bread choice (because, um, really, it isn't a question), got all the free veggie toppings (lettuce, tomato, red onion, pickles, banana peppers, jalapenos), and did ask for light dirty sauce (I do love it, but find it can dominate, and I wasn't sure if this would have the regular double dirty (both pieces of bread) AND in the lobster salad mix (is that what "dirty lobster salad" is?)), but really mostly left this alone.

The dutch crunch was excellent as it should be.  Fresh bread, soft, lofty, and great crusting on the top piece.  Lightly toasted.  Slathered with the dirty sauce, which was crazy flavorful and garlicky and awesome.  The American cheese was also adjacent to the bottom bread, and was lightly melted in, and all together honestly that bread + dirty sauce + cheese was just very tasty and satisfying on its own.  I'd be happy to just eat open faced dirty sauce cheesy garlic bread pieces, I didn't even need the rest of the sandwich.  5/5 bread+dirty suace+cheese, really.  IYKYK.

Buddy's Fave: Inside.

But let's talk about those fillings, as I've had mixed success with them in the past.  I'm happy to report that all the standard free add-ins were good this time.  Fresh enough chopped romaine, well sliced red onion, pickles + banana peppers + pickled jalapeno that were all fairly standard but good, and even the tomato slices were fresh and flavorful.  These toppings were all well distributed equally throughout the sandwich, every bite had them included, and the ratios were all good.  Nothing earth shattering here, but, decent quality sandwich components, assembled with care.  Low 4/5 veggies.

And then of course, the dirty lobster salad.  This was the wildcard unknown to me, as I couldn't really find reviews of it online, and I think it may be fairly new.  I wasn't sure if it would be like a New England style lobster roll, with basically just pieces of lobster, Maine style mixed with mayo and cold (or even Connecticut style warm with mayo, but that seemed less likely), or if it would be more like grocery store deli "lobster" salad that is a mix of a tiny bit of lobster and mostly imitation crab mixed with mayo and pretty coarsely chopped up.  It turned out to be the later, and I'm not actually sure if it had real lobster in it, but I think it did have a few tiny pieces?  I also couldn't tell if that odd piece you see in the photo was some stray turkey that got in there, or if it was imitation crab meat that wasn't chopped up properly and had unrolled?  It was all mixed with mayo (and nothing else I could tell, no celery or anything), and honestly wasn't bad, but I do like krab salad, and that is really what this seemed like. 3.5/5 lobster salad, as really it didn't deliver in the lobster department, but I still quite enjoyed it.

I found this more enjoyable to descruct than eat as a complete sandwich, something I did out of necessity at first as I was dealing with an oral injury that has left me not capable of biting into things, particularly massive sandwiches like this.  I liked the lobster salad with all the veggies just as a salad basically, and I liked the toasted bun as dirty sauce cheesy bread pieces that I ate separately so I could cut into manageable hunks for my broken mouth.  Doing it that way allowed the two concepts to shine in their own ways, and not detract - the dutch crunch and dirty sauce and cheese totally overshadowed the "lobster" otherwise.  All in all, I really enjoyed this, even if not really much lobster included. 4/5.

Update Reviews, 2018 & 2019

While I'm not a sandwich girl in general, from time to time, I get a craving.  Which lead me to finally try cult classic Ike's in the past (start with my original review there!).  I still don't go for sandwiches often, but when I do, Ike's has become my place ... even though, well, every visit leaves me questioning why ...

2018

My visit in 2018 was ... not good.  I don't know what was going on that day.

I got in line at 12:10pm.  It took 20 minutes for me to even be able to order, with only 2 people in line in front of me.  It then took another 25 minutes to actually get my sandwich.  Yes, it was 12:56pm when my name was called.  For a *sandwich*.

Sandwich Backup.

The staff were clearly slammed, or, at least they were very backed up.  There was a huge line of sandwiches awaiting final assembly.

Dirty Floor & Counter.

And the place was ... a mess.  No wonder they couldn't work efficiently?  You can see all the outstanding tickets here, but also, the floor was covered in ... bits of food.

It was kinda gross, actually.

What a mess.

There were also boxes half emptied and left all over the space.  How could they all move around and work?  Yeah, they couldn't, effectively.

I guess, seeing this, it doesn't surprise me it took so long to get my order.

Pee Wee (with modifications/additions)
All The Toppings, Whole Wheat, Side of Godfather Sauce. $10+.

"French Dressing, Home Made Poppy Seed Coleslaw, Swiss, Vegan Turkey" ... "Sub Vegan Breaded Chicken for Vegan Turkey, Sub Honey Mustard for French Dressing, Add Veggie Bacon, and include Godfather Sauce on the Side."

My order was a customization of one of the named sandwiches, as they don't have an option to build your own.  But really, I wanted to create my own sandwich.  There were things I knew I wanted: for protein, the vegan breaded chicken was good before, and I was curious about the veggie bacon.  I wanted cheese, and Swiss and smoked gouda both sounded good.  I wanted the house made slaw again.  I wanted all the standard free veggie toppings, including lots of pickles this time.  I wanted sauces, perhaps the Frank's buffalo sauce, as I do adore that.  Or maybe ranch, wasabi mayo, red pesto, or the Godfather Sauce that I still hadn't tried.  I was tempted by the thought of adding onion rings or poppers.  But there was no particular sandwich that sounded more or less like what I was looking for.  I also was going back and forth between the idea of a Frank's buffalo based creation, or going really classic and bringing myself back to my college days, where I used to always get chicken finger wraps with honey mustard.  It was the later that I settled on.  Of course, there was no honey mustard chicken finger sandwich on the menu.  And I still wanted the slaw.

So, I made a very modified custom sandwich out of the Pee Wee.  I intended to get Dutch Crunch (because, um, its the best), but, they were out (!!!!).  My options were Sourdough (no way), whole wheat, or french.  As I was saying "French", I changed my mind, and opted for whole wheat.  I didn't want either, might as well pick the perhaps healthier option?

I kept 2 of the 4 ingredients, and only added one additional, that's not ... *totally* custom, uh, right?  I could have also picked the Love Triangle, and removed 3 things and added 2, or the Handsome Owl (minus 2, plus 2), but this was the one that felt easiest, replacing protein for protein, and sauce for sauce, and, well, the base price was also the lowest, at only $10.  The like substitutions did not cost extra, but adding the additional protein (veggie bacon), did.

I opted for all the standard toppings (lettuce, tomato, Dirty Sauce), plus all the other free toppings (red onion, jalapeno, banana peppers, and extra pickles), and since I really wanted to try the Godfather sauce, but wasn't sure how it would go with the sandwich, I asked for a side of that.

Godfather Sauce is a horseradish dijon mayo, basically, um, all the things.  I was provided a side container of it, and certainly did not need it with my sandwich (more on that soon), but did try it, and use it, later.  It was, well, creamy since mayo based, it had a bit of kick from the horseradish, and then had some dijon kick as well.  The dijon was a bit too strong for me, I would have preferred it mellowed out a bit, or perhaps that this just be a horseradish mayo, but, it was an interesting sauce, and I'm glad I tried it.  Probably best with something like roast beef?

My sandwich ... well, it took forever as I noted already, but also, it was a rather soggy disaster.  I ate it immediately, in the shop, so this wasn't a case where it suffered in transit.  It also wasn't entirely my correct order, but, I didn't bother try to get it replaced.

So, so, so soggy!

The biggest problem was ... it was just a soggy mess, just absolutely laden in mayo sauces.  I adore mayo, I love aioli, believe me, I really do, but this was just out of control.  Both layers of paper were soaked through even when I opened it literally 20 seconds after being handed over.

The poor construction really truly ruined this sandwich, sadly.  And this is why I didn't need the Godfather Sauce actually with my sandwich, there is just no way I could have had more sauce!

Modified (Soggy) Pee Wee.

So, what did I have?

Ridiculously soggy whole wheat bread, to start.  The bottom bun wasn't even still bread.  Seriously.  It was just mush.  It wasn't toasty and warm in any way, I think toasted long before it was assembled given the backup of sandwiches.  The whole wheat was forgettable.  I discarded most of my bread, eating this more as a salad.  Good thing they had forks available.

The vegan breaded chicken (Gardein Chicken Tenders, if you are curious), were ok.  Like the bread, not hot, and certainly not crispy given the pool of sauce they were swimming in.  Really a shame, as I know they do heat them, and I know they can be pretty crispy.  I do still think they are a decent product, mimicking that style of breaded chicken tender well, and, the serving was quite generous, each half my sandwich had multiple full large chicken fingers on it.  I'd get these again.

The veggie bacon was less successful, but I think that is just what the product is.  I believe it was Morningstar Farms brand (not vegan, if you care).  Not crispy, didn't really taste like bacon, not hot.  But again, a generous amount, big full slices, and it was nice to have something with different texture, even if it didn't really have any interesting taste (I was hoping for crunch and smokiness, neither of which I got from these strips).

The swiss cheese was fine, nicely melted, but of course, it was long since freshly melted, and was all congealed.  Even though I ate it immediately.  Again, I think the sandwiches were all just all backed up at each assembly station, so it was toasted long before anyone got to finishing it and handing it over.

The slaw was about what I remembered, nice to have cabbage and crunch, and it came in its own mayo base.   I liked the slaw, and would get it again, although, I think this inspires me to ask for all the sauces on the side, as it isn't clear that you need any sauce if you get this slaw.

All Ike's sandwiches are served with lettuce, tomato, and Dirty Sauce, but, mine was missing the lettuce.  Is that because they assumed I didn't want it because I had slaw?  Last time, they overloaded me with lettuce even when I had slaw, so, not sure.  I did actually want it this time, and maybe it would have helped absorb some of the sauces!  The tomato slices were again entirely lackluster, just not great tomato, although the slices seemed fresh enough, and were nicely laid on the sandwich.  The signature Dirty Sauce was ... well, everywhere?  I know they layer it on both sides of the bread, and toast it on, but it was really just everywhere.  I have no idea how, but it just took over everything.  There was soooo much of it.  Perhaps I'm confusing some of the mayo based dressing from the slaw, which was in the middle, for the Dirty Sauce, but, wowzer.  So much mayo based sauce.  I like it and everything, but, yeah.  Soggy and overwhelming.

I also added all the other free toppings, and kinda regretted it.  The red onion was fine, as were the banana peppers, but neither were necessary.  The jalapenos though I ended up really not liking, they were the pickled kind, still very spicy, but, not a taste I like, and there were lots sliced up and distributed throughout.  I asked for extra pickles since I loved them so much last time, but I'm honestly not sure why I liked them so much before.  They were just ... pickles?  Fine, but nothing special, and I didn't need that many.

So that was that.  Soggy.  Cold.  Way too much sauce.  Oops on ordering the jalapenos and pickles, cuz they took over.  Missing lettuce.  Oh, and what about that honey mustard, the inspiration for the creation in the first place?  I think it was missing too.  Maybe they just added more Dirty Sauce in its place, lol.  I really didn't taste anything else, nor see anything that looked like honey mustard, so, I really do think that was lost (unless their honey mustard is also a mayo based sauce?).

I still would want to try something like this again, but, my order would be ... no jalapeno, no tomato (I give up on their tomatoes, otherwise, yes, I'd want these), probably no banana peppers or red onion, and both Dirty Sauce and honey mustard on the side.  Oh, and Dutch Crunch of course.  But the honey mustard chicken finger with slaw concept I do want to keep working on.  And maybe I'd go for good old American cheese ....

August 2019

A year later, I still went back to Ike's.  Why?  Well, I had a serious craving for a sandwich I used to get in college at our on campus diner.  I had visions of kinda re-creating that.  Sorta.

So I returned, same Polk St location, 6:15pm on a Tuesday.

There were only 4 other patrons in the store, two groups of two, waiting for their sandwiches.  Ordering was easy, even though I was making an entirely custom thing "people do it all the time, its totally normal!", I was assured.

Ike's redeemed itself!

It did take a while to get my sandwich, longer than I expected, and it was confusing how it could really take that long ... at one point, I saw all 4 staff members working on a single sandwich, trying to assemble it.  I know they were handling a decent number of online orders, but still, it certainly wasn't speedy.

But ... I didn't mind, in the end.  I was thrilled with my sandwich.  I'd happily get exactly the same thing again, no question.

Ike's sandwiches are very large, and I found a half was more than enough for my appetite at the time.  I ate the other half a day later, which seems crazy for an assembled sandwich, but it was still glorious - I just put it open faced into the toaster to crisp it all back up, and honestly, essentially as good as new!

Custom Sandwich.

When my name was finally called, I was asked "wanna sucker?",which made me giggle a little, and yes, I accepted the caramel apple sucker.  I know Ike's is a big chain now, but I'm glad they have kept some little touches like this.

You can see I also learned from my past notes, and got my sauce (well, one of them) on the side.  This was no problem.

For my creation, I basically knew what I wanted ... but I wasn't sure how to order it.  That said, I know Ike's will make you anything you want, if they have the ingredients, so I just asked the person taking my order if it was easier for me to try to tell her a modified sandwich, or to just tell her what I wanted - as in, do I just say "I want X, Y, and Z" or do I say "I want a {Sandwich Name} but with X instead of Y, add Z, etc."  She just said, "it depends, let's figure it out.  What do you want?"  I was really thrilled with how easy she made the experience, when I thought I was going to be super annoying.

What I wanted?  Vegan breaded chicken, melted American cheese, honey mustard (but on the side), dirty sauce, lettuce, extra pickles, and, um onion rings.  This is not on the menu ... at all.  But it is what I wanted!

Her solution was to order the Danny Glover, but, um, *very* modified, as I literally only kept one component of it.  She said it would price the cheapest this way, and I believed her.

So I started with the base Danny Glover: vegan chicken, BBQ sauce, and cheddar cheese ... where the only part of it I wanted was the vegan breaded chicken (my goto).  I swapped out the cheese (American instead of cheddar), I swapped out the sauce (honey mustard instead of bbq, and had it on the side), I added beer battered fried onion rings ... and then included the standard offering of dirty sauce, lettuce but not tomatoes (they are never very good), and added optional pickles (extra, in fact).

I felt like a huge pain in the ass, but she really didn't treat me that way at all.

Modified Danny Glover: Vegan Chicken, Onion Rings, American Cheese,
Lettuce, Extra Pickles, Dirty Sauce on Dutch Crunch. ($11.11 + $3).

My sandwich arrived piping hot.  I literally saw steam come rolling out as I opened it up.  This was a great sign.

As always, I liked the vegan breaded chicken (Gardein brand, I think).  I probably wouldn't really like these as a full serving of standalone chicken nuggets, but, in the sandwich, I like them quite a bit.  The texture works, and they aren't too odd in a fake meat way.  When I extracted one and slathered it in honey mustard, it was delightful.

I could have picked fancy cheeses like gouda or havarti or even just something more exiting like swiss, but I went for American, because that is what I was trying to re-create from my college days.   It was perfectly melted, and went great with the breaded chicken and honey mustard, just as I envisioned.

The lettuce I almost left off, since the past few times it has been excessive and actually decreased my happiness with the sandwich, but again, in interests of my memory sandwich, I kept it.  It actually was a totally normal amount, generic shredded iceberg, which, well, worked with my chicken finger and american cheese concept.  Simple, no frills.  I was glad I had it for some freshness.

I asked for extra pickles, but actually ended up disliking them entirely, which happened last time.  I'm not sure what it is about these pickles, but, I guess they just aren't for me.  Note to self: no pickles next time.  I didn't bother with the tomatoes as they have been so bad the past few times.

Dutch Crunch!

For my bread, I picked dutch crunch, the king of sandwich breads that I am glad I have discovered since moving to the Bay Area (did you know it doesn't really exist other places?).  And unlike last time, it was not sold out.

It was nicely toasted, crispy on the outside, super soft inside, and even more crispy due to the dutch crunch sugar/rice flour coating.  Love that bread.

It came with the dirty sauce slathered on both sides, baked on.  I almost asked for the dirty sauce on the side, like the honey mustard, but I remembered that they bake it on, and that is the magic touch.

And magic it is.  Seriously.  Herby, garlic-y, and when it bakes into the bread it just makes for ultimate deliciousness.

I somewhat deconstructed half my half sandwich, and choose to just eat the chicken and onion rings as finger food dipped into honey mustard, and the bread just with the amazing dirty sauce and some american cheese baked on, and I truly even loved just the bread and sauce.  No sandwich even required.  And I am *not* a bread girl.  It was like creamy garlic bread, if that makes sense.  All the flavor and herbs of garlic bread, but creamy from the mayo components.  A++ and being well toasted, hot and fresh, made a huge difference.

Onion Rings.

Oh, and those ridiculous onion rings I added for no reason at all (do you really need a reason to add onion rings? I mean, come on, they are onion rings!).

They were good.  Not the crispiest, so when I extracted them to eat just as onion rings dunked in honey mustard that wasn't the best, but they were great inside the sandwich, added pleasant onion flavor, and a bit more texture from the breading.  And I love the onion rings and honey mustard combo.

I'd get these again, but they aren't 100% necessary.

Honey Mustard.

The honey mustard was GLORIOUS.

A creamy, clearly mayo based version of honey mustard.  Not too tangy, just enough.  Perfect flavor combo with the onion rings and the chicken.  I loved dunking them, and my sandwich bites, into it.

I'm glad I had it on the side though, as it allowed me to use as much or little as I wanted on specific bites.  I'll certainly do that again.

Original Review, 2017

Ike's is a small-ish chain of sandwich shops, that started in San Francisco (yes, by Ike), in 2007.  To say it has been successful is an understatement.  In only 10 years, they have expanded to 36 locations throughout the state (and I think Arizona?).

The original SF location was on 16th Street, but it had to shut down after 5 years when the lease expired, and a renewal was not offered (which created LOTS of angry San Franciscans).  Ike's moved to a temporary home in the Castro, literally, inside a bakery, and then got into trouble because it is a chain now, and that was breaking some kind of rules.  Finally, they have a new place on Polk Street, which is where I visited.

Now, you might realize that I've probably never (?) reviewed a sandwich before.  I don't generally really like sandwiches.  But ... Ike's has such acclaim, and such an interesting menu, that I finally had to try it.

Oh, and they have a birthday club, where you get a free sandwich on your birthday.  You know I can't resist a birthday freebie.

Setting

Entire Shop.

The shop is fairly narrow, with not much seating.

You order at a register at the entrance, sandwiches are prepped in the small kitchen in the middle, there is a soda fountain on the side, and several high top tables for two.  There is one single lower table with 3 chairs.  I imagine when it gets busy, finding a seat is hard, or I suspect most people take their sandwiches to go, although, the neighborhood isn't really one where you want to just go eat outside.

There is no bathroom.  But they do have a hand sanitizer pump to clean your hands somewhat.

Menu.

The menu is ... daunting to say the least.  More than 50 sandwiches (even when they first opened, they had 46!).  And, they mostly all sound amazing.

Sandwiches are named after celebrities, places, and concepts, so you have to read all the details to know what is in your sandwich.  No option to order just "a turkey sandwich", although I'm sure you could do that.  The closest you can get to a normal named sandwich is the Paul Reubens, which is a play on a reuben with pastrami, purple slaw, french dressing, and swiss (yeah, I said closest, if you were expecting corned beef not pastrami, sauerkraut instead of slaw, and Russian instead of French, you'd be sad).  Many involve fried items, including onion rings, jalapeño poppers, mozzarella sticks, and even mac and cheese.  All have some kind of sauces.  These are not light sandwiches.

Each location also has location specific specials, and each day also has two specials (on a separate menu).  And of course, you can modify your sandwich in a slew of ways.

Meat options include halal chicken or fried chicken, deli sliced turkey, roast beef, pastrami, ham, and salami, bacon, meatballs, and thin sliced rib-eye.  However, vegetarians, and vegans, have nearly as many options to pick from, and they aren't just hummus and sprouts.  The fried chicken is replaced with vegan breaded chicken.  There is vegan steak, turkey, and even bacon and meatball equivalents.  You can also opt for breaded fried eggplant, or yes, hummus, if you don't go for the fake proteins.  There is vegan cheese and vegan aioli offered.  Sandwiches that aren't vegan by design, but can be made vegan, have a marking on the menu.

Dutch crunch is the standard bread offering ("World Famous", they say, and about 70% of people opt for it), but you can also select from french, sourdough, whole wheat, or gluten free bread.  All the breads are huge grinder rolls, not sliced bread, and only in one, very large, size.

All sandwiches come with lettuce, tomato, and Dirty Sauce by default.  The "Dirty Sauce" is Ike's secret ingredient, a garlic aioli (normally mayo based, but they also make an egg-free vegan version), that they toast right into the bread, on both sides, under your cheese and meat choices.  And then they add another layer after toasting.  Um, yeah, these aren't light sandwiches.

You can also add red onion, pickles, banana peppers, and jalapeños for free.

On top of that, there are lots of other add-ons, like spinach or cucumbers (for $1), avocado or bacon ($2.50), cheese ($1.50), mushrooms ($2), any of the sauces ($1-2, depending on the sauce), double meat ($2), halal chicken (instead of fried, $1), or, for the really crazy, beer battered onion rings or beer battered zucchini ($3), stuffed jalapeño poppers or mozzarella sticks ($3.50).

I was fatigued just reading the menu.  But when I realized that I'd be happy with any of at least 10 different choices, that actually made it easier.  It seemed hard to go wrong.  Interestingly, everything I wanted was vegetarian.  I think mostly because I was excited by the fake chicken and turkey, since I don't like the real stuff.

In the end, I narrowed down to a handful: 1) The "Danny Glover" with BBQ Sauce, Cheddar, and Vegan Breaded Chicken, 2) The "Handsome Owl" with Swiss, Teriyaki, Vegan Breaded Chicken, and Wasabi Mayo, 3) The "Chased & Confused (SF Exclusive)" with Bacon, Flaming Hot Cheetos, Ranch, Red Pesto, Stuffed Jalapeño Poppers, 4) The "Pee Wee" with French Dressing, Home Made Poppy Seed Coleslaw, Swiss, Vegan Turkey, or either of the weekend specials, "The Love Shaq" or "The Turner", both featuring, uh, mac and cheese (the former with american/bacon/dirty sauce, the later with bbq/honey mustard/honey).

I ruled out the mac and cheese options, and the Chased & Confused (although, really, Flaming Hot Cheetos and stuffed jalapeño poppers inside a sandwich did seem ... tempting).  And from there, I kinda made my own sandwich, using the Danny Glover as the base because I really wanted bbq and the vegan breaded chicken, subbing in a few things from the Handsome Owl, and adding in something from Pee Wee.  When you can't decide, just, make it your own?

Assembly Area.

Sandwiches are all made to order, and, they take time.  At least 10 minutes.  Because, well, there is a lot going on in each.

Each sandwich runs through the toaster, open faced, to crunch up the bread, bake in the Dirty Sauce, melt the cheese, and warm the meat.  Then there are many toppings and sauces to add.  When your order is ready, "Order Up!" is called, and you walk up to get it.  I was a bit surprised by the lack of system, no number given, no name, and everyone sorta just had to figure out when it was their turn.  Maybe they get more formal about the process when busier?

Food

Besides sandwiches, Ike's offers bagged chips (Zapp's chips, with all their innovative flavors I've reviewed before) and a couple bars/cookies.  That's it.  No other sides, not even the slaw they make for the sandwiches, nor the onion rings, poppers, or mozzarella sticks as an appetizer.  They are all about the sandwiches.

Wrapped Up ... with Lollipops!

When my order was ready, I was asked if I wanted caramel apple or blue razz lollipops.  I had no idea it came with lollipops, but, that was awesome.

It came wrapped up in two layers of paper wrap, one which actually held the sandwich and was sliced in half, and a full size extra wrapper, even though I indicated that I'd be eating there.  There isn't really a dine-in option for how it is served (e.g. no plate, no basket, etc), but if you eat there, they don't give you a paper bag to put it in.

I was surprised by how massive it was.  Length-wise, I think it was probably 10", but it was the girth that was dramatic.  Like a San Francisco super burrito, this thing isn't really meant to be eaten by one normal human.  Particularly one that plans to go out to dessert on the way home.  You can easily split one with someone, particularly if you have a bag of chips alongside, and go out for dessert after.  Or, if you don't need all that junk food in your life, a half is still a pretty serious undertaking.  I saw many people leaving with their extra half wrapped up in the paper wrapper, which, makes that seem a lot more convenient even for dine-in customers, now that I think about it.

Danny Glover on Dutch Crunch (Modified). $11.11 + $1.50.

"BBQ Sauce, Cheddar, Vegan Breaded Chicken" - Cheddar + Swiss + Tomato/Red Onion/Pickles/Dirty Sauce.

It came sliced in half, which was necessary to pick it up.  Just a half really was a full sandwich.  Check out the girth!

My order was the Danny Glover, but I made a few substitutions.  I ordered this because I wanted BBQ sauce, but, I like swiss more than cheddar, so, subbed out my cheese.  I accepted the standard tomatoes and dirty sauce, added the optional free pickles and red onions, and asked to have their well known purple slaw in place of the standard lettuce ($1.50 extra, which I was informed of at the time).  The bread choice was obviously dutch crunch, toasted.

I was surprised to open up my sandwich and find ... lettuce, the item I had subbed out for the slaw.  I had the slaw too, but, I also had lettuce, tons of it.  Very generic shredded iceberg, not particularly fresh.  My fellow dining companion noted that it took away from his sandwich experience having that much lettuce.  I removed most of it from my half.  Also generic?  The tomatoes.  Not particularly ripe, not particularly good.  I removed those too.  I think the red onion might have been left out, I never found it.

What I did find was BBQ sauce.  Tons of BBQ sauce.  It was seeping out one whole side.  It overwhelmed all other flavors.  And it wasn't possible to really remove it.  I like BBQ, which is why I ordered it, but, I actually didn't end up liking the flavor of it, even if it wasn't saturated in it, it was too sweet for my taste.

But now for the good parts.

The vegan breaded chicken was actually good.  A nice texture.  The breading was a bit soggy amongst all the other sandwich elements, but, besides that, I liked it.  Far more than regular chicken.  I'd gladly get it again.  There was a lot of it, full size thick "chicken" strips, well distributed throughout.  Most bites had a full bite of the chicken.

The swiss was nicely melted on, and again, covered the whole thing.  I loved the pickles.  Just classic dill chips, but, I really liked the crunch and flavor they added.  The slaw added a bit more crunch too, more than the lettuce, and I'm glad I added it (and, wished I had it instead, as I asked).  It was creamy slaw though, so that, plus the dirty sauce, was a fair amount of mayo-y sauces.  I did love the dirty sauce though, and, who am I kidding, I'm a mayo girl.

The dutch crunch was pretty standard dutch crunch, crunchy on top, fresh enough, nicely toasted.

Overall, this was a mixed bag.  The poor assembly that over BBQ'ed it definitely ruined it though.  I could just remove the lettuce and tomato, but, the BBQ overruled everything else.  That said, the other components were good, so I'd gladly give Ike's another chance, with another person assembling my sandwich.  I just wouldn't get BBQ, lettuce, or tomato.

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