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The Ice Cream Bar

at The Ice Cream Bar

Owner Juliet Pries focused on every detail to lend a 1930s parlor feel to the space. A vintage soda fountain and marble counter was hauled back from Michigan, the comprehensive menu is packed with old-time treats like egg creams and sassafras floats, and it's hard not to love getting your drinks slung by a "soda jerk" in uniform - we're talking starched white clothes, black bow ties and old-fashioned white hats.

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Inside, it’s a cross between an oversized, wood-paneled Airstream and a post-war Woolworth lunch counter—complete with art deco glass blocks, black tiles and vintage lamps.

Head back to the best seats: the stools at the original 1930s marble counter. Here you’ll have easy access to the ex-Rickhouse barman, who’ll advise you about which of the 75 homemade syrups and tinctures he could turn into custom sodas.

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Get giddy with twelve to fourteen ice cream flavors (roasted pineapple, sugar cookie and sweet cream, Sicilian pistachio) and seasonal baked goods; find homey fare to balance the confections (grilled cheese, high-end hot dogs, and soups).

At the back bar, mixologist Russell Davis (Rickhouse) tinkers with an arsenal of homemade tinctures and syrups, creating made-to-order sodas, shakes, and floats. Dabble in the root beer or challenge the barmen with an off-the-cuff request (they like that).

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The Sōsh Insider

What to Order

"If you are planning on getting ice cream, make sure you get it in a cone. The Ice Cream Bar's cones just may be the best home-made waffle cones I have ever tasted!" — Natalie Dunn

Pro Tip

"The ice cream up front is delicious, but don't forget to check out the soda bar at the back--the jerks will make you a milkshake unlike any you've ever had!" — Lark Anderson

What to Order

"It's called 'Too Good to be True', and it's the greatest thing you will ever taste!" — Jennifer Ortiz

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Every day
12:00pm – 10:00pm
Cole Valley
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Photo credit: The Ice Cream Bar / Paul Dyer
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