Last Friday I read on Eater LA, that Ohio’s own Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams was opening their doors to LA. To ring in the celebration, they were offering a free scoop of ice cream to everyone who stopped by the shop between 7pm and 10pm. The minute I clocked out of work, my friend and I went to Jeni’s. We got there 45-minutes early and the line was already down the street. What the friggen hell? I hate waiting in lines! The last time I did that was the Dumb Starbucks event where I wasted 2.5 hours of my existence. So the idea of standing for more than 30 minutes for free ice cream would not happen. I can’t do it Jeni! Plus I have weak baby ankles anyway.
I ended up going back to Jeni’s on Sunday once the craze had died down. I was able to walk in, look around, and sample as many of the flavors I wanted without 150 people crowding the space. It was nice. The location is modern, clean, and simple. Colors of white and orange make the store pop and widen your eyes. There are orange stools, wooden benches, and a standing table to help you relax, stay a while, and enjoy your ice cream. There’s even shelves of merchandise including mugs, books, spoons, and a ton of paraphernalia available for you to purchase.
The staff is uber sweet. The kind of sweet that makes you question if they’re robots, only to be surprised to see they’re just human beings with great attitudes. Once they even encouraged me to try every flavor, seriously EVERY flavor, I realized they gotta be bots. Looking at all the options, you see gallons of uniquely designed flavors like brambleberry crisp, askinosie dark milk chocolate, toasted brioche with butter & apricot jam, whiskey & pecans, and much more.
I sampled a respectable amount of flavors before I found myself stuffed on samples. I wasn’t crazy about all the flavors, but I did find two that I loved. I happily settled on scoops of Wildberry Lavender and Brown Butter Almond Brittle in a waffle cone ($8). If you’re the type who loves ice cream from Rite Aid or McDonald’s then the flavors and the price at Jeni’s might scare you. If you frequent Cold Stone or Mcconell’s then this is probably normal to you.
The ice cream was delicious, creamy, and tasted fancy. Seriously, Rite Aid has nothing on this. The Wildberry Lavender flavor was tart and slightly sweetened. I would have died of elation if it came with chunks of berries, but whomp-whomp, no luck there. Opposite of the wildberry, the Brown Butter Almond Brittle was so amazing my eyes rolled to the back of my head with each taste. It’s a very rich flavor that is somewhat salty thanks to its crunchy almonds. Finally, they make the best waffle cone I’ve ever had. It’s toasted and firm on the outer side and soft on the inner side. It’s thick and when they wrap the waffle into a cone, there’s a small part that overlaps to create a thick-as-hell waffle layer. My gut approved.
Although the ice cream was my focus on my first visit, don’t think that’s all they sell. They also mastered frozen yogurts, sorbets, ice cream sandwiches, and sundaes. I can easily see myself returning to try a sundae or sandwich. But please believe I won’t be standing in line for it anytime soon.
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Address: 1954 Hillhurst Ave Los Angeles, CA 90027
Phone: (323) 928-2668
Hours: Daily – 11:00am to 11:00pm
Social: Website, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Tumblr, and Pinterest
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