A haiku about Lick.
Ice cream that's icy.
Not even a bit creamy.
The flavors are "meh."
I was supremely disappointed by Lick. My wife and I had date night dinner out at Sway Thai beforehand but opted not to get dessert there and instead go to Lick afterward. We almost went to the Gourdough's trailer right next to Sway but wanted to try something new and different. Plus, Gourdough's can almost be more of a meal unto itself. Anyway, onto Lick we went.
After all, we'd heard great things. On Yelp. All over.
I got the four scoop waffle bowl, so I could try the various flavors. I also had one sample of a fifth flavor, and I tried a taste of my wife's other (sixth) flavor. The scoops were tiny, so four scoops isn't that huge.
Big disappointment. The flavor names were interesting, and the descriptions are mouthwatering, but the actual flavors were flat and boring. Even the normal flavors (as opposed to sorrel and beet or whatever) disappointed.
The sweet cream with strawberries tasted like icy skim milk with a strand of strawberry jam running through it.
The Texas sheet cake was just an icy chocolate flavor. I didn't get any cake or nut texture/ flavor/anything from it.
The goat cheese with honey tasted like honey. Again, icy honey. Not creamy. And it was goat cheese. The whole point of that one is supposed to be a unique texture.
The cilantro lime was almost like a sherbet. Decent mellow flavor but-- again-- icy. Maybe that's the point? But if I wanted sherbet, I would have gotten sherbet.
The caramel was recommended by the nice lady working behind the counter. It was icy, not creamy. The caramel flavor itself was just okay.
The other flavor was so unremarkable, I can barely remember it. But I believe it was the sweet cream and pecan. Meh. Icy. I believe it had tiny, ground-up micro-sized pieces of pecan. Again, meh.
All of the flavors were more or less rather similar to others. Nothing really stood out.
The lesson here is that ice cream should be cold, sure (hence the name: ice cream), but the emphasis should be on the cream, not the ice.
The waffle bowl was above average, certainly. Not stale like you sometimes get at ice cream parlors. Just nice. But nothing special.
Moreover, the experience itself was sort of odd. The parking situation is horrendous. The line wrapped awkwardly around, and there's no room to sit or even stand if they're busy. Those two factors collided and created an awkward situation where it was hard to tell where to get in line. It looked like a concert, with people pushing up toward the stage, more than a line that had any rhyme or reason to it. And, again, afterward, where are you supposed to eat your ice cream? The stoop outside fits a handful of people, but the bench was full. We just sort of hovered awkwardly, trying not to bump into other people standing, coming, or going.
The tiny notecards on which the flavors and descriptions are written are also awkward. Invest in a chalkboard already, and write the flavors so people can read them. As we worked our way through the line, I could only see the top few flavors, and I could not read any of the descriptions until we were right up next to the cards. And then, because the cards were right next to the door, we were interrupted by confused, irritated people coming and going. One lady with her ice cream even half-jokingly said "LET US OUT!" Then, all too quickly, we had to move along and order, without even fully exploring the options or descriptions thereof. Think about that. We waited a good 20-25+ minutes in line, but only had a brief and insufficient time to even look at the flavor options. Again, just invest in a chalk board. Or laminated menus. Or printed menus. Or something.
It was just not a pleasant/fun/enjoyable experience, which is what ice cream is supposed to be. The in-store experience itself wasn't good, from the moment we pulled into the parking lot until the moment we left. The quality of the ice cream was just disappointing. Just fairly bland and very icy. I just don't get what the hype is about this place. At all. Who is loving this place and giving it such high praise? Seriously, I feel bad for you if you think this is good ice cream. Is it just that it's not a corporate chain, so you want it to do well? I hate to even say this, as a localphile, but we concluded that even just Baskin Robbins would have been better.
Go to Amy's and get ice cream with actual cream in it. Get dessert at a restaurant somewhere. Pick up Hagen Dazs or Blue Bell at HEB. Heck, stop in at Sonic and get a Blast. Or just go home and eat some carrots. Any of those options would be superior to Lick.
It gets one star for a nice person working there and one more for a decent waffle bowl and for using local/organic/whatever ingredients and at least trying to do some unique flavors. So, two stars.
I would not go back. read more