Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams

Ice Cream Dreams in DC's Funscape

Beneath the glow of Capitol light,
In Washington's warm summer night,
Dreams take shape in frosty swirls,
A cityscape alive with pearls.

The Tidal Basin whispers low,
As cherry blossoms start to glow,
With cones in hand, we take our flight,
Through marble halls and moonlit sights.

The Washington Monument points to the stars,
While kids chase laughter near food trucks and cars,
Scoops of vanilla, a creamy embrace,
Reflections dance on Lincoln's face.

By Eastern Market, flavors bloom,
Lavender, honey, and berry in plume,
The vibrant streets a canvas wide,
For cones that drip and hearts that glide.

From Georgetown's charm to H Street's hum,
Every corner sings, "Come, come!"
To taste the joy in a city's gleam,
And revel in sweet ice cream dreams.

In this funscape where history meets,
A summer treat makes life complete,
A scoop of wonder, a bite of delight,
Washington DC, a magical night.

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

We had Tayon as our server, he was friendly and very helpful. Led us to great flavor combos and was extremely charming. He made the experience so special for just a simple ice cream visit!

Kid-friendliness: Wonderful upstairs area to relax and eat

Atmosphere: 4

Food: 5

Service: 5

That's just good stuff.

Ice cream was so rich and flavorful. Highly recommend.

Atmosphere: 4

Food: 5

Service: 5

Recommended dishes: Butter Cake, Gooey Butter Cake

The Good: Jeni’s ice cream is very good. Gooey Butter Cake, Boston Cream Pie, and High Five Candy Bar are incredible. The staff is always fast and friendly. Strongest ‘scoop arms’ in DC.

The Not So Good: The to-go pints are frequently melted and refrozen before purchase. I mean… not purposely (I don’t think) and maybe not *all* the pints experience this tragic fate but my last few visits have been quite disappointing. Once the safety seal is removed, you’ll notice there’s no ice cream to lick off the peel and there’s a small gap between the ice cream and the lid.
(*Class time* This gap is caused by bubbles that escape the ice cream as it softens and melts outside of the freezer, possibly during the delivery/stocking timeframe. Could also be the small, frequently opened freezer packed with product… idk.)
So instead of a soft, fluffy texture you can glide a spoon across… you get a sad, dense, spoon-bending glob that you either have to chew or wait to drink from the outside in. This process is hard on some of the flavors like the Salted Caramel but completely ruins any with breaded pieces like the Boston Cream Pie and High Five. The cake pieces and pretzels become weird and crumbly, devoid of soft or crunchy texture as intended
by the unmelted product. Whole Foods on Florida and Harris Teeter in Kalorama have the same melt/refreeze problem but they’ll only screw you out of $9/pint instead of $12 at Jeni’s storefront. The most consistent pints I’ve found in DC have been 7-Eleven. Their Ben & Jerry’s is currently undefeated and the signature 7-Select brands ($6ish) are also surprisingly good. Same or better price for quality ice cream.

TLDR: Visit Jeni’s for a scoop or 2 but skip the overpriced, underwhelming pints.

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 4

Service: 5

Recommended dishes: Everything Bagel Ice Cream, Gooey Butter Cake

The ice cream was ok. I had a scoop each of dark chocolate, milk chocolate and honey vanillla. The milk chocolate had frost on it. The place was a bit run down and could use a renovation.

Atmosphere: 3

Food: 4

Service: 5

The ice cream at this store was unparalleled, my partner outlined to me that the ice cream was just going to be great based on someone she follows on social media. We went in and tried multiple flavours, all of which were lovely. The pistachio macaron and sweet potato flavours stuck out to us so we got them both in a cup to share.

The sweet potato was maybe the best ice cream I've ever had in my life.

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

Recommended dishes: Ice Cream Scoop

I love Jeni’s DOWN. The l’affogato(with one scoop honey vanilla bean and one scoop coffee with cream and sugar) is my absolute fave. Haven’t been to another icecream shop after having their l’affogato, literally nothing exists next to it.

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

Enjoyed the 4 half scoop “study” sampler, with the favorites being Coffee, Brown Butter Almond Brittle, Salty Caramel and Gooey Butter Cake. Waffle cones/bowl were average. Will be back!

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

Nice flavors, nice variety

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

Miss Anna and Brandon we’re excellent great service

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

Recommended dishes: Everything Bagel Ice Cream

Poor allergen control. Especially for nut allergies.

Each ice cream has the allergens listed, which is great. But the employees use the same ice-cream scoop in all ice-cream tubs.

When I pointed this out, they offered to get a clean/ unused scoop to serve me. But, at that point, they'd been cross contaminating the flavours all day - so a new scoop would have done nothing.

Side note: my partner who doesn't have an allergy said the ice cream was amazing.

Dietary restrictions: Poor allergen control as they use the same scoops in every tub, spreading any allergens around

Atmosphere: 2

Food: 2

Service: 2

Recommended dishes: Butter Cake

Hands down the best ice cream in DC! So many awesome flavors, and vegan options too! You won’t regret it (well, unless you get too much!)
🤤🍦🥳

Dietary restrictions: They have several vegan flavors!

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

Recommended dishes: Salted Peanut, Chocolate Ice Cream

Decent ice cream. A little pricy.

Not going to lie, the ice cream was lumpy, tasteless and super expensive. My daughter didn’t hate hers.

Atmosphere: 3

Food: 2

Service: 2