Mount Desert Island Ice Cream

Different. And awesome.

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

Recommended dishes: Chili Chocolate

Terrific little parlor with the most delectably creamy ice cream in Portland. Street view of Exchange, great for taking a break and people watching

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

Stopped in while vacationing. Best ice cream in Portland. We would definitely return.

My choice was delicious but I wanted to try more unique flavors. They do not give out samples and I wasn’t willing to pay for an entire scoop, but I didn’t like it. Therefore I wouldn’t recommend.

Atmosphere: 4

Food: 4

Service: 2

No samples, oddly textured somehow stringy ice cream, and employees frustrated by our existence.

Atmosphere: 2

Food: 2

Service: 2

Their version of rocky road is great.

Food: 5

Service: 5

Every flavor is good. You will go there and then become an honorary sales person to everyone else who comes in.
Singles can have two flavors, try: Salted Caramel, Nectarine Sorbet

Vegetarian options: Roughly half a dozen vegan flavors at any one time

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

Recommended dishes: Sea Salt Caramel Ice Cream, Vegan Banana Sherbert, Single Scoop, Ice Cream Flight, Oreo, Sorbet, Butterscotch, Strawberry, Blueberry, Fresh Mint, Float, Chocolate Ice Cream, Waffle, Cookies

I recently visited Mount Desert Island Ice Cream and was disappointed by my experience. While the shop itself had a nice atmosphere, I was taken aback by their policy of not allowing customers to sample the ice cream before purchasing. I decided to try the fig flavor, which, unfortunately, did not suit my taste. I normally love figs, so this was a letdown. It would be helpful if they reconsidered their sampling policy to ensure that customers can make more informed choices. As it stands, I would recommend this shop with caution, especially if you’re unsure about your flavor preferences.

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 1

Service: 5

Holy Stretch! This ice cream was more stretchy than a rubber band! You know when you can do a cheese pull with the ice cream something is off. At $6.95 a scoop I really had to stretch my budget for this and was not satisfied.
No samples because of Covid…?
Unbranded cheap cups, a spoon that fit terribly in my mouth, and average service.
When providing a luxury good, you must provide top tier service and presentation to match.
Despite the stretch I still enjoyed the flavor, but will not be back.

Atmosphere: 3

Food: 3

Service: 3

Came with some friends and was met with extremely unpleasant staff. Maybe it was because we’re Asian because they didn’t act the way they did with everyone else that wasn’t Asian. My friend was served last even though he ordered first, cashier didn’t smile once when I was asking questions and rushed to take another persons order (only 3 others in the store). Definitely made us uncomfortable.

Atmosphere: 1

Food: 1

Service: 1

The ice cream was okay but my issue was that they do not give samples and with some interesting flavors it would be helpful so that someone does not buy a flavor and then dislike it. The girls at the counter were not friendly and seemed to want to talk to each other instead of the customers.

Atmosphere: 3

Food: 4

Service: 3

Recommended dishes: Vegan Banana Sherbert

?Downtown/Old Port, Portland
?Visited: March 2023
?Parking: metered street parking, paid lots nearby
?Seating/Service: counter service, limited indoor seating
?Menu Favorites: lemon poppy, blueberry sour
?Dog-Friendly: outside, yes
??Kid-Friendly: definitely
➕Pros: many unique flavors
➖Cons: not everyone’s cup of tea, no kid size
⭐️Recommend: yes! A great stop for unconventional ice cream in Portland!

We had the fresh mint and cookies and cream ice creams and they were both very well made and tasty. Good quality ice creams! Flavors are not the traditional type (no mint chocolate chip, for instance) but they have other very interesting flavors with jalapenos and wasabi, amongst others.

Service was friendly and fast, the shop is cute inside with a few seats by the window, so not really designed to eat inside.

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

Have someone work at the ice cream shop that wants to deal with the public. A smile doesn’t cost anything extra but you can get a good tip instead

Atmosphere: 1

Food: 4

Service: 1

Recommended dishes: Butterscotch

Very mediocre ice cream.