We stopped by Soft Swerve’s Allen St location on a warm NYC afternoon, and it was exactly the cool, colorful escape we were craving. The space is small but bright and welcoming, with a fun pastel aesthetic and friendly staff who were happy to guide us through the flavors and toppings.
We ordered the Chocolate Éclair sundae, which was a knockout—vanilla soft serve drizzled with chocolate syrup, loaded with crushed Oreo cookies and topped with golden cookie dust. Rich, decadent, and surprisingly balanced for how indulgent it looked.
The other sundae (I forgot the name!) had a striking black sesame base and was beautifully topped with crunchy peanuts, gooey caramel drizzle, and soft mochi pieces. It had a nutty, slightly roasted flavor that paired wonderfully with the textures of the toppings—chewy, creamy, and crisp all in one bite.
There’s a generous DIY topping bar with everything from rainbow sprinkles and rice krispies to cereal puffs and toffee bits. Prices are fair for NYC, especially considering how premium the flavors are.
This spot truly lives up to the hype—it’s not just about looks; the flavors are bold and memorable. If you’re in the Lower East Side, make time for a swirl.
Pro tip: Go for a sundae combo and mix in mochi + peanuts for texture heaven!
Cassia A
Actually delightful. Banging soft serve. Super smooth and creamy. Great flavor. We tried the ube and matcha. Both were great. Pretty strong flavors but not too overwhelming. A small is more than enough to share. We shared with 3 people and it was huge. You can get multiple flavors in a small, even if they’re not in the same machine. I appreciated this SO much. The lighting inside is very harsh and fluorescent lol.
Yankee
101F out today, and this hits just right. I would get it again l, just without the coconut or mochi despite the recommendation.
Beware of the plastic spoons. The edges are very sharp and it cut my top lip.
Stephanie A
Love their Ube soft serve. It’s the best!
Spencer Williams
Ube + Black Sesame swirl was delicious!
Tammy Cheung
Amazing ube flavored soft serve ice cream. It’s a great balance of flavor. My favorite is to do a ube and vanilla twist as 100% ube would be too much for me.
Nick Felker
I came here on a hot afternoon and was immediately impressed by the kinds of flavors and toppings that were available. I got a milkshake and thoroughly enjoyed it.
Joanna Tillman
Great soft serve ice cream. Ube & black sesame swirl is delicious! Fun toppings available like mochi
Food: 5
Service: 5
Simon Chartrand
The hours on Google maps are incorrect. They refused an order I placed at 11:06pm without any communication. I believe they close at 11:30pm.
Service: 1
Kelly C.
I love the flavors here, excellent quality ice cream (although they can do better with the soft swerve portion, sometimes it's really small). I heart the staff, they're sweet and if I wanna taste of a new flavor, they don't get attitudes, they're just sweet. The place is always clean and they make an effort to swap out the photos on their wall.
I'll always go out of my way to try whatever they're offering bc they're professional, friendly, sweet, and serve quality ice cream. Their soft swerve is dynamite, and you can't go wrong with any flavor.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Waffle Cone, Ube, Chocolate Waffle, Toasted, Black Sesame, Sesame Swirl, Black Sesame and Ube, Matcha Black Sesame, Chocolate Ice Cream, Green Tea Ice Cream, Frozen Yogurt, Ube Purple Yam Ice Cream Cup
Stopped there for ice cream after dinner. It was one of the coldest January evenings but the delicious ice cream was worth the walk to Soft Swerve. Definitely recommend the Ube ice cream - our favorite flavor there. The place is small if you want to eat inside but when the weather is nice, everyone is just grabbing the ice cream and eating it outside.
Parking: Hard to find parking
Kid-friendliness: Paradise for kids
Wheelchair accessibility: Yes
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Ube, Mochi
Luca Katzen
ube black sesame and hojicha are all delicious so are the lychee and hong kong so so so good
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Ube, Black Sesame, Black Sesame and Ube
Azeem Lokhandwala
Great soft serve, not too sweet and creamy, also their dark chocolate drizzle is very good
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Ube
Sara M
Had the sesame ube twist and it was amazing!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Ube, Black Sesame
Katherine Wadhwani
The black sesame and hojicha is to die for!! Way exceeded expectations
We stopped by Soft Swerve’s Allen St location on a warm NYC afternoon, and it was exactly the cool, colorful escape we were craving. The space is small but bright and welcoming, with a fun pastel aesthetic and friendly staff who were happy to guide us through the flavors and toppings.
We ordered the Chocolate Éclair sundae, which was a knockout—vanilla soft serve drizzled with chocolate syrup, loaded with crushed Oreo cookies and topped with golden cookie dust. Rich, decadent, and surprisingly balanced for how indulgent it looked.
The other sundae (I forgot the name!) had a striking black sesame base and was beautifully topped with crunchy peanuts, gooey caramel drizzle, and soft mochi pieces. It had a nutty, slightly roasted flavor that paired wonderfully with the textures of the toppings—chewy, creamy, and crisp all in one bite.
There’s a generous DIY topping bar with everything from rainbow sprinkles and rice krispies to cereal puffs and toffee bits. Prices are fair for NYC, especially considering how premium the flavors are.
This spot truly lives up to the hype—it’s not just about looks; the flavors are bold and memorable. If you’re in the Lower East Side, make time for a swirl.
Pro tip: Go for a sundae combo and mix in mochi + peanuts for texture heaven!
Actually delightful. Banging soft serve. Super smooth and creamy. Great flavor.
We tried the ube and matcha. Both were great. Pretty strong flavors but not too overwhelming.
A small is more than enough to share. We shared with 3 people and it was huge.
You can get multiple flavors in a small, even if they’re not in the same machine. I appreciated this SO much.
The lighting inside is very harsh and fluorescent lol.
101F out today, and this hits just right. I would get it again l, just without the coconut or mochi despite the recommendation.
Beware of the plastic spoons. The edges are very sharp and it cut my top lip.
Love their Ube soft serve. It’s the best!
Ube + Black Sesame swirl was delicious!
Amazing ube flavored soft serve ice cream. It’s a great balance of flavor. My favorite is to do a ube and vanilla twist as 100% ube would be too much for me.
I came here on a hot afternoon and was immediately impressed by the kinds of flavors and toppings that were available. I got a milkshake and thoroughly enjoyed it.
Great soft serve ice cream. Ube & black sesame swirl is delicious! Fun toppings available like mochi
Food: 5
Service: 5
The hours on Google maps are incorrect. They refused an order I placed at 11:06pm without any communication. I believe they close at 11:30pm.
Service: 1
I love the flavors here, excellent quality ice cream (although they can do better with the soft swerve portion, sometimes it's really small). I heart the staff, they're sweet and if I wanna taste of a new flavor, they don't get attitudes, they're just sweet. The place is always clean and they make an effort to swap out the photos on their wall.
I'll always go out of my way to try whatever they're offering bc they're professional, friendly, sweet, and serve quality ice cream. Their soft swerve is dynamite, and you can't go wrong with any flavor.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Waffle Cone, Ube, Chocolate Waffle, Toasted, Black Sesame, Sesame Swirl, Black Sesame and Ube, Matcha Black Sesame, Chocolate Ice Cream, Green Tea Ice Cream, Frozen Yogurt, Ube Purple Yam Ice Cream Cup
Restaurantji Recommends
Stopped there for ice cream after dinner. It was one of the coldest January evenings but the delicious ice cream was worth the walk to Soft Swerve. Definitely recommend the Ube ice cream - our favorite flavor there. The place is small if you want to eat inside but when the weather is nice, everyone is just grabbing the ice cream and eating it outside.
Parking: Hard to find parking
Kid-friendliness: Paradise for kids
Wheelchair accessibility: Yes
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Ube, Mochi
ube black sesame and hojicha are all delicious so are the lychee and hong kong so so so good
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Ube, Black Sesame, Black Sesame and Ube
Great soft serve, not too sweet and creamy, also their dark chocolate drizzle is very good
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Ube
Had the sesame ube twist and it was amazing!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Ube, Black Sesame
The black sesame and hojicha is to die for!! Way exceeded expectations
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 5
Recommended dishes: Black Sesame
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