By Rachel Levin, Sunset senior editor
I’m gonna get slammed for saying this, but when it comes to milkshakes I’m a purist. A proud plain-Jane. For me, it’s always been all about vanilla. And by all means, bean. None of that yellow-tinged French stuff. I prefer my milkshake white as a ghost; flecked with bits of bean; ridiculously creamy; and, most importantly, that can’t-get-it-through-the-straw, headache-inducing kind of thick. Nothing worse than a milky milkshake that’s gone in two seconds. I like a long, slow slurp.
So, yeah, I’ve had many a milkshake in my day—especially in these last few, as I’ve been gearing up for this big blog post in which I’m supposed to declare my hands-down favorite in the Bay Area.
Which, turns out, hasn’t been as easy as I thought it would be:
My first instinct, Taylor’s Automatic Refresher, of course! I used to love ordering a vanilla shake from the window at its original St. Helena location up in Napa—until last weekend, when a 45-minute wait in 92-degree heat kinda spoiled it for me. (Tip: if the line here is too long, head a few blocks off the main drag to The Big Dipper, the locals fave located across from an elementary school—brilliant!— which packs, no joke, like a pint of ice cream into its 24 oz cup.) Anyway, from now on, I’ll stick with Taylor’s second location at the San Francisco Ferry Building Marketplace. It’s more convenient anyway, especially following a Saturday morning at the farmers’ market.
Next up, Mitchell’s. San Francisco’s half-century old institution with a line always out-the-door, especially on the city’s rare, hot summer days—and after church on Sundays. (Advice: steer clear. It’s a number-calling mad house.) While I do like Mitchell’s ice cream, I was majorly disappointed with their milkshake, which was grainy, soupy, and for, some reason, lukewarm.
Then, I remembered Bi-Rite Creamery! (How could I forget?) They use Straus Family Farms organic dairy products. (Straus, btw, makes my very favorite vanilla ice cream—available by the pint at a store near you, if you’re lucky). I hightailed-it to the closet-sized shop across from San Francisco’s Dolores Park. Minimal wait… the smell of warm brownies wafting through the air… this was gonna be good… And then I ordered: “Vanilla milkshake, please” “Umm, we don’t do milkshakes,” the skinny guy behind the counter replied. I was stunned. Angry even. And utterly annoyed. Why on earth would this sweet little parlor—capable of making the very best vanilla milkshake in the whole wide world not “do” milkshakes! (Having once worked at an ice cream shop myself back in Boston, I know milkshakes are a royal pain, especially during peak times, but still… Hello, Bi-Rite, please answer me!)
So, I turned to the Palo Alto Creamery. I much prefer their non-mall location in downtown Palo Alto. (Bonus—and dangerous—it’s within walking distance to Sunset.) It’s a retro diner with red vinyl booths, great grilled cheese, and super-thick milkshakes made even better by the fact that they come in those classic stainless steel mixing cups. I try and limit myself to one per week.
When you’re in a pinch, Barney’s Gourmet Hamburgers (locations all over California) makes a pretty good milkshake, too. Except they use French vanilla; so whenever I stop in here I opt for Oreo. Yum.
Editor-at-large Peter Fish swears by the comically large milkshakes at Bill’s Place, a really old-school diner in San Francisco’s foggy Richmond District, which I keep meaning to try. And will. Soon!
Meanwhile, not sure it even matters. Because, after all the milkshakes I’ve had, my thoughts keep going back to the one I had at Maggie Mudd, a low-key, indie ice cream shop in SF’s Bernal Heights neighborhood. It was vanilla, of course. But with, I admit, scoops of housemade peanut butter mixed in. So, okay, technically it was called the “Peanut Butter Swirl.” And it was damn good.
What's your favorite milkshake? Post your picks from around the West!
