Carvel Ice Cream

Oh no.
I am crushed

Stay out !!! Bad service !!!

Another one bites the dust.
I’ve said it before, will say it again: local merchants take note of my reviews. If I complain bitterly about fundamental problems with your business, it’s the kiss of death. One business after the next has folded.
Learn from your reviews, get your act together, and you might be able to turn things around.
But they never do. And that’s how they got the problem in the first place.

Ok type ice cream shop.

WOW! Carvel is by far the BEST ice cream on the planet! I have purchased every holiday and birthday cake from this store since it opened.
We are so sad that they have closed, and the whole family will miss CookiePuss.
I’m grateful that we can still purchase cakes from Safeway.

Yes, we had the same experience on Feb 1^st. Went to pick up a cake to bring to a Super Bowl party and discovered the store to be closed.
Had to stop at Safeway to pick up a Carvel cake at that location.
Sorry to see the store closed.

I love Carvel ice cream. The chocolate soft serve is my fav. I went the other day and the shop was closed with a for rent sign above the space, and when I try to call, the number is disconnected. I’m fearing the worst, and thinking they closed. :-(Can anyone verify?

Horrible customer service! They wouldn’t accept a coupon because it was not printed even though the coupon said print or mobile. She didn’t care about a bad review!
Do not go.

I went here based on all the good Unilocal reviews and I must say I’m pretty disappointed. The ice cream is average and the owner is beyond surly. This place is not worth visiting in my opinion.

Since I live literally next door (in the apartment complex) to this place, i’ve been wanting to try it for a long time. I read a bunch of Unilocal reviews and thought that the negative reviews about the service was a little exaggerated.
Boy was I wrong
The only reason why I am giving this two stars is, just like people said, the ice cream itself here is pretty darn good, but the service was absolutely atrocious.
It was almost laughable that when I first walked in the lady looked disgusted that a customer arrived and seemed too lazy to get off the chair she was sitting and clearly didn’t want to serve my mother and I.
And then when I wanted to try a sample of one of the flavors, she looked at me with a look of «omg you have got to be f***ng kidding me, and not only that, but she mumbled something to herself too, which was really rude.
I am surprised parking seems to be a problem for people here, because the lot probably has over 400 spots because it also accommodates for peets, starbucks, rite aid, and whole food and there’s usually tons of spots regardless of what time of day it is.
it’s too bad that the service isn’t better, otherwise i probably would go here really often, especially since i live so close.

I’ve had Carvel soft serve in the past when I’ve been at the Las Vegas Airport, and remembered it being pretty good. When I saw that there was a Carvel in Los Altos, I knew I had to come and check it out! We came in a little after lunch, and the store was empty and very dim inside. I tried a sample of their Birthday Cake flavor ice cream and thought the taste/​texture was just ok. The lady working there (maybe the owner?) is surly and unhelpful (exactly like other Unilocalers have described), which attributed to my «meh» experience. I also asked for a sample of the Vanilla Soft Serve (which she very grumpily gave me), but it tasted very fake and not vanilla-​y at all. I ended up going with the Junior Size Chocolate Soft Serve ($ 2.60), which was fortunately much better than the vanilla (I was too scared to ask her for another sample). It was a good portion for the price, but the soft serve wasn’t stellar enough for me to return and brave the wrath of the mean lady again. I was also disappointed they didn’t have the Carvelite (low cal version) of the soft serve available during lunch hours, since they said it’s only made after 3pm? Ample parking after the lunch rush on weekedays, but that center has a lot of in and out traffic.
Only come to this Carvel location if you’re really desperate for soft serve or ice cream.

This place is legendary. I’ve heard of this place MULTIPLE times over the years from my east coast friends. When I heard they opened one locally, I couldn’t wait to try it.
If you’ve never been before it’s a little confusing to understand what they have to offer. I decided to just try to vanilla soft serve since that seems to be what they’re famous for. I did mix it up and tried it in a sugar cone. I know, I’m crazy like that.
I found out after she made the cone that they could’ve dipped it in chocolate (or peanut butter or cotton candy, etc.) if I had gotten a plain cone. Hmph.
They have several flavors of ice cream, but they were mostly fluorescent colors which frightens me. There are also frozen cases full of cakes and single serve dipped cones.
So here’s the thing. It wasn’t that great. It tasted a little chemical-​ly to me. I feel like I’m missing something. Or maybe it’s just one of those things where kids grew up on it and so their love for it as adults is more nostalgic than anything…
Parking is a nightmare. And the service is not warm. You have been warned.
I would give them a second chance if someone would direct me what to order. But me thinks I prefer frozen yogurt over soft serve.

This is one of those East Coast chains that just has very little rep in NorCal. How this one ended here I dont know. I used to go run PG&E trail at Rancho San Antonio, and would often come here after to sugar re-​load. I love my pistachio ice cream, and they rep well here. That and Fudgie the Whale and Cookie Puss KICK ASS

Carvel has the best soft serve ice cream. Period.
Carvel is a staple where I’m from on the East Coast, so I was really happy to find this location. People in CA don’t know about it’s awesomeness, so it is often overlooked. I also think the ice cream cakes are light years better than Cold Stone’s. The key is the defrost time for the cake is a little more than they say.

had a LARGE vanilla, the way I always have it. It is the largest soft serve I ever seen. DENSE and ULTRA CREAMY. THE BEST SOFT SERVE I EVER HAD. Taking a 1-​hour break. I am going back for 2^nd now.
IT HAS BEEN MY WEEKLY SAT BRUNCH !

I kind of want to give them 4-​stars. Not because the ice cream is so good, but simply because the asian man behind the counter was nice to me. I like that.
I went in today, Customer Appreciation Day. The man behind the counter graciously gave me a lil’ flying saucer — two thin chocolate wafer cookies with vanilla ice cream in between. The ice cream was cold, and hard, the way it should be in an ice cream sandwich.
However, the ice cream wasn’t too great… I guess not like the high fat versions I usually eat. But the employee was gracious, the store was clean, airy, and rather large, and I was in and out of there.
Recommendation: If you are a fan of Carvel, this is a good location to go to. Only Carvel around here too. This was my first ever Carvel treat — how’s that for a milestone!

For being the only Northern California outpost of a large East Coast chain, this place sure isn’t very busy. I mean, you look at a Five Guys shop up here right now: there’s an unreasonable hunger to try the best the other side of the country can muster in chain fast food, and Carvel is not seeing the benefit of it.
I can kind of see why: they’re not overly friendly and the ice cream is nothing really special by West Coast standards.
They do have cool looking ice cream sandwiches, and the place still does look bright and new. We got a soft serve swirl cone, which was about as expected. Decent, but nothing more.

I was craving soft serve so after a quick search headed to Carvel. I ordered a small swirl dipped in chocolate on a sugar cone which was prominently displayed on a banner behind the counter. The women working told me it was too hard to make and she could only do it on a cake cone. My first job was in a road side ice cream shack so I know how to dip a cone. Yes, sugar cones are harder but please — its not that hard and if you are unwilling to try take down the big ass banner advertising it.
Anyway my ice cream eating cohort ordered a small cone as well and our total was $ 8.40. Are you fucking kidding me? This is regular soft serve mix thrown into a machine — not freshly made, uniquely flavored, organic ice cream. Total rip off — I won’t go back no matter how hard the craving may strike.
peace, love, and good booze ~ chase

What a wholly underwhelming experience! I had high hopes for Carvel but was disappointed by the sullen faces of the Asian lady and man behind the counter and the flavorless ice-​cream.
Not a word was spoken when we entered, no «hi» or «hello» or even a «how may I help you?» I asked for a sample of the vanilla which tasted icy and bland. I noticed that the cherry was melting and the strawberry flavor had zero bits of strawberries in it. I ended up with a junior cone of the cake ice-​cream and the other half had cookies and cream. I could not differentiate between the three ice-​cream bases I had just tried! The customer service was just as icy as the ice-​cream.
$ 2.50 for a junior one scoop in a cone was not bad, but save yourself the gas and do yourself one better by going to Baskin Robbins /​Cold Stone. Heck, if you’re in the San Jose area, check out Willow Glen Frozen Yogurt Company.
We won’t be back.

For some reason this place just makes my guy and i happy… I don’t know if it’s the throw back to our childhoods, or the simple pleasure of soft serve, but we love it.
Silly as it sounds, it just might be one of our favorite spots near our new place.
I also LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the fact that I can have a serving of low-​fat soft serve for 160 calories. That’s far less than my usual fro-​yo plus toppings.
Yes, I know it’s processed sugar, but it’s the only processed sugar I’m eating.
All in all, a very satisfying summer dessert, in many ways:)