DC Scoops Event

I understand that giving away ice cream is meant to encourage purchases, but expecting folks to wait on 20 to 30 minutes lines to get a tasting spoon is just wrong. Every ice cream place gives tasting spoon samples when you are choosing which flavor to get (esp with the new and exotic flavors). I expected small samples not a full cup, maybe not even child-​size but SAMPLE SPOONS??? I don’t see where you get the nerve to call it an event just to have people get a sample spoon worth of nibbles after an hour of waiting. Meanwhile, downstairs in the Market you could get great ice cream with no big wait — and sample tastes if you weren’t sure you wanted maple syrup-​bacon ice cream. The redeeming feature was that I wanted to see Union Market, which was a nice spot and which offered a wonderful lunch from Ris for $ 12 with a crab cake slider, a portabello mushroom slider and a cup of mac and cheese. I will go back to Union Market but never for the Scoops «event.»

I was super excited when I heard about DC Scoops at Union Market last Saturday. I mean seriously what is not to like free ice cream at Union Market. Before I air my compliants and suggestions I want to thank the variety of vendors who choose to particpate. I am a huge ice cream fanatic and learned about a number of businesses I want to try in the future. I had a couple of issues with the event the first and probably the most important was the crowds. I arrived at 2 pm with another friend and the lines for most of the vendors were too long to justify a small scoop of ice cream. As a result of the crowds Union Market itself was so crowded I couldn’t enjoy the shopping afterwards. Second although free ice cream was offered the portion sizes were small to insulting and if you wanted more you had to pay. I wasn’t prepared to pay for the ice cream since it was advertised as a free event and didn’t bring enough cash. If Union Market continues with this event in the future I would suggest that you use ropes and/​or cones to manage the lines. I also suggest you clearly advertise and display at the event what the ice cream costs. In a nutshell I liked the concept of this event but it was a little too caotic for me to really enjoy it.