Crank & Boom Ice Cream Lounge

Category:	Ice Cream Shop
Address:	1210 Manchester St, Lexington, KY 40504, USA
Phone:	+1 859-288-2176
Site:	crankandboom.com
Rating:	4.7
Working:	12–10PM 12–10PM 12–10PM 12–10PM 12–11PM 12–11PM 12–10PM

Location

Photos 100

Reviews 10

Tiffany Cook

Me and my boyfriend were looking for an interesting place to visit a couple of weekends ago. Somewhere that we would like as well as was easy on our tight budget and friendly to all our interests. Since neither of us drink and we really aren’t social (he has never even been to a bar!) then the large Lexington Distillery District area was not something we had considered. However, Michael looked up the highest rated local ice cream place on Google and it lead us to Crank & Boom. Once we left Goodfellas and were ready for our long-awaited ice cream, we circled around to the side door to get into Crank & Boom. We were greeted with a long galley sort of design with stairs going to the top lounge floor and the ice cream bar at the far end. It was decorated in a sort of rustic style that reminded me of shops on lakesides and ocean boardwalks - and I loved it. Ordering was easy - there are less than 1.5 dozen choices total and to my personal disappointment, almost all of them contained tons of chocolate (not a fan) or liquor (me and Michael don’t drink). I decided to just pick the one that would look the cutest. If I wasn’t able to eat it, then by god, I would get a good photo for Instagram. I ordered the Dirt Cup Sundae. Chocolate ice cream, chocolate truffle, chocolate drizzle, gummy worms and crumbled chocolate cake. Lord, was it cute. But I predicted correctly, WAYYYYY too much chocolate for me. Pricing was too steep to make this a common place to go for us ($6+ per sundae that was really small and the ice cream was below average of what I could get at Kroger) but if you love chocolate or good old Kentucky bourbon then this is a sweet shop heaven!

Nicolle Barnes

Update to post below: after my intitial review below the owner personally contacted me to invite me for another sampling session. Surprising and great customer service. I am glad I gave it another shot; the other flavors were excellent and completely changed my point of view. The issue I had with the texture of the strawberry ice cream was because they use locally grown fresh strawberries..all the other flavors I sampled during my second visit were creamy, smooth and definititely worth coming back for. I sampled the coconut, mint oreo, fudge and blueberry lemon. I love how they are not overly sweet yet have a rich flavor. I had 2 friends with me and they both loved it too. Initial review; Very dissappointed. After all the hype, sub par ice cream. Overpriced for the small serving, let alone the quality. I had the strawberry balsamic sundae. The balsamic was the o9nly craft element to the whole sundae. The graham cracker part consisted of a few granulated sugar sized crumbs that were too small to even taste. Most importantly the strawberry ice cream itself left much to desire; watery, ice cube style, rock hard, not smooth. More like a popsicle than scooped ice cream. It wouldnt quality as cream ice cream nor sherbet. Nice store, nice marketing, nice staff, ambitious idea, based on this sundae I would say the product does not warrant a second tasting...unfortunately..

Kelsey Polzin

Extremely poor customer service! This evening my girlfriend and I stopped by to get some ice cream and after standing in line for roughly 20 minutes, it was finally our turn to order. When we got to the counter we saw that there were three individuals working behind the counter. Both the male and a female were helping the couple in front of us while the other girl (Sarah - thanks to her friends screaming it from behind us) jumped us in line and ran right over to her friends and proceeded to help them. We stood there for an additional five minutes while the line behind us continued to grow. Several times we tempted to get served and repeatedly she ignored us. Finally the young man behind the counter dropped what he was doing to help us. Ultimately the service was terrible. People that put their friends in front of other customers and paying customers at that - oh did I mention that not one of the four friends had to pay - and treat them poorly, do not deserve to work in a customer service industry. I would be extremely upset if I were the owner of this business and my employees were causing me to lose business and giving my product away for free. You wont be in business very long with that happening.

Allison Reloj

7/22/17 7:00pm Very poor service on top of over priced ice cream. Today was hot with the temps in the mid 90s. The restaurant was warm and the workers were visibly sweaty and the first girl in the server line had some major attitude. Had our testy interaction occurred before I paid, I would not have tipped. I will continue to try to avoid this place when my friends go out to Goodfellas. And I will continue to buy Nates coffee instead of the $4 per scoop, average tasting ice cream. Please improve the A/C to improve the moods of the workers.

Ralff Harmon

The best ice cream Ive ever had. They have taken an old, rustic location, and turned it into a booming social, and delicious, setting. They have mixed my three favorite things (bourbon, coffee, and ice cream) into a delectable combination. The scenery is awesome. The staff is very welcoming and informative. They allow you to try before you buy with small samples of their homemade ice creams. This ingenious idea is sure to stick around for a while to come, and they will soon see my face as a regular.

Nicholas Latona

Went at a non-busy time. In and out, amazing flavors. Staff was friendly, and explained each flavor. This is literally the most amazing ice cream I have ever eaten, though a touch on the pricey side. I WILL be coming back. As for the store itself? Amazing. Would have been easier to navigate during the day, not being from Lexington, dark, and rainy made it very difficult to find the parking lot, and then a parking spot! It struck me as a hipster place, but I fell in love.

Jennifer Bradford

Everyone already knows C&B would get 10 stars if that was possible. This company has taken over Lexington and for good reason. Their ice cream is not a dessert, it is a destination. Once a tent, now a lounge in the hopping Manchester District, you can get tasty treats, pastries, and alcoholic concoctions! They even have a waffle brunch. A must visit in Lex! My favorites are Bourbon Barrell, Raspberry Sorbet, and anything seasonal!

Isaac Miller

Great atmosphere with very friendly service. Scrumdidlyuptious ice cream! Very great deal: 2 scoops of marvelous ice cream and peanut butter sauce for 6 dollars!!! We had trouble finding where and how to park, but we found out by going behind the building by taking a road going behind it. The road is left of the building if you are looking at the building from the outside. It was all worth the trouble though!

sarah kelly

The ice cream was wonderful, had the smores sundae and it was delicious. My husband had a bourbon coffee that he loved and my kids each had scoops and finished the entire thing which is rare. The guy that took out orders was really nice and talkative with the kids and really improved our experience even more. Also love the location and area, will definitely be back. My new spot to take out of town family.

Christopher Kelley

Great quality ice cream and specialty sundaes. The price is appropriate for the locally made ice cream and handmade waffle cones. The other comments on here about the lack of quality and the price should probably have their taste buds checked and learn how economics work. Good quality ingredients cost money therefore I approve the price for quality ingredients.