Salt & Straw

Category:	Ice Cream Shop
Address:	2035 NE Alberta St, Portland, OR 97211, USA
Phone:	+1 503-208-3867
Site:	saltandstraw.com
Rating:	4.6
Working:	11AM–11PM 11AM–11PM 11AM–11PM 11AM–11PM 11AM–11PM 11AM–11PM 11AM–11PM

Location

Photos 100

Reviews 6

Megan Lien

Salt and Straw is one of my favorite Portland spots. I highly recommend it to anyone who has never been, or those who have been before should come back to try the ever-changing flavors! I stumbled upon this place somehow from Twitter back in the day when they just had the little ice cream cart. It was my secret little gem and I loved stopping in for my favorites: Stumptown coffee ice cream with cocoa nibs & the Sea Salt ice cream with caramel ribbons. My mouth is watering just from typing that! Now they have an actual building and man are they taking off! The place is constantly busy, even now when its getting cold outside. Its always time for delicious ice cream! Each flavor is crafted with unique ingredients from all sorts of fabulous local vendors. All are yummy but may sounds a little strange at first...Ill give you some flavor examples: lemon basil sorbet, brown ale with bacon, pear with bleu cheese, and melon with prosciutto. All Ill say is, dont knock it till you try it! Theyre very friendly and willing to let you sample any (to all) of the flavors. They just came out with some awesome fall flavors too like pumpkin cheesecake, brown-bread stuffing, and blood orange & cranberry. This is only their first year open and theyre already rotating flavors like mad! I love a place that can keep their menu fresh and exciting. I actually love this place so much that Ive booked their cute little cart to provide ice cream at my wedding reception. The owner Kim and the head ice cream maker Tyler have been super cool helping me come up with my own custom flavors for the event. Im not much of a cake person, I love my ice cream so Im excited to have my FAVORITE ice cream in flavors that I helped create on my wedding day menu. I highly suggest you stop in for a sample, a cup, a home-made waffle cone, or a pint of this quirky but tasty treat!

Tim Sibley

On yet another family outing, we decided to go to a highly recommended and talked about ice cream place in Portland. We ended up going to the Alberta location in one of our favorite Portland neighborhoods. I was a very warm early May Sunday, and ice cream was a perfect compliment. The location is small with very limited seating. Parking can be a hassle depending on the day but be prepared to park on one of the side streets located in the neighborhood. Also, be prepared to wait. The line wasnt too bad but it took about 15 minutes or so to take our order. Once you get to the counter they will let you sample anything they have before you decide. I HIGHLY recommend this. This place is known for extremely unusual flavor combinations when it comes to ice cream. The staff was patient and friendly even through the busyness. I ordered the Strawberry, Balsamic with Black Pepper. The unique flavor combo was weird but very good. I did try some of the other flavors so Im looking forward to going back to try some others. It sounds like they are always experimenting with new flavors and combinations. I feel like it adds to the personality of the place and is a perfect fit for Portland. Pricing is reasonable $3-5 per person and you can get some to go. So go, be brave and adventurous and take a causal stroll in NE Portland with some ice cream.

Landon Lacey

Ive tried a lot of ice cream in my day. Lets just get it out of the way and say it, Salt & Straw will rival any ice cream place in the country in regards to originality, quality, texture, and overall swagger. WARNING: ice cream from Salt & Straw will ruin all other ice cream for you. Michigan being my home base, I deemed Salt & Straw worth the 2,000 mile flight to Portland to test their world-renowned reputation. Not only did they win the challenge, the exceeded my expectation in general, they reinvented my expectation not only ice cream, but how food should be made in general. Fresh, local ingredients, and owners with the bravery to create something that hasnt been sculpted before. Salt & Straw is a contributing factor to what makes Portland such a great place to visit and live, if youre within a few hundred miles of this place, take a few days off. Try every flavor. Regret nothing. Flavors tried: Snickerdoodle, Strawberry Honey Balsamic, Bone Marrow & Cherry Flavors recommended: every single one Dislikes: not a single thing For your savory fix, Bunk Sandwiches is right next door, and they make a wonderful pair.

Jeff Fitzsimons

DONT GET THE SUNDAE! * The $8 sundae takes forever to make (my friends were done with their cones and scoops) and tastes pretty lousy. The whipped cream isnt at all sweet, and the "brownie" is just some semi-hardened sludge at the bottom that tastes borderline burnt. * Horribly inefficient configuration and tons of confused patrons. As soon as you come in the door youre presented with a lady at a register. But shes actually the end of the line. I saw her explain this to at least five people. Endless sampling slowing everything down. * The staff takes forever to simply take an order. I say I want a sundae, pointing at the board. It took another minute of back and forth to establish that, yes, I just wanted exactly what was on the board. I get that they allow customization, but if Im not requesting any, then please stop going in circles in hopes that Im going to suddenly ask for some. Hipster artisan ice cream has jumped the shark. It peaked with Humphry Slocombe in San Francisco. This place isnt worth the lines or the price.

A Private User

Sometimes I irrationally avoid places that seem too popular, but Salt & Straw deserves every bit of attention. Their ice cream is amazing! The salted caramel is a delicious classic, but their unusual flavors keep people coming back. The official Timbers ice cream has real pancakes in it and is surprisingly good. They also serve a float with a mexi-coke and a shot of espresso if you need some extra energy with your sweets. Service at Salt & Straw is excellent--you can taste anything, employees are genuinely friendly and you can tell they really care about what they do. The decor and feel of the store is like the ice cream store your grandparents would have owned if they were in business today. They even have a collection of old ice cream boxes and milk bottles on display, many of them from the same neighborhood, back when you could actually buy milk from a local dairy down the street. With places like Salt & Straw, thankfully were back to buying milk from local dairies and making it even better!

David Bower

This place strives on pleasing the customer. They offer "unlimited" samples of their crazy combinations of ice cream flavors. Pear and blue Cheese ? Oddly it works. How about Strawberry with Pepper and Balsamic Vinegar ? If you are less than adventurous go for the Salted Caramel. It tastes great. It leans to the salty side so be prepared. Being a Snot I wanted to test the "unlimited" samples, but the employees we so great and forth coming with the samples that I changed my mind and decided to behave. We went there on a Saturday. There was a line looping around the shop and out the door. Its not a problem though as the line moves pretty quickly. From talking to people in line it was a slow day as often times the line goes down the block. My only complaint was the price. We bought 3 single scoops in waffle cones for about 17 bucks, which is a bit outrageous, but over all the ice cream and experience was top notch. Definitely Give the shop a try !