Artisan Dessert Parlor Scooping Until 11pm: Salt & Straw

Salt & Straw sits at 586 Hayes Street in Hayes Valley, a block from Patricia's Green, and it keeps the same schedule every day of the week: 11am to 11pm. That long window is the reason it works as an artisan dessert parlor for almost any plan in the neighborhood, whether you are killing time before an SFJAZZ set, walking off dinner on Hayes Street, or looking for something sweet after the symphony lets out. The counter scoops flavors that read more like a pastry menu than an ice cream list, and the staff expect you to taste before you commit.

The company's own story starts with Kim Malek, who spent years dreaming about a community gathering place, and her cousin Tyler Malek, who had never made ice cream before they started. According to the brand, Tyler spent $16 on four used ice cream makers and tested flavor ideas for hours in Kim's basement. Willamette Week dates the first scoops to 2011, sold from a cart on Northeast Alberta Street in Portland.

San Francisco came six years later. 7x7 reported in October 2017 that the Hayes Valley shop opened as the company's second local location, after the Fillmore Street store, with a menu of 17 flavors created by Tyler Malek as head ice cream maker. The cream still comes from Scott Brothers Dairy, which the company describes as a fifth-generation, family-owned dairy, and that base is what gives even the strange flavors a clean, dense texture.

Start with Honey Lavender. The kitchen steeps pounds of lavender petals in local honey, so the scoop tastes floral and herbal without the soapy edge that cheaper lavender ice cream can have. It is the flavor that converts people who think they do not like flowers in dessert.

Sea Salt with Caramel Ribbons is the safe crowd pleaser: Guatemalan fleur de sel in the ice cream and extra dark salted caramel ribbons running through it. For something stranger, Arbequina Olive Oil folds Oregon extra-virgin olive oil into the base for a rich, buttery finish, and Pear and Blue Cheese mixes candied Bartlett pears with cave-aged crumbles from Rogue Creamery. That last one is the scoop most first-timers ask to taste and then end up ordering.

Strawberry Honey Balsamic with Black Pepper rounds out the savory side of the case. It is strawberry ice cream spiked with honey balsamic and cubeb pepper, with ribbons of strawberry jam, and it pairs well with a scoop of the sea salt caramel if you want contrast in one cup.

Right now the case also carries the Halloween Series, a limited run that changes the mood of the shop for the month. Jack o' Lantern Pumpkin Bread folds hunks of pumpkin bread into pumpkin spiced ice cream streaked with cream cheese frosting. Chocolate Graveyard Cookie Crumble is dairy-free, built on black cocoa coconut cream with black cocoa cookies and a red vegan white chocolate frosting, so it doubles as the pick for anyone avoiding dairy.

The series also lists Creepy Crawly Critters and a Witch's Brew Fruit Punch Sherbet. On the brand's online flavor page each Halloween flavor is listed at $15 for local pickup and delivery, and The Great Candycopia already shows as sold out, which tells you how fast the limited flavors move. If one of them is on your list, go sooner rather than later in the season.

The easiest way to see what the kitchen does is to split one cup between a classic and a seasonal scoop. Honey Lavender next to Jack o' Lantern Pumpkin Bread sets floral against warm spice, while Pear and Blue Cheese next to Sea Salt with Caramel Ribbons puts savory and salty side by side. Anyone eating dairy-free can pair the Chocolate Graveyard with a fruit sherbet and still get two contrasting textures.

Ordering happens at a single counter in front of the dipping case. Ask for tastes on small spoons before you decide; the staff are used to walking people through four or five flavors, and nobody hurries you. The line moves at the pace of those tastings, so a short queue can still take ten minutes on a busy evening.

Weekend nights after 8pm are when Hayes Street fills with people coming out of restaurants and performances, and that is when the line stretches toward the door. A weekday afternoon is calmer. Seating inside is limited, so plan to walk with your cup toward the park. If you would rather skip the counter entirely, the shop offers local pickup and delivery through its website.

Carry your scoop one block to Patricia's Green, the narrow park built on the footprint of the old Central Freeway ramp. It hosts rotating public art installations, and the benches along its edges are the natural place to finish a cone. From there, Hayes Street runs west past independent boutiques and small restaurants that make up most of the neighborhood's character.

Walk east instead and you reach the Civic Center cluster within ten minutes. The SFJAZZ Center, the San Francisco Symphony at Davies Symphony Hall, the Asian Art Museum, and City Hall are all within an easy stroll, which is why an ice cream stop here fits so neatly before or after a show. City Hall's dome is lit at night, and the plaza in front of it is quiet enough to sit for a while.

Address: 586 Hayes Street, San Francisco, in Hayes Valley. Hours: 11am to 11pm every day. Online orders for local pickup and delivery go through the brand's website, where flavors are listed at $15 each.

Muni lines along Hayes and nearby Van Ness Avenue put the shop within a short walk of most transit, and the Civic Center BART and Muni station is roughly fifteen minutes away on foot. For more dessert ideas nearby, the Karpo APP can line up a second stop in the neighborhood based on what time you finish.