Twirl and Dip

Super cute place tucked away on 17^th. If you’re not looking for it you might now notice it, or get distracted and go into Philz instead. But it’s definitely a good find once you get there.
Perks: great customer service, serves a couple different ice creams from Mitchell’s, unique pairings for their soft serve and of course super cool storm trooper seats.
Downside: location and super small.
What we had:
Grasshopper Pie ice cream– I mean it’s from Mitchell’s so you know it’s amazing
Soft serve chocolate dipped w/​sea salt– delicious and they give you a lot!
Honeycomb dream– absolutely a dream come true. The coffee syrup and honeycomb bits make it perfection. Would definitely go back again for it.

took my team here yesterday for a last day treat. its a little store next to philz. a lot of flavors and a lot of homemade goodies.

Some of the most exciting soft serves I’ve seen in the Bay Area, and they’re near my office. Note that they’re closed on Mondays (the day that some of us need ice-​cream the most!)
—- SOFT SERVE —-
Ginger: 4 stars
Yummy, but the consistency is still going to be that of a soft-​serve, less satisfying than proper ice-​cream.
Ginger-​Strawberry twirl: 3.5 stars
—- ACCOUTREMENTS —-
Handmade Sugar Cone: 4 stars
You can also get them dipped in Tcho chocolate, but that overpowers most flavours and it was too much for my ginger-​strawberry twirl. Probably goes well with plain vanilla though.
It’s overpriced, but I’m glad to have them in the neighbourhood. I’ll definitely come back to try other flavours and the ice lollies.

Really tasty ice cream with great option and flavors
Service was really good
The dip and waffle cone a must!

I love twirl and dip! They have great soft serve ice cream. I normally get the vanilla bean on a cone. I know it sounds boring, but I don’t like chocolate so I don’t have very many options. They also serve Mitchell’s ice cream, which is good if you do not want to deal with the line at Mitchell’s (they only have a few flavor a though).
The location is very small and very clean. I really like their storm trooper bar stools! I will be coming back for more soon. It’s dangerous having a good ice cream place with lots of street parking only a couple minutes away from home.

Time: 1:07pm/64°F partly cloudy
Purpose: Was at Philz next door came out to chat on phone. A glance between buildings saw TAD by itself in back corner.
Set-​up: Three Star Wars Stormtrooper headshot stools, company logo, pottery, wooden bench out front, blackboard menu, two soft serve machine, iPad, tip jar, melted chocolate pots, salt dish.
Staff: Saw one girl by herself no other helper around. Greeted me by asking if I wanted to sample something. Thinking why not end up trying several. Nothing impressive even on samples, but since I was new to cone dip in chocolate, I went ahead with one.
Cleanliness: Grade A, impeccable noting to say for a small shop like this. Everything was packed away in cardboard boxes or plastic bins. No drippings or toppings seen on floor or table.
Eats/​Drinks: Vanilla bean soft serve on cake cone dip in TCHO chocolate $ 5. Nothing special about this cone. The soft serve itself had speckles of vanilla beans embedded, but the smoothness is not close to McDonald’s consistency. I happen to like smooth velety soft serve that has volume. TAD version has icing and melted a bit faster than most. When coated with chocolate, it reminds me of Nestle drumstick. Difference is without crushed peanuts, but with sea salt (optional). Again, nothing special just a novelty treat with a twist.
Main Features: Soft serve dipped in chocolate.
Products/​Services: Soft serve, waffle/​cake cone, fresh fruit popsicle, floats, sundaes, house made toppings, ice cream by Mitchell’s, takes plastic (no minimum).
Punch Lines: Warm weather treat, novelty, not as great, nothing special, minimal seating, pricey, drool-​worthy, imaginable toppings, calm vibe, zippy service, tucked away in corner, itty-​bitty, full service.
Tradeoffs: Soft serve cone dip in chocolate is the main draw, but you’re paying for novelty curiosity prices. If you’re a curious person like me, you’ll loose out.
Final Thoughts: I’ve pay premium prices for things that I know is overprice. However, those are times that I’m on vacation away from bay area. For some reason curiosity got the best of me and I pay arm & leg for a simple soft serve. Not gonna blame or point finger as, it was my action. TAD is one of those places that’ll stay for a while because of the area and lower overhead cost. The thing with these type of business is when winter months hits, it slows to a crawl. It’s a year round operation in a brick and mortar location, but still.

If you are ok with paying 4 dollars for a Dairy Queen soft serve this is the place for you. I am ok with it especially because it’s only two blocks from my house. It’s in a building where one bedrooms are going for 1.1 million dollars and prices reflect that.
This is soft serve so don’t expect a million mix ins and artisian flavours. Honestly their chocolate dip didn’t taste any better just because it was tcho chocolate. They also have sundaes, shakes and frozen pops and Mitchells hard ice cream. The space is small so it’s not a place to hang out, get the ice cream and go sit at the base field right next to it. It’s inside the courtyard of an overpriced cardboard condo building between the two poorly constructed buildings (been watching them being built for the last year and a half).
It’s wheelchair accessible and the counter people are nice. Expect a line when it goes over 70 degrees.

Great place for soft ice cream. They have the usual chocolate and vanilla flavours, but I’ve also seen that they sometimes have mint, ginger, and strawberry. And sometimes twists of two flavours :) I haven’t tried the hard ice cream here (Mitchells) or the dipper fruit, but my friend always gets the banana dipped in chocolate and seems to enjoy it. You can also get the ice cream dipped in chocolate with some salt, if you’d like. I tried it once. It was good, but I got tired of the mix of flavours after a while since the portions are pretty sizable, and I just get the usual chocolate/​vanilla twist (no dipped chocolate and salt) since then.

Great new addition to the neighborhood! Great variety and they have Mitchell’s! But my fav is the soft serve and Chocolate dip

This little place was great. It’s cute and has great ice cream, flavors and toppings. The downfall is the location and lack of seating. There are few places and things around and it’s down a little alley with a lot of construction. There were only two chairs in side and none outside, so we had to stand in the construction zone to eat.

I got a sundae. Ice cream was ok. Nothing mind-​blowing as far as SF ice-​cream shops go. Cherry on top NOT being the carcinogenic marciano, bright-​red one was a plus. But it was 8 freakin dollars for one little scoop. You’re literally served the sundae in this tiny paper bowl.
You’re better off getting a regular scoop for 4 bucks instead. It’s basically the same thing.
There’s basically no seating area, it’s under construction and tucked away in a corner. I’d much rather support the ice cream shop on the other corner of the park that also served mitchell’s.

I heard that I needed to try Twirl and Dip from a friend who just went. So I did of course! It was a great Ice cream shop, not to expensive, good ice cream and froyo. All around a good trip for a treat!

My friend and I walked here because the other ice cream store that was about a mile and a half away was closed.
We got two cones dipped in tcho chocolate and when the shell hardened the ice cream was absolutely delicious. You do have to eat the ice cream fairly quickly because it begins to melt and get all over your hand.
It’s located behind the philz coffee shop.

I love soft serve. I loved dipped cones. But… at over $ 5 for a dipped cone, is it really worth it? It was delicious, but their use of Tcho chocolate didn’t make the chocolate layer taste any better than any other dipped cones I’ve had, nor was their soft serve that much better than, say, Bi-Rite’s.

Strawberry soft serve in a cone dipped in high quality chocolate sprinkled with Maldon sea salt is the best way to start my LDW! Finally, the hill has an ice cream spot!

In the words of the Kool Aid Man, «Ooh yeah!»
And just like the big guy from the commercials, Twirl and Dip is breaking down walls to make sure people big and small are enjoying their goods. This time, with a storefront in Potrero Hill.
It’s small and a little tough to find on 17^th and De Haro, but look for the purple and pink sandwich board on the sidewalk, right behind the brand new Philz in what appears to be a condo development.
Nothing fancy, but hey, they just got started. Compared to the space available in their GG Park truck, this is a big deal. Order the signature soft serve dipped in TCHO chocolate, a fruit lolly, ice cream soda float or Mitchell’s hard variety in a cone. Either way, it’s the perfect treat for high temps like we’ve been having. A real summer deserves real ice cream.
Welcome to the other side of town, Twirl and Dip, we’re excited that you’re here!

The hot weather these past few days had me looking for ice cream. Hoping to venture off the beaten path, I found Twirl and Dip while I was walking around my neighborhood. It’s hard to stand out in this city of amazing desserts– Humphrey Slocombe’s flavors are so unique, and Smitten uses liquid nitrogen to create the ice cream right in front of you. What makes Twirl and Dip so different are the toppings and (of course) the delicious chocolate shell.
It was fun to try a place where the ice cream didn’t feel like the main draw, but rather the delicious TCHO chocolate shell that surrounded it. It hearkened back to my experiences in Dairy Queen. TCHO chocolates are rich without being too sweet, and made in a manner that is socially conscious. Their story is worth reading.
The place has this homey, almost hole in the wall feeling. It’s tucked a little out of the way behind Philz, (check around the corner), but is worth the trip. I’m a little reluctant to write a review, as I want this place to remain an uncrowded, hidden gem.
My advice: don’t be afraid of a little sea salt. A lot of people don’t associate salt with dessert, but the flavor juxtapositioning makes it even better.

What an amazing find in a hidden courtyard in Potrero! It was gorgeous yesterday and since our son had been on such good behavior, we decided to get him (and us) some ice cream. We had never heard of Twirl and Dip before but saw it was in the neighborhood. The owner was super nice giving us some background on the company and their ice cream.
My son had the strawberry ice cream and he loved it! I had the vanilla ice cream dipped in chocolate with sea salt. So amazing.
We will definitely be back for some more delicious treats.

I’m so happy they build a permanent location near me. There are so many items on the menu I could come here every summer day. Soft serve with TCHO chocolate dip, root beer & cream soda floats, ice cream (Mitchell’s Grasshopper yumm!), and more. I got the chocolate and vanilla soft serve swirl dipped in TCHO chocolate and salt topping. I highly rec getting the salt topping. The TCHO chocolate hardened within a minute and it was amazing. The soft serve was average in my opinion. Their spearmint soft serve is much better than I would have expected so definitely worth a shot if you like minty flavors. But hands down, my favorite was the pistachio ice cream. Just amazing!

Soft serve is one of my guilty pleasures. There’s just something about the cool creamy goodness that makes me jump off the couch in a pinch. That’s actually what I did tonight when I saw a tweet that they just opened today and were open until 8:30. I made my poor husband jump in the car with me and off we drove to find Twirl and Dip’s new brick and mortar shop.
The place was easy to find as there were balloons tied to their sign on the sidewalk. Located in the new Onyx building, they are in a cute little shop making their creamy soft serve. I went with their chocolate and vanilla twirl dipped generously in chocolate and sprinkled with sea salt. My husband got the strawberry and spearmint twirl. I made a rookie mistake and got a regular cone instead of their home made waffle cone. Won’t let that happen again.
It’s a simple menu, with some really good popsicles and frozen bananas if you’re looking for a dairy free alternative. After finishing our soft serve, we got a strawberry and a watermelon popsicle to take home to the kids. They have a good amount of sauces and toppings too so you can really go crazy with your sundae. The ladies here are very friendly and you can tell they love what they are making. Parking is fairly easy, for now at least. At least it’s easier than trying to park near their truck at Golden Gate Park. I hope this stays as a hidden gem just a little while longer so I can keep getting my soft serve fix. With the weather being so muggy lately, I’ll definitely need it.
Enjoy!