Twin Cities: Sebastian Joe's

I'm always looking for good ice cream shoppes of any variety. Ice cream (along with its relatives, frozen yogurt and frozen custard)is one of those things that there really is no end in variety in terms of flavors that you can make. So, from places like Dairy Queen, Cold Stone Creamery, or Culvers to places that sell the 24 flavors of soft serve ice cream to local creameries, if they can find a reason to bring me in, I'm there. See my previous post, http://stevesworldoffood.blogspot.com/2010/06/old-time-ice-cream-stands.html for a couple of other ice cream places I've been to around the Midwest.

When I heard about this place, and some of it's unique flavors such as Pavarotti (caramel, banana, and chocolate chip), rasperry chocolate chip, and Chocolate Coyote (chocolate ice cream, cinnamon, and cayenne pepper), I knew that I wanted to try this place.

Sebastian Joe's serves 16 flavors of ice cream at a time, many of which are the type that you wouldn't find anywhere else. It wasn't busy when we went, which meant no line or waiting, but that likely had to do with the fact that it was a somewhat cool day even for a Minnesota summer, and it was overcast and threatened rain. Sebastian Joe's had a definite independent, neighborhood feel to it when you first walk in, more so than some other independent places. I went with a single scoop in a dish of the Pavarotti, and Tammy went with the passion fruit sorbet. The menu was huge on the back wall, but even after we paid, we couldn't find the price for what we had ordered. Nevertheless, it was cheaper than a similarly sized scoop at Cold Stone would have cost us.

Sebastian Joe's also has a nice outdoor dining area right next door as well, with your choice of a little private park-like dining area or sitting under a roof like a picnic shelter or even more out front next to a little fountain area, making this one of the best if not the best outdoor dining area that I have seen at any restaurant.