I’ve been hearing about Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams for years. There was that time Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi revealed she had a freezer stocked with the $12 a pint ice cream. We recently got a new location in downtown Greenville in the Camperdown development. Locally, there’s a spot called Claire’s Creamery that we like a lot so we wanted to see how Jeni’s measured up.

The Main Event

We had been by the area on a Friday night and the line was out the door and down the plaza. It wasn’t that serious so we opted to check it out another time.

One Saturday, we ate at Social Burger across the way and then waited until Jeni‘s opened at noon. There was no line and we walked straight in the door. We were greeted by three cases of ice cream. The first and the third cases had the same options and the middle case was different. 

Many of the flavors sounded good. I probably should have gone online and narrowed down which ones I wanted to try so I didn’t stress out trying to order (#FirstWorldProblems). I tried the Brambleberry Crisp. It was OK but I went with a scoop of Wedding Cake and a scoop of Lemon Bar (dairy-free flavors).

Chris went with Honey Vanilla Bean and Coffee.

We went outside to eat our ice cream. The wedding cake was excellent and the lemon bar literally tasted like a lemon bar. The coffee ice cream was the most intense coffee ice cream I have ever had. It was excellent!

The honey vanilla ice cream was good but we think the version at Claire’s Creamery has a stronger hint of honey. We hastily devoured our ice cream. When we got to the buttery waffle bowl, we both decided we weren’t fans. The idea of a butter waffle bowl sounded good but our taste buds were expecting a traditional sugary taste. Yes, there is such a thing as too much butter. I wouldn’t order the waffle bowl again. 

YTC Takeaway

Jeni’s is some of the most expensive ice cream on the market. Personally, I wouldn’t take children there. Kids won’t appreciate it and they will be just fine with Dairy Queen. It’s more of an adult treat. I’d take out-of-town friends here if we were checking out downtown. There are definitely a few flavors (sweet cream biscuits & peach jam or wildberry lavender) I still want to try.

The branding is on point but there are signs on the front window that hint at the owner’s political leanings which some may not appreciate. Chris and I will stick with Claire’s. It’s closer, easier parking and that honey vanilla ice cream is the business.