Big Spoon Creamery

The gluten free ice cream cookie sandwich was divine.

When I tell you I have been WAITING for this place to open... I've had my eye on Big Spoon's first two locations in the Birmingham area for a couple years but never had a chance to visit either. I was elated when I saw the announcement they were coming to Huntsville. They've finally opened downtown, right next to Melt in the old Cookie Dough Magic location, across the street from Moe's BBQ, The Standard, Stella's, and La Esquina. I was able to stop in Wednesday evening to try a scoop. The inside is bright and pretty and modern though some of the walls feel a tiny bit bare still. I imagine it'll fill out more as time goes on -- they only just recently opened. There are about 12 different flavors to choose from, and dairy free/allergen free flavors are available. You can also order sundaes or sammies, which are jazzier ice cream sandwiches. There's also a freezer with ready made pints for purchase to take home. They had about three young staff members ready to serve the moderately large crowd. The line moved quickly and when I met the servers, they were polite and working efficiently. When I placed my order, one of the girls asked me if I wanted a kids' scoop, single, double, etc. I wound up with a single but it's nice to know they'll serve grown ups a kid's scoop since it's a smaller portion and not as expensive. :) I ordered the coffee and cookies because coffee tends to be my favorite ice cream flavor. And I'm gonna be honest...it was just okay. A lot of anticipation only to be a little let down, truthfully. My biggest complaint is about the cookie aspect of the scoop. I greatly prefer larger chunks of cookie in any flavor of ice cream that includes them, and these cookie bits were ground to near dust and honestly just gave it a gritty texture. I noticed after the fact that they used gluten free cookies (as opposed to the non-gluten free cookies used in their cookies and cream) and I wonder if that's perhaps why it didn't hold up as well. As for the ice cream itself, it was decent: super strong coffee flavor to begin with, but it sorted of blended into a little too much sweetness as I kept eating. It wasn't bad ice cream by any means, but it wasn't a new favorite for me, either. However, I've heard wayyyy too much positive press to not wanna give this place another shot. I saw one reviewer talk about ordering a flight (3 smaller scoops) and I think that'll be my pick on my next visit, so I can try a bunch of different flavors and really get a feel for what I like. Sad the coffee flavor wasn't really for me, but very much looking forward to trying others in the near future!