Joanne's Ice Cream Cafe

I love this ice cream shop. When we visit half moon bay, we never fail to stop here even if it is freezing California beach weather . We always get $3 kiddie scoops/cones. The ice cream is quality although the store is small and has minimal indoor seating. They have traditional flavors as well as specialities. There is plenty of outdoor seating and a fisherman that my children call sea Santa. They are cash only and don't take card. Bring your cash! It is so worth it! I am looking forward to going there throughout the summer. I do wish they were open on weekdays and past 7p on weeknights. They have been closed even by 6p on the most recent Wednesday we were there.

Employee was very helpful answering my question. Such a variety it was hard to choose. I think it was the best scoop of ice cream I've had. Avalanche was the flavor I picked. Cash only for this small shop.

While the flavors themselves were quite good quality and I appreciated all the chunky pistachios without the artificial colorings, the service could use a bit of a revamp. Granted, I am a customer who asks a lot of questions but that’s because I believe in quality and staff at any location should be able to speak to the quality confidently. I received dispirited responses and sort of felt like an inconvenience even though I was the only one in the store.
A separate topic: I asked if instead of two flavors for my two scoops, I could get four flavors. A lot of places allow you to split a scoop so you can try more flavors and experience more of the menu. I was told that it is not a thing which I accepted but when I was watching them scoop, each scoop was actually two smaller scoops. So the request to just have different flavors instead of the same exact thing scooped twice should be a non-issue. Of course it’s not the cashier nor the scooper’s decision, rather management’s. Other establishments handle the request very easily like at Salt & Straw where you can split your scoop for just 50¢. The customer would be happy to pay a small fee if you require one. Please consider that. Thank you!

We really liked their ice cream. We got the mini cones they were a perfect dessert after having a good lunch next door.

The serving size was very large. Plus, they are very generous with sundae toppings. The flavor selection was also quite large and varied. Overall, I recommend this shop especially for after a long day of fishing or being outdoors in general.

My favorite flavor is the chocolate and peanut butter. The cookies and cream is also very yummy. It has more cookie chunks than most places.