Review of Swanky Scoop

I got glutened here. This place seems SO allergy-friendly. They have a dedicated gluten free waffle maker for gluten free cones and they keep gluten-free cookies separated from regular cookies. However, my first time here, I asked the employee to change gloves and use a clean ice cream scoop. He told me that wasn't necessary because all of their gluten free flavors are in a dedicated freezer space (the first freezer at the serving counter) and there's a dedicated scoop for the gluten free/dairy free ice cream. Ok great, I thought. So I proceeded to order ice cream in a gluten free cone. I get very mild symptoms when glutened, but I knew something was wrong later that night as I had stomach pain, but I didn't think it could be from this place.

I went back a week later and this time I watched as someone order dairy-free ice cream in a regular waffle cone (containing gluten) just before me. Remember the dairy-free and gluten-free ice cream are in the same freezer space and share the same scoop(s). I watched the scoop from the GLUTEN FREE freezer section be used to scoop ice cream into the GLUTEN cone. It touched the cone and went back into the GF/DF ice cream tub. Yikes. Major cross contamination issue.

When it was my turn, I realized that the employees touch regular cones and gf cones, without changing gloves, because when I said i had a severe allergy and asked for a cup (I wasn't going to risk getting a cone now), she got a cup without changing her gloves (she had just touched a gluten cone). I politely told her that I would need her to change her gloves first and that I would need an allergy scoop from the back (from a new unopened tub of ice cream) using a clean scoop. She rolled her eyes at me! She was clearly annoyed, which was so irritating because this place has allergy-symbols all over their products indicating that they intend to offer a good allergy experience. However, I really believe the employees are not properly trained onon how to handle severe food allergies.

Update as of 1/2024. I tried this place again prepared to ask the right questions and request an allergy scoop from a new tub in the back and change of gloves and clean scoop. Unfortunately, they only had 1 gluten free/dairy free flavor in the back that they could do an allergy scoop for. I was disappointed that they advertise being allergy friendly let the options are limited. On the plus side, the person working was very pleasant and helpful

How confident are you that this establishment takes safety precautions against cross-contact?

— Not very

Safety Feature Ratings

• Other dedicated kitchen equipment (oven, toaster, pots, pans, utensils, etc.)

Is there a gluten-free menu?

— Gluten-free items are marked on the main menu

How much of the menu is available gluten-free?

— Some

How would you rate the taste and quality of the gluten-free food you tried?

— Excellent

Other Characteristics

• Good for dairy-free