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The World-Class City: Boston will soon get a place where you have to make a reservation to get ice cream

By adamg on Thu, 02/08/2024 - 1:34pm

The Boston Licensing Board today approved a request from a chain called Museum of Ice Cream to open at 121 Seaport Blvd. and to buy the beer and wine license from Dig on Boylston Street in the Back Bay.

The chain, which currently has outlets in New York, Chicago, Austin and Singapore, sells ice cream and access to a variety of "interactive" event rooms, for example, a ball pit for adults where the balls have been replaced by what look like giant ice-cream sprinkles, all in "a self-paced experience allowing guests to take as much time as they would like in each exhibit."

The chain adds cleanliness is next to ice-creamliness with the ballpit sprinkles: "We clean them frequently in our very own antibacterial sprinkle shower. They are not real edible sprinkles, though, and cannot be eaten."

The newest outlet will be able to hold 380 people at a time, but will only have 70 seats, since the idea is most people will be wandering around during their time slots getting interactive and stuff.

Like a real museum with a Monet or Tutankhamen exhibit, you have to sign up in advance for tickets. At the New York location, admission varies between $25 first thing in the morning, that is, 11 a.m., to $42 hours in peak afternoon slots, then down to $36 after 5 p.m.

Neighborhoods: 
South Boston
Topics: 
Dining
Free tagging: 
Seaport Boulevard
Seaport
ice cream


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Comments

By Rwgfy on Thu, 02/08/2024 - 1:37pm.

Lol

By Ari O on Thu, 02/08/2024 - 1:50pm.

And could only happen to the Seaport.

UNLIMITED treats in nostalgic flavors, across 5 different ice cream shapes and forms

Unlimited is mildly intriguing but if I want to pay $25 for unlimited ice cream I'll just wait for the Scooperbowl and pay just $20 and it will go to cancer research and not whoever dropped enough acid to dream this up.

By ScottB on Thu, 02/08/2024 - 3:34pm.

You could just buy yourself 4 pints of Ben & Jerry's. I can't imagine being able to get through more than 2 of those in a sitting.

By John z on Thu, 02/08/2024 - 4:08pm.

It's a museum,so it's not just about eating ice cream.

By ScottB on Thu, 02/08/2024 - 7:21pm.

Nah.

A place to create content for the Gram? Sure.

By Ari O on Thu, 02/08/2024 - 4:33pm.

More like 7 or 8 when someone has them on sale.

By BostonDog on Thu, 02/08/2024 - 5:08pm.

You could get 4-5 cups at JP Licks, Richardson's, or any of the other good local iced cream shops.

I don't care what sort of expensive crap the rich want to spend money on so long as there are plenty of good options for the rest of us and thankfully, we've got good iced cream in the area.

By lbb on Fri, 02/09/2024 - 1:06pm.

As the days get longer, we get closer to the season of summer ice cream stands. Massachusetts and the rest of New England have quite a few dairy farms with ice cream stands, and I bet most of them would blow this place away.

By Ron Newman on Thu, 02/08/2024 - 1:53pm.

Who has those together?

By adamg on Thu, 02/08/2024 - 2:06pm.

Only without the root.

By Quincy Bear on Thu, 02/08/2024 - 2:23pm.

Vanilla ice cream and guinness, boyo. Its frickin awesome

By baustin on Thu, 02/08/2024 - 4:07pm.

Cinnamon ice cream in a Flanders red or kriek--friggin delicious!

By Lee on Thu, 02/08/2024 - 9:38pm.

Agreed!

By crispino on Thu, 02/08/2024 - 4:28pm.

That's who.

By they exist on Thu, 02/08/2024 - 5:58pm.

Barrel aged stouts. Not every beer is "beer" flavored.

By Matt_J on Thu, 02/08/2024 - 1:56pm.

See, if only we had the olympics.

By Will LaTulippe on Thu, 02/08/2024 - 2:03pm.

So everyone grabs their Insta photos, and moves on? Year and a half for this.

"Grand opening, grand closing." - Chris Rock. If I don't like the Libertarian nominee, this might be the year that I write him in for President.

By John Costello on Thu, 02/08/2024 - 2:35pm.

That's Encore by Jay Z - The Black Album.

Can't wait for the M&M Store to open up next in the Seaport.

By Angel on Thu, 02/08/2024 - 2:56pm.

Jay-Z was "quoting" Chris Rock in Encore.

By John Costello on Thu, 02/08/2024 - 8:46pm.

I have learned something.

By anon on Thu, 02/08/2024 - 2:07pm.

but only if they're still open by then.

By John z on Thu, 02/08/2024 - 4:14pm.

You made the Museum of Ice Cream sound stupid on purpose with the way you wrote and titled the article. Just so people would make snarky remarks.
It's a museum. That's why it's called a museum. And it has branches all over the world, so it must not be as stupid of an idea as you make it out to be.
Perhaps you have not been to many museums, but there are lits of different ones. They don't all have to have Egyptian artefacts to be interesting and worthwhile.
It's not a slow news day, why are you writing as if you were a bored 13-year-old?

By adamg on Thu, 02/08/2024 - 6:12pm.

Go wild and have fun at the place. Just because it's not my, um, cup of tea, doesn't mean I'm going to be organizing pickets to stand outside or something.

But let's not get carried away and declare it an actual museum, any more than the Lego place in Assembly Square or Lawn on D is (or, my personal favorite, Clark's Trading Post up in New Hampshire; which has a fascinating display of early 20th-century batteries that have been cut in two AND you can get ice cream and make candles).

Even they don't do that. From their FAQ:

A museum, in our opinion, celebrates creativity, passion, innovators and innovations, and we created Museum of Ice Cream in this spirit. While we are neither a non-profit nor an official museum, we are built upon the foundation of sharing and celebrating imagination.

By GG on Thu, 02/08/2024 - 9:45pm.

If anyone ever goes to Yokohama, the Ramen Museum is a great place to eat!

By Ari O on Thu, 02/08/2024 - 9:53pm.

When people come to Boston to go to the MFA, the ICA, the Gardner and the Museum of Ice Cream.

By Lee on Thu, 02/08/2024 - 10:15pm.

… in that order!!!

By ScottB on Thu, 02/08/2024 - 7:28pm.

In Madrid. Literally "Museum of Ham."

A great place for a beer and a menu that's all about ham, but most definitely not the Prado.

There are plenty of reviews online of the other outposts of the Museum of Ice Cream. Instagram gets mentioned a lot...

By John z on Thu, 02/08/2024 - 8:36pm.

The Museo de Jamon is just a chain restaurant and doesn't claim to be an actual museum. It's just the name of the restaurant.
Museums don't have to have Picassos to be interesting. They can celebrate creativity or show history. There is an interesting medical museum in Philadelphia that has actual body parts. There is a fire museum in Boston. Orchard House in Concord is a museum. There is a fascinating insect museum in Costa Rica near the Cloud Forest that has different insect specimens and live insects up on the roof.
There are lots of ways to think of a museum as being worthwhile if you have any creativity in your thinking.
Like I said,many of the people on this thread don't sound like they ever go to museums.
Also, funny that these very knowledgeable people think it will go out of business when it already has a successful branch in New York, as well as others worldwide.

By adamg on Thu, 02/08/2024 - 10:09pm.

Just because a chain does well somewhere else doesn't mean it won't founder on the rocks of craggy New England. Anybody remember Krispy Kreme? And there was a time when Sonic dreamed of Massachusetts dominance (at least, unlike Krispy Kreme, they're still sort of holding on).

Again, if you like scheduling your ice-cream time so you can wander the "interactive" rooms and all, by all means, enjoy yourself and have a blast. The Seaport is an ideal place for something like that.

The rest of us will continue our boring, humdrum lives and get ice cream at JP Licks, or Ron's, or Toscanini's as the mood strikes (no reservations required at any of them) - or maybe even drive down to Sharon to commune with the cows (real live cows! And goats!) at Crescent Ridge.

By xyz on Fri, 02/09/2024 - 10:19am.

No love for Gracie's?

By ScottB on Fri, 02/09/2024 - 12:46am.

Their website says, "A museum, in our opinion, celebrates creativity, passion, innovators and innovations, and we created Museum of Ice Cream in this spirit. While we are neither a non-profit nor an official museum, we are built upon the foundation of sharing and celebrating imagination." (emphasis added)

I think they'll get people in the 15-35 Instagram influencer/wannabe set along with tourists who have kids that are bored with the Freedom Trail.

By xyz on Fri, 02/09/2024 - 10:20am.

There used to be a place in Baltimore called the Museum of Incandescence. It was about light bulbs and it was awesome.

By adamg on Fri, 02/09/2024 - 12:08pm.

A shining example of what a museum can be.

By Will LaTulippe on Fri, 02/09/2024 - 1:20pm.

Going after Gaffin right off the jump.

Sounds like you'd fare okay in prison.

By cybah on Thu, 02/08/2024 - 4:33pm.

What do they do in the winter?

Who wants to eat 25 bucks in ice cream like now? Maybe a cup or two but.. 25 bucks is alot of ice cream.

Its like any ice cream place around here, in the winter you close or have a side business. Makes me wonder what that beer and wine license will be used for with those 'event rooms'. Makes me think this will be a place that tries to cater to the 'office party' crowd to supplement their winter biz.

But I agree with the poster above.. I give this place 2 years tops. Two winters is enough to kill any ice cream based biz that doesn't have some sort of reason to go in the winter. Cute ball pits isn't enough...

By Vicki on Thu, 02/08/2024 - 5:14pm.

I buy a lot of ice cream in the winter, but I buy most of it in pint containers and take them home to eat later. On a relatively mild winter day, I may get an ice cream cone and eat it while walking down the street, but sitting outside with a sundae can wait for spring if not summer.

And I don't need ice cream in different shapes; a basic round scoop of ice cream works fine in a cup or on a cone.

By cybah on Thu, 02/08/2024 - 5:26pm.

I mean I walk in blizzards to get DD Iced Coffee so I have zero room to talk :-)

I buy ice cream too but a pint in the winter lasts weeks... (yeah i am one of those 2-3 spoonfuls a day ppl)

By Lee on Thu, 02/08/2024 - 9:43pm.

I am in awe. I doff my cap to you sir or madam.

By cybah on Fri, 02/09/2024 - 11:44am.

You'd be in bigger awe if you saw how rotund I am! (I am a fat dude)

Ice cream just isnt my go to...

By Ron Newman on Thu, 02/08/2024 - 11:35pm.

Boston is a place where people do eat ice cream in the winter. There used to be lines year-round to get into Steve's Ice Cream in Davis Square. (Florence is another such place, with its gelato.)

By Lisfnord on Fri, 02/09/2024 - 10:14am.

New Englanders have always had a love affair with ice cream, regardless of the time of year. Our ice cream is just better.

https://www.upi.com/Archives/1987/11/24/Even-in-winter-New-Englanders-ta...

By HenryAlan 2.0 on Fri, 02/09/2024 - 11:42am.

I eat plenty of ice cream in the winter, maybe even more than I do in the summer. And not for nothing, but Boston supposedly has the highest per capita ice cream consumption of any major US city. Why would a hardy New Englander be stopped by cold weather?

By ChrisInEastie on Thu, 02/08/2024 - 10:24pm.

I went in New York once for the hell of it, with the lowest expectations. They were met. It’s basically just one big Instagram photo op and semi-playground. The ice cream is fine but nothing you can’t get at JP Licks.

By RobinTMP on Fri, 02/09/2024 - 4:54pm.

Is the ice cream included in the admission fee (I wanted to say "cover charge"), or is that separate? Either way sounds like a serious ripoff, but if that many poor schmucks are paying $42 during peak times just to go in and look at ice cream, and then have to pay to actually order...

By redheadedjen on Wed, 02/14/2024 - 4:07pm.

Probably not. It is for profit.

By ChrisInEastie on Mon, 02/19/2024 - 3:50pm.

but I forget how much you get, been a few years now.

By Don't Panic on Fri, 02/09/2024 - 12:06am.

Which "Ancient" Ice Cream recipes are they reviving?

By anon on Fri, 02/09/2024 - 8:48am.

Great . It will take me am hour to get there

By anon on Fri, 02/09/2024 - 8:51am.

Great . Clientele and shop owners must have money to burn. Place won't last more than 3 years.

By lbb on Fri, 02/09/2024 - 1:09pm.

Place won't last more than 3 years.

You are being very generous here.

By Dani B. on Fri, 02/09/2024 - 9:18am.

Can we please stop calling for-profit Instagram traps “museums?

By Ron Newman on Fri, 02/09/2024 - 11:35am.

even in the MFA or Gardner museum. No need to open something new just for Instagram.

By Will LaTulippe on Fri, 02/09/2024 - 1:22pm.

But I went once, and it was more than a decade ago. Figures they don't want people using pics to case the joint.

By Ron Newman on Fri, 02/09/2024 - 1:54pm.

You have to turn off flash, just like in any other art museum, but I know of no other rules there. (Edit: there are a few other rules; see my next comment below)

By Ron Newman on Sun, 02/11/2024 - 1:18am.

is here:

You are welcome to take non-flash photos or video of works of art and the galleries for your personal enjoyment, but not for commercial use. Unfortunately, we cannot allow tripods or selfie sticks, or accommodate professional or personal photo/video shoots. A photoshoot is defined as professional or amateur portrait photography for engagement, graduation, quinceanera, family, maternity, portfolio, prom, wedding and any other posed photo session. These posed photo sessions interfere with the visiting experience of other guests and can cause galleries and hallways to become inaccessible for the public.

By NoMoreBanks on Fri, 02/09/2024 - 9:58am.

Sounds fun in that "I'm an Instagram lifestyle way", where you go because you're filling time before a dinner reservation and you don't take it too seriously. I can't see this working long term though. Just not a "Boston" kind of thing.

By Will LaTulippe on Fri, 02/09/2024 - 1:24pm.

I hope Roadsteamer shows up and does his thing outside. Ooh-wah-ah-ah-ah!

By RobinTMP on Fri, 02/09/2024 - 4:50pm.

I'd pay really good money to see that, but the last I knew, Robby was still out in LA. Now, were he to come back...

By anon on Fri, 02/09/2024 - 12:15pm.

The Seaport is Boston's #1 douchbag neighborhood, supplanting Back Bay.