Ice Cream in Pittsburgh: Oh Yeah! and The Milkshake Factory

Who knew that Pittsburgh was such an amazing town for ice cream? I was there for a weekend and hit up two different ice cream spots, both of which wowed me. If I'd had more days, I bet I could have found even more extraordinary Pittsburgh sweets.

I started at Oh Yeah!. They do mix-ins. I am a fiend for mix-ins. It's like Coldstone Creamery only so much better and it doesn't taste like a heart attack.

Here is a list of all their mix-in options:



How do you decide?? You can put in as many as you want, but put in too many, and the flavors are going to conflict. But how can you make yourself stop?

Here are some of the mix-ins in person. Also, if you can tear your eyes away from the jars of candy, peep those prices on the blackboard. Is anything in NYC priced at only $2.15?



Oh Yeah! uses Dave and Andy's Homemade Ice Cream. It's pretty good. I got the chocolate ice cream base and mixed in cinnamon, nutmeg, and chocolate chip cookie dough. Then they whirl it all around in this machine that mixes in the flavors, and also gets rid of excess water, so that when it's presented to you, it has more of a custard texture. Mine was amazing, and I felt like a mix-in genius.



Also the woman who worked there was really nice, and they have metal sample spoons and will let you sample as many flavors as you want without getting annoyed. GOOD FOR THE ENVIRONMENT. And the woman who worked there offered to choose for us if we couldn't handle it, which I appreciate, being an extremely indecisive person.

Okay, I just looked at Yelp to see if everyone agrees with me (they should) and was reminded that Oh Yeah! charges you for using a credit card. So, bring cash. Otherwise you'll have to write intensely bitchy reviews on Yelp.



The next day I went to The Milkshake Factory, which is in the back of Edward Marc Chocolatiers. (More on Edward Marc at a later date, or see what we've already said about them here.) And what do you know, the Milkshake Factory also does mix-ins.



Again, please note the pricepoint: you get a large milkshake, with as many mix-ins as you want, for $4.50. In NYC you can get a milkshake with no mix-ins for roughly $7, and somehow we have come to accept this.

Pittsburgh, you are an amazing city.



I got too crazy with my milkshake concoction, a chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream base with hot fudge and eggnog syrup mixed in. By the time it was all blended up, it pretty much just tasted like sugar. But that was my fault, and if I go back-- and, oh, do I intend to-- I will keep a firmer grasp on my emotions.



BOTTOM LINE: The Pittsburgh ice cream scene is a delight.