Swich, an Outer Sunset ice-cream sandwich shop that opened its doors at 2045 Irving St. in 2014, serves up not just cold, delicious treats, but hot sandwiches made with bread that’s baked in-store. There’s also homemade pudding and tapioca, cakes, and a selection of espresso and coffee.
Ice-cream sandwiches are served aplenty in San Francisco, with shops like Over the Moon (Marina/Financial District), The Baked Bear (North Beach/Fisherman's Wharf) and CREAM (Mission) dedicated to selling the cold goodies.
But Swich owner and chef Sandy Lam says ice cream can be a tough sell in a neighborhood filled with boba shops, noodle houses, and Chinese restaurants and bakeries. Here's what she had to say:
What made you decide to sell ice-cream sandwiches?
I was teaching fractions to second graders at [the Richmond's] Frank McCoppin Elementary School, and I was cutting up cookies. I felt like I needed to one-up myself, so I started bringing in brownies. Then I decided I needed to put ice cream in the cookies. So that was the initial inspiration.
Once we opened, people would ask me if I’d heard of CREAM, but honest to God, I hadn’t.
Why the Outer Sunset?
I saw a lot of children hanging around here, a lot of first-generation Americans — I am one, too. Some of the children I’d been teaching were also first-generation, and they had never eaten a chocolate chip cookie. I wanted to give children here something they may not have had before.
What’s their reaction been?
People love the food. But I’m not sure there are enough people who love this kind of food in this neighborhood. I understand—life in the Bay Area is expensive, and in the Sunset, people can pay $0.79 for a bun.
How has the business changed since you opened two years ago?
We realized early on we should sell more than ice cream sandwiches, so we started adding pies and puddings. We evolved it to be something else, eventually adding coffee, espresso and pastries to the menu as well.
