Saturday--the sun was shining, Dolores Park was full to the brim, and evidently everyone else had the same idea we did: "let's get some ice cream."

Bi-Rite Creamery, which opened only a few months ago, is not quite half a block from the park (3692 18th St.). The line was out the door. We'd tried coming here a few weeks back, the last time San Franciscans were blessed with such nice weekend weather, but the line had been even longer then.

Surely we're not unique in this regard, but we hate hate hate standing in lines. We won't for movies, we won't for restaurants, we'll only rarely, and reluctantly, do it for coffee.

However, for the sake of trying out small-batch treats of interesting sounding flavors, we decided to give it a shot.

But was it worth the wait? Are we willing to do so again?

Yes, and yes. Through a bit of sharing, our party sampled the salted caramel, roasted banana, and mint chip. The first two were spectacular--for us, salted caramel in an ice cream flavor was a new experience, and we wholly enjoyed it. The roasted banana tasted just like, well, freshly roasted bananas. The mint chip was good, though not any better than mint chip we've had elsewhere. The rest of the ice cream menu sounds as intriguing as what we had, and there are vegan options available as well.

Compounding the line length problem is there's not much room to maneuver inside, and less when patrons bring in bikes and strollers (). However, the line actually moved fairly quickly considering the size of it. The staff were efficient and friendly (something we unfortuantely can't always say about Bi-Rite Market down the street. . . then again, ice cream is an inherently happy thing, yeah?). To tell the truth, we've waited much longer for ice cream at the also spectacular Mitchell's. While we're not willing to "officially" compare the two quite yet, let's say it's a debate that should happen at some point.

There are some non-frozen products available -- including chocolates, notably those from old SFist fave Charles Chocolates.

We're looking forward to going back. Next time: chai spiced milk chocolate, coffee toffee, brown butter pecan . . . oh, man, we can't decide . . . and since the menu is supposedly subject to change, we hope to do it soon. So, yeah: Bi-Rite Creamery = definitely worth our wait.

er, uh, guilty