Bombay Ice Cream closed, no forwarding address

02.27.13 - 12:12 pm | Caitlin Donohue |

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GUARDIAN PHOTO BY CAITLIN DONOHUE

Perhaps it should have come as no surprise, given the ignominious location under the freeway where Mission favorite Bombay Ice Cream relocated in 2011, but this: I went by for icecream the other day to discover the place was totally vacant, with no clues as to where its cones of cardamom and chicku icrecream might reappear.

Old-timers (people who have lived here since 2011) will remember Bombay's heyday as a counter-service Indian restaurant, icecream shop, and Indian bazaar, a one-stop shop for lassi mix, Ganesh decal stickers, bindis, and samosas to go. It was featured on a segment on the Food Channel, and at one point National Geographic named it one of the top 10 places to eat icecream in the god-damn world.

There's no news on the website that would indicate that the business is no more, but the phone number of the Mission District standby has been disconnected and the contact email on the website deactivated, which would suggest that the rumors swirling on the Yelp page about a return to Valencia Street (perhaps started by early reports that the South Van Ness site was only temporary) may just be wishful thinking.

Owners Bharti and Suresh Parmar in the Guardian's 2004 Best of the Bay issue

Comments

That dangerous eyesore of a

That dangerous eyesore of a freeway needs to come down.

Posted by marcos on Feb. 28, 2013 @ 4:47 pm

Part of it has already bee taken down.

101 used to extend to Turk, which is now under-used.

You can pull down some freeways but not all of them. all that traffic has to be dumped somewhere that can handle it otherwsie you get a vehicular clusterfuck, and more dead pedestrians and cyclists.

Maybe it can eventuallu be taken down to as far south as Bayshore, but not more than that.

Posted by Guest on Feb. 28, 2013 @ 5:12 pm

Between Potrero and Bryant,

Between Potrero and Bryant, the freeways could touch down and cars could disperse 270 degrees from Townsend, 9th, 11th, Division, to Potrero with a boulevard continuing to meet up with Octavia. That elevated structure is a dangerous eyesore in a community that is slated to see much more residential. The building on the SE corner of SVN and 13th has always been particularly problematic as far as sustaining commercial tenancies go. The freeway ramp and elevated structure cause that. The city has to change, things have to move forward. This is not a museum, eh?

Posted by marcos on Feb. 28, 2013 @ 5:48 pm

Bombay Bazar

might as well. The place was dirty when they were on Valencia. I mean really dirty which is why they were shut down by the health dept. May be the new place had the same problems?? A lot of their imported products were dated and dented and the owners still keep selling them.
In addition, the people who worked for this couple were paid below minimum wages (under the table) and were not allowed to share tips.

As for the Ice cream: they did not make it. Some kept from east bay and majority came from Poly Anne, an ice cream joint in the Sunset. (Noriega and 42nd)

Just because, they got nominated years ago, when the owners may have been creative and honest, does not mean the place was still as good.

Posted by Guest yes on Feb. 28, 2013 @ 4:04 pm

Yeah, it was kinda squalid and never as good as it should

have been. No doubt those guys will emerge somewhere, ideally with a lower cost basis.

They make good ice cream but seemingly lack business sense.

Posted by Guest on Feb. 28, 2013 @ 4:18 pm