Full Tilt Ice Cream in White Center

Full Tilt Ice Cream 9629 16th Ave SW Seattle, WA 98106

If there is one thing I love in life, it is the grassroots, lo-fi punk rock businesses that adorn the outer edges of big cities, and their dedication to all things handcrafted and pure. But lets be honest, if there is one thing I love even more it is arcade-style classic video games like Ms. Pac-Man, Dig Dug and Pinball of all varieties. I love to relive the glory days of my youth spent in local arcades trying vainly to shatter the coveted high scores. But my God, what I love the better than either of those, is Ice Cream. Hand made, local and organic Ice Cream with mind-boggling flavors such as Coffee Donut, Horchata, Butter Toasted Hazelnut and Chocolate Covered Bacon (!!!). And when all of those elements are mixed together into a glorious cornucopia of nerdy D.I.Y. sweetness? Mercy Me! I do believe I’m getting the vapors!

Full Tilt Ice Cream resides in the heart of the south Seattle neighborhood White Center and no matter where you live in the Emerald City; it is well worth the trek.

While by no means are there scores of flavors, the twelve that they do have (with six revolving day to day) are triumphs of the art form. It would be a true poverty in my life if I did not someday try them all. It was a tough call, but after sampling many of the decadent flavors, I decided to go a relatively simple route and have the Candy Cane flavor. It turned out to be so rich and utterly infused with peppermint that it was almost too much; luckily the gloriously sweet and creamy goodness helped propel me through. The waffle cone that served as the pedestal to the admirable scoop was obviously freshly made and equal parts crunchy and chewy (if you can imagine such a glorious combination). The portions were more than generous and it was just as well that I found myself without so much as one quarter and unable to engage in a bout against Blinky, Pinky, Inky and Clyde, as my mano a mano bout with the cone was taking up most of my attention.

But wait, there’s more. As my companions and I entered the establishment late on a Saturday night we were greeted not only by the tattooed man behind the counter offering samples, but also by the sounds of bands sound checking in the corner. Yes, this Ice Cream shop has live music and on this particular night the patrons would be rocked mightily by punk rock due the Femurs and the husband and wife electronic powerhouse No Fi Soul Rebellion. Take my heart, Full Tilt. You’ve earned it. And with Vegan flavors, zines and literature both for free and cheap and an annual Pac-Man tournament to top it off, I believe there will be many trips to White Center in my future.

Andrew Moore