First things first, I did not eat here (yet), we just happen to walk past this place after they were closed, on our way home from dinner down the way, and what I saw blew my mind. In the window, was the hardest worker I've ever seen!! She was scrubbing the heck out of the floors and counters, I just stood there in awe. Even had my friends witness the incredible-ness that was happening right in front of our eyeballs. I would hire this girl ANY DAY even if I wasn't hiring! This place has a true gem in there, and I hope she is appreciated for her hard work. Side note: I guess at the same time its kinda sad that seeing a person working THAT hard, is actually a rare occurrence these days. That's all. Someone please high-five her for me!! read more

Oh me, oh my! If you check my reviews, you'll find LOTS of ice cream spots in my history. I'm a glutton for a creamy, frozen ball of deliciousness. Polar Bear did not disappoint. Ate lunch in the area but had to grab some scoops from the oval spot. I ordered the thin mint and chocolate/peanut butter double in a waffle cone. It was ice cream perfection! The mint was fresh and tasty with HUGE chunks of chocolate and the peanut butter/chocolate was deep and rich. The waffle cone added a nice crunch overall. The employees were friendly, fast, and helpful in answering questions about ingredients and allowing a few samples. Shop is small but was walk through so the layout works well being on the corner or a busy intersection. Highly recommend Polar Bear Ice Cream - like, seriously, you have to stop here!! read more

Polar Bear Ice Cream - Thin mint and chocolate/peanut butter in a crunchy waffle cone - Ice Cream & Frozen Yogurt Near Me - Capitola, California

Great experience at Polar Bear Ice Cream, as the staff were kind, patient and helpful and the location is convenient and easy to find. The menu has a good range of flavors and you can sample and try any that you might be interested in. My mom got the lemon sorbet after sampling a blackberry flavor and a honey lavender one. I opted to skip the samples and choose one of my go-to flavors - thin mint, which was delicious. It was such a refreshing treat! The shop also has some seating and chairs where you can sit and enjoy your ice cream. The prices were pretty reasonable and while we ordered junior scoops, the portion size was larger than expected. Definitely recommend! read more

After a long day at the beach, we stopped in about 10 minutes before closing, and the staff were still friendly and helpful. My husband and I both ordered the almond fudge on a sugar cone, and it did not disappoint. It was creamy, flavorful, and full of nuts. We will definitely be back! read more

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This was a cool little ice creamery in Capitola! The guy that helped us out was helpful and let us sample a couple flavors. We settled on rocky road, banana almond fudge, and praline cream - every flavor was yumyyy! It looked a little busy but it goes by quickly. read more

Polar Bear Ice Cream - Rocky Road & Banana Almond Fudge - Ice Cream & Frozen Yogurt Near Me - Capitola, California

This place is located in downtown Capitola. There always seems to be a line. This place is owned by the same people as Marianne's in Santa Cruz. Their ice cream is good, but I like Marianne's better. It wasn't clear to me if they use the same recipes for Polar Bear as for Marianne's. In any case, that's what my taste buds are telling me. read more

The staff is friendly and generous with accurate recommendations and ice cream samples! Found many flavors both fruity and chocolate based. It is a clean and welcoming place with easy system of taking tickets to get a chance to check out the big list of offerings. High quality creamy ice cream worth the trip to Capitola! read more

My husband and I stopped by here last Saturday to get ice cream as we still had room after lunch. They were quite busy. We grabbed a number on the right as we entered the shop, and the wait wasn't too bad. We're a little overwhelmed by their extensive selection, and had to google some of the mysterious flavors. We finally decided to share a double cup of island mocha and Irish coffee w/ chocolate chips as we both wanted something with coffee. Both flavors were pretty good. I enjoyed the island mocha more as I loved coconut and it had more chocolate chips than the other flavor. My husband enjoyed the Irish coffee one more as it had a stronger coffee taste. Service was efficient and friendly. Price was not bad for the serving size. Enough indoor seating. We left satisfied and would love to come back again to try other flavors. read more

Polar Bear Ice Cream - So many choices! - Ice Cream & Frozen Yogurt Near Me - Capitola, California

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Cute little corner ice cream shop with a great variety of flavors to choose from. The staff is friendly and welcoming, and the ice cream is delicious. Definitely a nice spot to stop by if you're craving a sweet treat! read more

Hmmmmm...I was definitely surprised by the high rating. I had several tastings including the ginger, hochata, and lavender and ended up with the classic coconut pineapple. The lavender tasted artifical, ginger was too mild, and the hochata tasted off. The coconut pineapple could use more pineapple chunks and more coconut flavor. I guess I shouldn't expect too much from a $5.50 scoop of ice cream. read more

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Excellent ice cream. I ordered the coconut pineapple and it was so good. Service is fast. Small interior but there is seating outside so no one seems to find an issue with that. read more

After grabbing some pizza from Pizza My Heart, our family decided to grab some icecream! Polar Bear Ice Cream stood right where we were walking and the variety of icecream flavors offered caught our eye. You are able to sample the flavors to try. I noticed that the flavors are organized according to a particular theme so that helps with navigating the large menu. For a family of five we ordered a triple scoop since one of us is lactose intolerant and we were all quite full. The three flavors we have chosen were all chocolate-based *Heaven - peanut butter taken to another level, incredibly rich so it slowed us down to eat * Chubby cub chocolate - the chocolate was not too sweet which made it SO GOOD! best chocolate icecream *One mysterious flavor we forgot the name of but we've been told it's one of the most popular - it had some Carmel in it (the middle scoop of our picture) and if you love caramel this is a must We thank the staff for their service. The size of the scoops were kind too. God bless you all read more

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Love that they have several non-dairy options all made with coconut milk base. A huge selection of regular ice cream and sorbets. Waffle cones, regular cones, cups, sundaes, shakes...option galore. Service was fast (it was a slower day and I've seen the place packed before) and staff were very polite. Great location for a quick sugar break right on the Esplanade. Cute little ice cream shop. read more

Polar Bear Ice Cream - Waffle cone with single scoop of Oreo cookie non-dairy ice cream and double scoop in a cup of mud pie and chocolate chunks. - Ice Cream & Frozen Yogurt Near Me - Capitola, California

Great artisanal ice cream Lots of flavors & sizes Quite busy today but worth the wait The service was friendly read more

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A nice ice cream place right next to the beach! I love how they had a lot of flavors to choose from. They also had ice cream sandwiches and milkshakes. Prices were also perfect for the serving size. Parking can be difficult because there's a lot of stores and restaurants near it. However, I would come by again if I'm in the area. read more

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Ice cream was amazing. But the customer service was horrendous. No hi when walking in. Girl at the front looked like she hated being at work. read more

Excellent little shop that was recommended by The Inn at Depot Hill. When in the area definitely give them a try! Nice little treat.

Great ice cream shop with lots of flavors to choose from, especially if you love caramel! I also like that they offer whipped cream and sprinkles with your scoop. One thing that really stood out was how helpful the staff was. My kids always want their ice cream in a cone, even though it usually ends up all over them. The staff suggested putting the scoop in a cup with the cone on top, which made it so much easier and less messy. They're usually pretty busy when we stop by, but the line moves quickly and the staff is always friendly. The great ice cream and excellent customer service keep us coming back. read more

The best ice cream in the galaxy! Not sure who this guy is but he had the best customer service skills in the world. Served all our 10 kids with enthusiasm and quirk! Asked him to take a picture of our group! And ended up with a bonus picture lol! What an awesome gesture!!! Will definitely return!!! 10/10 ambience read more

Polar Bear Ice Cream - Best customer service guy!!! - Ice Cream & Frozen Yogurt Near Me - Capitola, California

They have a good variety of flavors unlike some of the small batch creameries I've been to lately which only have six flavors and none of them sound appealing. (We joke that they have flavors that are only slightly edible like Strawberries and Shoelaces.) Plus the counter staff is friendly. I got the Mexican Chocolate and it was perfection. It was the only chocolate ice cream I've had that was better than Tin Pot's Tcho Chocolate. This one had chucks of chocolate and a slight taste of cinnamon. Other members of the family had Blackberry (the husband said this was the best), Olaliberry with Honey (pretty good), and Horchata (good but I only had one bite). read more

Ice cream was amazing, service was fast, and the whole vibe of the place was awesome.

Nice little ice cream shop in Capitola right by the beach. My daughter went and got herself 2 scoops of delicious ice cream and I tried it and loved it! So I went and got myself one of their pre made ice cream sandwiches. I chose the one called dirty paws which had a caramel ice cream with oatmeal cookies on the outside and was dipped in chocolate. Kind of like a gourmet It's It. The chocolate was really nice quality. I will come back to try more things next time I'm in the area. read more

Polar Bear Ice Cream - Ice Cream & Frozen Yogurt Near Me - Capitola, California

We were walking around the little beach town of Capitola and got hot haha. And what do you know, at the end of the block, there happens to be an ice cream shop. Polar Bear Ice Cream to be exact. There were a few people in there sampling, but there were also a few workers, so that helped keep the line moving. They have such unique flavor names, that I constantly had to ask what is it haha. I felt bad, but if the flavor isn't straight forward, I'm going to ask questions... and ask for a sample haha. Overall this is a good spot for some ice cream. read more

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Excellent service as soon as you walk in. Had 3 people scooping ice cream for my family at once. Combination of classic and unique flavors with over 50 choices. You can smell and hear the ocean from the front door. read more

Absolute classic friendly neighborhood ice cream shop. So many fun flavors to choose from and really affordable! We got a junior double scoop and they were so generous! It was plenty for two grown adults lol. Service was also great. Note: in order to order you need to grab a number from the little ticket machine thingi on the right wall. There's nothing really indicating that u need to do that, but I found out by asking someone near me. I went around 8pm on a Friday night and waited maybe 10 min for my number to get called. Seating: there is some counter seating inside but def like a beach side ice cream shop that you'd take to go imo Parking: this is in THE center of Capitola so good luck w parking. It does not have its own lot Bathroom: i didn't see one Water: they have water cups + water u can grab ! read more

Mid ice cream. Good flavor, but had ice crystals like it was re-frozen. Dazed stoned teenagers behind the counter but friendly. Good for ice cream after the beach read more

Ice cream is amazing!!! Had the raspberry and chocolate/chocolate chip. Reasonably priced. Def returning when back in town. read more

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This is a gem in Capitola! We were greeted with friendly smiles and positive attitudes from the moment we walked in. This ice cream shop is giving rock and roll with old school vibes. They have so many different flavors to choose from and on the board it's separated by fruity side and decadent side. There was a really cool one I've never heard of before called the Olalliberry + Honey and was really glad I got to sample it before buying it. I believe they explained it as like a raspberry blueberry mix with honey? Either way, it was so good so I got 1 scoop in a waffle cone. Let me tell y'all, that one scoop was huge! You definitely will get your money's worth here. I love that you can get the ice cream here and walk around towards the pier and enjoy it. read more

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After a horrible dinner, we decided we deserved a sweet treat. Polar Bear Ice Cream did not disappoint! Our server was happy to explain all the unique flavors. (100% recommend the Otter flavor! Tastes like a churro!) She made us a very nice brownie sundae and also made sure to give us two spoons. Fast, clean, and great options! read more

Words cannot describe how amazing the Ice cream is. So many great options. Staff is so friendly and so welcoming. Can't wait to return.

Wow! Just wow! This might be the best Iice cream I've ever had. I wish I lived nearby so I could try more. If I could only eat one ice cream for the rest of my life it just might be the raspberry cheesecake. Everyone in my group was very happy with their choice. read more

really good location and really good ice cream just by the capitola beach. the manager definitely need to hire / schedule more people. two people for 100s of customers with kids are a lot to handle. read more

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Delicious ice cream with fun flavors and good portions. We walked around looking for ice cream and noticed the line. We lined up but didn't realize you need to pick a number instead of waiting in line. Some regulars pointed it out otherwise we would have been waiting outside forever. There were plenty of flavors to choose from. There were untraditional flavors like lavender and honey and Mexican hot chocolate. Some had unique names and couldn't find a description of the flavor, so it was hard to tell what the flavor actually was. We tried the snickerdoodle cookie dough and heaven. Both were perfect. The ice cream creamy and decadent. There were big pieces of the fillings inside the ice cream. Would definitely want to try other flavors when we come back. read more

Polar Bear Ice Cream - Heaven in a cup - Ice Cream & Frozen Yogurt Near Me - Capitola, California

I have tried several popular ice cream places in Santa Cruz but in my opinion this place beats them all. Not only do they have an extensive selection of flavors (30 or so probably) but they also have many unique flavors like Ginger, Horchata and Ollalieberry. Unfortunately they were sold out of Ollalieberry so we opted for their Honey Lavender and Coconut Pineapple scoops. Both were delicious - the Lavender Honey had a subtle flavor and not too sweet as if you are drinking a Lavender tea and the Coconut Pineapple had actual chunks of pineapple! I was just hoping the Lavender ice cream also looked like it and wish it had a bit of purple in color but oh well, doesn't matter as long as the taste is there. read more

Polar Bear Ice Cream - Outside - Ice Cream & Frozen Yogurt Near Me - Capitola, California

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Really enjoyed the super fresh and sorbet here. It tasted like frozen fruit and not like a ton of additives. Kind employees who were helpful and have great suggestions. Would come again! read more

The gal who helped us was amazing! The quality and portion is amazing for their prices. I would recommend this place as it is iconic to this area. read more

Polar Bear Ice Cream - Ice Cream & Frozen Yogurt Near Me - Capitola, California

Cute little place in the corner! Perfect for dessert after dinner and walking alongside the beach. Many different flavors to choose from. Their pistachio was full of nuts and delicious! Employees also let me try a few other flavors. Would come back! read more

My friends and I were looking for a little sweet treat after dinner & walking around Capitola, and we saw that Polar Bear Ice Cream was crowded, so we knew it was popular for a reason. When arriving, you take a number and wait till you're called. It was kind of hard to decide what to order because there's names for flavors that don't have descriptions or aren't common like Rocky Road. They also didn't have an ice cream display, so you really can't tell what's in a name like Dirty Paws. When they call your number, it's best to go as a group if you're with family or friends, instead of individually. They are willing to give samples of flavors and answer your questions about any flavors. I think to save them time, they can have a description of all the flavors that have a code name. I was only able to see a small paper display of only a few uncommon flavors, not all of them. I ordered a Kahlua Krunch and Horchata. Unfortunately they were sold out of Lavender Honey for the day, which I was looking forward to trying. The Kahlua Krunch was a little too sweet for my liking, but I enjoyed the crunch that came with it. Horchata is a flavor that doesn't miss, especially if you're a big cinnamon fan. I would come back again to try their other flavors read more

Polar Bear Ice Cream - Kahlua Krunch & Horchata - Ice Cream & Frozen Yogurt Near Me - Capitola, California

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Absolutely the best ice cream in Santa Cruz County. It was once an independent brand, but subsequently purchased by Mariannes, a large local brand. They have kept the original Polar Bear recipes, which are different than their Marianne's branded ice cream. The shop is in Capitola Village, so parking can be an issue, but not later in the evening. I am fortunate enough to live within walking distance. read more

Huge selection of ice cream! Grab a cup (multiple size options), cone, or milk shake. My raspberry cheesecake milkshake was thick and awesome. read more