Double Rainbow makes S. F. return
Company to open shop near original location
Double Rainbow will open its first scoop shop in decades Thursday — just two doors down from the original location that debuted in 1976.
Located in the Castro, the ice cream shop will keep it simple with cups, cones, pints and shakes using the same recipes and flavors from Double Rainbow’s heyday, such as French vanilla, ultra chocolate and the vanilla and peanut butter fudge combo known as It’s a Goody.
It’ll also be home to brand new flavors like PB& J, featuring creamy vanilla, tart raspberry and peanut butter; and a vegan banana ice cream with dark chocolate chips. A scoop will cost $ 4.
At a time when several longtime restaurants — such as Farallon, Art’s Cafe and Seal Rock Inn Restaurant — haven’t survived the pandemic, it’s rare to see an old business stage a comeback.
“I think very much about how we have the chance to be part of the renewal cycle,” said CEO Taryn Segal. “In a town that people argue leans tech, there’s still a homegrown pulse here — and I think part of our job is to honor that.”
Two childhood friends — one being Segal’s late father — started Double Rainbow as a single scoop shop, but it quickly grew to seven San Francisco locations. They franchised, spawning about 80 Double Rainbows in California, Arizona and New Mexico in the 1980s and ’ 90s. Former Mayor Willie Brown
dubbed it “the official ice cream of San Francisco.”
Now, however, there are just three franchisees left, in Benicia, San Pablo and San Rafael. The ice cream remains in many stores and cafes thanks to Double Rainbow’s steady wholesale operation in Emeryville.
Segal, who joined Double Rainbow 11 years ago and is now CEO, said she’d often talk about trying another scoop shop with her dad, but they never made any concrete moves. When she heard about a forlease sign so close to the original Double Rainbow, though, it just felt right.
“Especially now, people need some sweet tangibles,” she said. “We have a cloud of unknown that we’re living in, so it’s kind of nice to fixate on something indulgent.”
Already, Segal says many people in the neighborhood have dropped by, sharing memories of the original shop and requesting flavors that the company long stopped making. The most requested flavor, chocolate chocolate mint, is already in the works.
San Francisco LGBTQ activist Cleve Jones was one of those fans — and a former employee — who reached out, though he’s hoping to see rum raisin in the case.
“The neighborhood has been so depressed for a while, even before COVID, and since COVID of course it’s been really rough,” he said. “I worry that many of the businesses closed now might not ever reopen, so hearing Double Rainbow was returning was a little piece of really welcomed good news.”
Jones worked there off and on in the late ’ 70s and said he was able to build his network to become an activist because of his time there. Everyone went to Double Rainbow because everyone loved their ice cream, he said.
“Some people don’t remember, but to be gay and to be out of the closet, even well into the ’ 70s, really limited your employment options,” he said. “They were a wonderful part of the community.”
Double Rainbow. Opening Thursday. Noon9 p. m. daily. 415 Castro St., San Francisco.