Pacific Beach / Mission Beach · Best Ice Cream in San Diego
The Baked Bear Review
Last updatedRanked #4 of 7 in Best Ice Cream in San Diego
Custom ice cream sandwiches with freshly baked cookies and brownies. The best dessert experience in Mission Beach.
Score breakdown
- Texture88/100
- Flavor88/100
- Creativity92/100
- Value84/100
- Atmosphere90/100
The verdict on The Baked Bear
Ranked #4 of 7 — 88/100 in our Best Ice Cream in San Diego coverage
The Baked Bear is an ice cream sandwich shop that lets you choose your cookie, brownie, ice cream, and toppings. The cookies are baked fresh, the ice cream is good quality, and the combinations are endless. The Mission Beach location is the most iconic, with a line that stretches down the boardwalk on summer nights. The sandwich is large and messy, and the experience is fun whether you are a kid or an adult. It is not the purest ice cream experience in the city, but it is the most fun one.
What to order at The Baked Bear
Across our coverage the recommendation is consistent: Custom ice cream sandwich.
Is The Baked Bear worth the price?
The Baked Bear sits at $7–12 — the budget band for this category. Nothing else we ranked in this category lands in the same price bracket, so the comparison is against cheaper or pricier alternatives rather than a like-for-like rival.
The Baked Bear FAQ
Is The Baked Bear expensive?
The Baked Bear is priced at $7–12, which puts it in the budget band for this category. There is no other option at the exact same price point on the same list, so treat it as its own bracket.
Is The Baked Bear worth it?
It scores 88/100, 0.4 points below the 88.4 average for its list. It still ranks, but there are stronger options nearby in score.
What should I order at The Baked Bear?
We recommend the Custom ice cream sandwich.
What works
- Strong creativity — scored 92/100 in our ranking
- Strong atmosphere — scored 90/100 in our ranking
- Strong texture — scored 88/100 in our ranking
Know before you go
The full review
The Baked Bear is an ice cream sandwich shop that lets you choose your cookie, brownie, ice cream, and toppings. The cookies are baked fresh, the ice cream is good quality, and the combinations are endless. The Mission Beach location is the most iconic, with a line that stretches down the boardwalk on summer nights. The sandwich is large and messy, and the experience is fun whether you are a kid or an adult. It is not the purest ice cream experience in the city, but it is the most fun one.
On our weighted scale it earns 88/100 — good for #4 of 7 places we evaluated for best ice cream in san diego. We eat at the places we rank, pay full price for what we order, and re-score when a kitchen, chef or menu changes.
What to order at The Baked Bear
Custom ice cream sandwich
Price: $7–12
How we scored The Baked Bear
Every score on this page comes from the same editorial rubric we apply to the whole category: texture, flavor, creativity, value, atmosphere. The criteria are weighted toward what matters most in the category, compared against every other place we ranked in the same list rather than against an abstract ideal. We eat at the places we rank, pay full price for what we order, and re-score when a kitchen, chef or menu changes. Scores are editorial judgments rather than aggregated user ratings.