The Many Flavors of Mike Manuel: The Story of San Francisco’s Most Underrated Ice Cream Shop

Beep – Beep – Beep! It’s 5 AM. Indicating the start of a long day for Mike Manuel; he rolls out of bed, taking a second to collect his thoughts before heading to the bathroom. “Bling!” The notifications have already started to roll in; with sleep evident in his eyes, Mike checks his phone. It’s an offer for catering at a local business event in the city. “Bling!” Another notification follows swiftly after, from a customer asking, “What new flavors are there this week?” A sense of urgency takes over Mike, speeding up his routine. He quickly brushes his teeth and washes his face. He rushes out to his car, ready to face a day packed with customers, ice cream churning, and endless service, all on his own at Milkbomb Ice Cream.

Mike Manuel, a local Filipino small business owner of Milkbomb Ice Cream, located on 1717 17th Street in San Francisco, CA, strives to be more than just a CEO, but a worker and leader who never shies away from the grind and challenges of owning an ice cream business.

Although smaller than many ice cream stores and brands, Mike believes, “what truly sets Milkbomb apart is care — care for our customers and care for the ingredients we use.” Evident when ordering one of my favorite desserts, the Milkbomb sandwich filled with Manila mango ice cream, topped off with the Ube pandesal.

The savory mango ice cream, mixed with fluffy, sweet Ube pandesal, finished off with medium torch marshmallow fluff, makes this my go-to order at Milkbomb ice cream, for just the price of $15 (Expensive, but worth it!!) Yet, what makes Milkbomb special goes far beyond the flavors; it’s the story behind it all. While other ice cream shops may focus on trendy flavors or creative branding, his personal story is rooted within the shop as a whole.

Growing up in the Philippines, Mike didn’t have easy access to ice cream. “It was rare for my parents or grandparents to buy it, so every time I had it was memorable,” Mike said. This is quite surprising coming from a now ice cream shop owner and CEO. But Mike’s journey with ice cream doesn’t stop there. Those early memories stayed with him, eventually inspiring the desert that would define his business.

During our interview, Mike explained to me where his famous pandasal bread sandwich originated from, and where his love for ice cream seemed to begin. “The ice cream I did get was from street vendors on foot or by bike, and I’d eat it between pandesal bread – something later incorporated into my own shop,” Mike recalled. That simple treat Mike enjoyed for himself would later become one of Milkbomb’s signature creations, the Milkbomb sandwich, enjoyed by various customers today.

But all great creations need a story. And by 2013, Mike was working full-time as a mailman for USPS, dipping his foot into entrepreneurship, owning two kiosks at a local mall. But he couldn’t seem to shake his growing fascination with ice cream.

As he walked through the mall each day, he noticed the long lines at every ice cream shop, even when the quality wasn’t anything special. That’s when the idea of Milkbomb started to form in his mind.

“When I first started telling people I wanted to open an ice cream shop, most didn’t take me seriously,” Mike said. “Some laughed, others told me I was crazy. Even family.” And despite the doubt, Mike kept pushing.  Facing rejection from landlords and investors who didn’t believe in his vision due to his lack of experience and money.

But just when he was ready to give up, a new year and a new mindset changed everything. “When 2017 came, I told myself it was a new year—— and I decided to give it one last shot. I ended up betting on myself, taking an early withdrawal from my TSP account, the government version of a 401(k),” Mike explained. Adding to say, “I only had about 20,000 saved, but I invested into my dream.”

This moment signified Mike’s leap of faith into creating his first shop, and that leap became the foundation of what would become Milkbomb Ice Cream.

“It took belief – belief in myself and belief in my Creator,” Mike reflected. “That combination of faith, obsession, and consistent effort is what truly turns an idea into reality.”

The perseverance that Mike displayed during his younger days can now be seen in the quality of his ice cream at Milkbomb. Being listed at the #6 spot on Yelp’s best dessert list. “At Milkbomb, we churn our ice cream in very small batches with overrun, so there’s very little air. When you buy a pint from us, you’re actually buying real ice cream, not air,” Mike exclaimed. Adding on to say how Milkbomb serves “premium ice cream” with the use of a 17% butterfat content, describing it as “giving our ice cream that rich, luxurious texture that sets us apart from everyone else.”

After years of rejection, risk, and faith, Mike can be seen working hard inside of Milkbomb, with the help of someone, and sometimes just himself. He has aspirations to grow Milkbomb to be a self-run business with the input of very little outside resources and interference.

So when you’re thinking about a sweet treat, visit Milkbomb. But don’t just enjoy it for the ice cream, enjoy it for the journey it took to get there, because as Mike says, “Sometimes the greatest gifts are hidden on the other side of struggle, pain and failure, but you can’t reach the island without surviving the storm.”