A few weeks ago, I finally hit the It’s-It jackpot when I found a strawberry It’s-It at U&I Liquors (4875 Telegraph) in North Oakland. I’ve been searching for one since this summer, when I first wrote about the two new seasonal flavors — strawberry and pumpkin. And I realized I wasn’t alone in searching. When I posted my find on Instagram, several people asked me where I found my score; they too have been scouring Bay Area corner stores endlessly for both strawberry and pumpkin.
Pumpkin It’s-Its have been a lot harder to find than strawberry, probably because ’tis the season for orange gourds, and perhaps, residual Giants fever. In case you’re wondering, yes, U&I also has pumpkin — I confirmed it with my own eyes over the weekend. But I was curious if I could find pumpkin in SF, so on my way to work, I stopped in to a few spots around the office and found strawberry at both New York Tobacco (29 Grove) and Nick’s Super Market (144 Page), but no pumpkin. The proprietors at both corner stores explained that pumpkin sells out fast!
Next, I looked on the It’s-It Facebook page and noted that several people left comments asking where the hell to get them. It’s-Its’ unsatisfactory form answer for all these queries: “You can find them at corner stores throughout San Francisco, and you can for sure find them at our Factory Shop in Burlingame, CA!” The last part is true; although their offices are only open Monday through Friday, 9–6 p.m. You can also have them delivered to your home, but that means you’ll need to buy at least one case (24 It’s-Its are in a case) for $87 ($22 for the case, plus $65 shipping + handling!!).
So yeah, unless you’re an It’s-It superfan, that might be a little too much. I called the It’s-It Factory to see if they had a list of San Francisco corner stores that carry pumpkin. The nice customer service woman there gave me the name and number of the distributor, but he has yet to call me back. So while waiting, I Googled “Where can you buy Pumpkin It’s-It?” and of course, there were a couple conversations on Yelp and Chowhound asking the same question. A bunch of people chimed in with suggestions. I called all of these places on the list and walked to a few to check myself. Here’s where I confirmed, for sure, there are It’s-Its there in their freezer case at this very moment:
Empire Market (1859 Market St.)
Fred’s Liquor (200 Valencia St.)
Stop & Shop (3000 Mission St.)
Randa’s (3131 16th St.)
K&D (3177 16th St.)
Chuck’s Sun Valley (1601 Church St.)
Casa Lucas (3924 24th St.)
Valencia Whole Foods was listed on Chowhound, but when I called, they didn’t have pumpkin at the time, although they do carry it. A person on Yelp also claimed that Fox Market near Civic Center has them, but they only had the standard flavors when I went in to check, and when I asked the guys behind the counter they claimed they never carried pumpkin (nor did they seem interested in doing so in the future).
So there you have it folks. If you guys know of other corner stores in the Bay Area that carry pumpkin (and strawberry — ‘cuz it’s still kinda rare, too), feel free to let us know in the comments below.
