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Photograph: Jesse Hsu for Time Out Bumsan Organic Milk Bar

The best ice cream in Los Angeles

I scream, you scream, we all scream for the best ice cream shops in the city.

Patricia Kelly Yeo
Written by
Patricia Kelly Yeo
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Hot, sunny weather can make an appearance any time of the year in Los Angeles, which means it’s technically always ice cream season in our city. Slowly but surely, I’ve trekked across L.A. County, sampling dozens of different kinds of ice cream, soft-serve and yes, non-dairy desserts like water ice, paletas and vegan ice cream—all of which deserve just as much recognition as dairy-based classic frozen treats. For this particular guide, I’ve decided to exclude excellent restaurant-bound ice cream options like the traditional Italian gelato from Antico Nuovo and Nancy Silverton’s Mozzaplex, not to mention the soft-serve from Jon & Vinny’s and Yang’s Kitchen, simply because you don’t need to always spend money on entire meal every time you’re in search of amazing ice cream. 

The next time temperatures climb (and sometimes even if they don’t), treat yourself to the city’s tastiest frozen treats, many of which are built on fresh fruits and herbs from L.A.’s incredible farmers’ markets. Whether you’re looking for jam-swirled seasonal flavors, globally inspired scoops or straight-up classic combos done right, L.A. has it all—and then some more.

RECOMMENDED: Full guide to things to do in the summer in Los Angeles

L.A.’s best ice cream shops, ranked

  • Restaurants
  • Ice cream parlors
  • Los Feliz

The James Beard Award-winning writer and ice cream whiz Jeni Britton Bauer extended her Ohio roots to Los Angeles with Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams, and now you can find it in Venice, Los Feliz, Larchmont, Playa Vista, Beverly Hills and Calabasas. The scoop shops offer an eclectic choice of more than 20 flavors, with options such whiskey and pecan; brambleberry crisp; cold brew with coconut cream; and riesling-poached–pear sorbet. Looking for something traditional-leaning? Even the Milkiest Chocolate in the World is killer. You truly can’t go wrong. If there isn’t something on the signature menu, the limited-edition menu will surely have options that catch your attention and makes use of whatever’s in season.

  • Restaurants
  • Ice cream parlors
  • Tarzana

There are plenty of artisanal ice cream shops at our disposal in L.A., but this might be the first one that inspires us to hop on a plane. The flavors at Wanderlust Creamery in Tarzana, Atwater Village, Venice, Pasadena, Sawtelle and Fairfax include options such as Thai iced tea, Vietnamese coffee, Australian pavlova, and a truly phenomenal (and vegan) sticky rice with mango—essentially, the vacation you’ve been meaning to take. Everything is made in-house, including flavored cones (we’re partial to the ube and green tea options). On a monthly basis, Wanderlust also releases a selection of seasonal flavors that keep us looking forward to every visit, so make the trip for a couple scoops—you won’t even need your passport.

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  • Restaurants
  • Ice cream parlors
  • Larchmont Village
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With wild flavors found nowhere else, this Portland-founded craft creamery puts an artisanal churn on the standard scoop. Their extensive menu boasts options both indulgent and curious—many of which feature ingredients exclusive to Southern California, reflecting the company’s “farm-to-cone” philosophy. The best part? You don’t have to choose just one: Guests can opt for an ice cream flight including your choice of four flavors from both classic and seasonal menus. Over the years, we’ve come to rely on Salt & Straw’s seasonal rotating menus, from the out-there Halloween creations made with actual bugs to the return of their cereal-inspired series every March. The ice cream shop now has locations in the Arts District, Larchmont, West Hollywood, Venice, Pasadena, Studio City, Culver City and Silver Lake.

  • Restaurants
  • Ice cream parlors
  • Downtown Historic Core

Sure, it was founded in Santa Barbara, but McConnell’s Fine Ice Creams has more than taken over L.A. with some of the silkiest scoops around, and they’re made with dairy from Central Coast creameries. You can find its elegant and classic flavors in Grand Central Market, Studio City, Santa Monica and the Palisades, and for that we are eternally grateful. Where else would you get a scoop of salted caramel so decadent it should be illegal? Where else could you get flavors like cardamom and Swedish gingersnaps? McConnell’s, you make us melt.

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  • Restaurants
  • Ice cream parlors
  • Westwood
  • price 2 of 4

Chunks of cream known as khameh make all the difference at this family-run Persian ice cream shop in Westwood, where fragrant flavors like saffron pistachio, white rose and orange blossom reign supreme—though you’ll find classics like chocolate and vanilla too. Compared to American ice cream and Italian gelato, the thicker consistency of Saffron & Rose’s ice cream stretches without breaking up, for an iconic Tehrangeles treat dating back to 1974. If it’s your first time, we recommend the bright-yellow saffron ice cream studded with pistachios and anointed with rosewater and the vegan-friendly faloodeh, a chilled lime and rosewater sorbet that folds in rice noodles for a pleasing, slightly chewy, almost crunchy mouthfeel.

  • Restaurants
  • Ice cream parlors
  • West Hollywood

Chef-driven, somewhat pricey and fully vegan, Zen Ong’s West Hollywood takeout shop inside Dayglow Coffee serves high-quality, coconut-based ice cream made with seasonal, gourmet and typically local ingredients: think strawberry made with Oxnard-based Harry’s Berries and a recent collab with Fairfax’s Trophies Burger Club. Unlike other plant-based ice creams, Awan’s scoops completely disguise the taste of coconut for an ultra-smooth, creamy base—the perfect blank canvas for the chef’s Indonesian-inspired flavors, seasonal produce and everything else in between.

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  • Restaurants
  • Ice cream parlors
  • Silver Lake
  • price 1 of 4

Since 2006, Silver Lake’s Pazzo Gelato has churned out artisanal small-batch gelato made with farmers’ market produce, and the results are nothing short of spectacular. Of the six different gelaterias in the city we’ve tried in the last year, we liked Pazzo Gelato the best—the sorbetti here distill the essence of each respective fruit, and the creamy single-origin chocolate gelato offers the sort of intensely creamy-meets-cacao flavor one would expect from Italy’s most famous cultural exports. At any given time, Pazzo also carries roughly a dozen flavors, so you’re bound to find something you love.

  • Restaurants
  • Ice cream parlors
  • Culver City
  • price 1 of 4

If your taste in frozen desserts runs more classic, head to Ginger's Divine Ice Creams in Culver City and along West Third Street. Under cheery bright yellow umbrellas, you'll find more than three dozen flavors, including the ultra-popular Billionaire Brownie and our favorite, the Chocolate PB Crack. All flavors feature a super creamy, smooth and ultra-sweet base, with plenty of delicious plant-based ice creams and sorbets as well. Tasty, colorful popsicles and ice cream sandwiches made with housemade cookies appeal to the kids—or the kids at heart. Time Out tip: At the West Third Street location, park at the Beverly Connection across the street, which costs $1 an hour.

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  • Restaurants
  • Ice cream parlors
  • Echo Park
  • price 2 of 4

Some people like their ice cream with a side of apple pie, or maybe a shot of espresso. If you’re El Prado’s Nick Fisher, the perfect pairing just might be some horny goat weed or any of the other supplements available for sale at Fluffy McCloud’s, his new late-night scoop shop just across the street. Nightly, local characters dressed in styles from every decade—from Y2K to the Roaring Twenties—flock to Fluffy’s for vegan-friendly ice creams and the quirky interior, which draws inspiration from 1950s soda fountains and writer M.F.K. Fisher’s description of Downtown’s Pig ’n’ Whistle location (long gone). The gleaming all-mirror walls offset a giant Saturn-shaped lantern overhead; there’s a demonic juke box, a Lactaid candy dispenser and a horned ice cream case; and banana splits and scoops come in classic silver-hued ice cream dishes. Made with organic dairy and minimal stabilizers, the ice cream itself is delicious as well, from the Thelma’s vanilla to the “pistachioyoyoyoyoyoyoyoyoyoyoyo” made with Italian pistachio paste. 

  • Restaurants
  • Ice cream parlors
  • Old Pasadena
  • price 1 of 4

With a slew of Middle Eastern flavors and high-quality ingredients, this tiny Iranian-Egyptian creamery in Pasadena is serving some of the most unique, delicious ice cream we’ve had in a long, long time. Owners Maria Oveysi and Moe Kamal got their start at Smorgasburg (where they still pop up every Sunday), but you can also catch them at their new Old Town brick-and-mortar, where they serve a larger menu of flavors like sour cherry topped with Iranian fairy floss; a stretchy Egyptian-style mint chip; a crunchy, honey-sweet walnut baklava; and kunefe, also known as knafeh, which tops sweet cream with baked phyllo to mimic the traditional Middle Eastern dessert. Those who appreciate tangy desserts will appreciate the lavashak ice cream, which tops a blended tamarind-pomegranate base with strips of traditional Iranian fruit leather. For those driving to Kinrose, we recommend skipping the immediate parking lot (it’s quite pricey) for the dirt-cheap public garage at nearby 33 East Green Street.

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  • Restaurants
  • Ice cream parlors
  • Hollywood
  • price 2 of 4

Saffron & Rose might have our hearts whenever we’re in Westwood, but anywhere else in the city, you’ll find us digging into a bowl of Mashti Malone’s, a longtime Persian ice cream shop with locations in Hollywood and Silver Lake. Similar to Saffron & Rose, Mashti offers delicately perfumed ice cream flavors in rare flavor combos like ginger and rose water; orange blossom with pistachio; Persian cucumber; date; Alfonso mango; and saffron rose water. Where they differ, however, is in the excellence of straightforward stalwarts like cookies and cream, strawberry, and mint chip, so you can mix and match to your heart’s content. You can even get them blended into a shake or squashed between two wafer cookies (a Persian ice cream shop classic).

  • Restaurants
  • Ice cream parlors
  • Thai Town
  • price 2 of 4

Run by the couple behind Ruen Pair next door, this new fusion-style dessert shop in Thai Town serves creamy, not-too-sweet gelato in Asian flavors like candle-smoked salted egg yolk, butterfly pea coconut, tamarind and durian. While you can’t go wrong with a scoop of the Thai iced coffee or Thai tea, our favorite of the bunch is the pandan milk, which offers the lightly grassy, vanilla-like Southeast Asian flavor entombed in a sweet, creamy gelato. For a quirky, ultra-carby treat, order your ice cream wrapped in a Thai-style kanom pang—a hot dog bun topped with coconut jelly, sweet corn, sticky rice, grass jelly and palm seeds. If you manage to grab a table within the tiny, usually crowded shop, we recommend take advantage of the extra surface area by ordering one of the Korean bingsu-inspired shaved iced desserts or one of the custard toasts, both of which come topped with gelato.

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  • Restaurants
  • Ice cream parlors
  • Torrance

Named after the Japanese word for gratitude, this locally owned South Bay shop offers a rotating selection of simple, well-balanced flavors like nutty black sesame, earl gray and creamy almond mont blanc, and donates a portion of all sales to charities. Always on hand, however, are Japanese-style matcha parfaits: generous scoops of matcha and vanilla ice cream, whipped cream, mochi, red bean and cornflakes. Note: Though the daytime-only shop (12:30 to 6pm, closed Sunday and Wednesday) makes dozens of flavors, only about five are available daily, so plan accordingly.

  • Restaurants
  • Ice cream parlors
  • Fairfax District
This Black-owned ice cream truck with a brick-and-mortar on Melrose specializes in Philly-style water ice, a frozen dessert that’s lighter, and fruitier, than your standard ice cream. Open until 10pm daily, it’s a nice, refreshing way to get away from dairy with flavors like sweet watermelon and blueberry blast. If you’re looking for something creamy, you can also add a newer oat milk-based gelato to your cup. Our favorite flavor, however, is the Time Machine–a mix of cherry, mango and pineapple that tastes like a fresher, fruitier version of a classic Big Stick Popsicle. Any time of the year, it’s easy to revel in Happy Ice’s delicious, brightly rainbow-colored scoops, which could chase away even the tracest amount of gloom.
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  • Restaurants
  • Ice cream parlors
  • Koreatown
  • price 1 of 4

Look: We’d never turn down a cup of soft-serve from Magpies, CVT or Milk Bar, but the pastel-colored swirls coming out of the machines at Koreatown’s Bumsan Organic Milk Bar approach an entirely different level of airy creaminess. Since 2017, the bright pink Koreatown stand has served soft-serve made with South Korean organic milk in flavors like matcha, chocolate, pink guava and taro milk tea. The “true milk” flavor is better at Honeymee, our other favorite L.A. soft-serve spot (which also has a location in Koreatown), but the taro milk tea, pink guava and chocolate flavors here aren’t just photogenic—they’re goddamn delicious.

  • Restaurants
  • Ice cream parlors
  • Santa Monica
  • price 2 of 4
Since 2010, Santa Monica’s Sweet Rose Creamery has kept the Westside cool with a Main Street outpost and another inside the  Brentwood Country Mart. Seasonal flavors are big here, where visitors can choose from flavors packed with produce and herbs from the nearby Santa Monica Farmers Market. Don’t be surprised to find peach crumble, sweet corn, and blueberry muffin on offer alongside classic options such as vanilla, salted caramel and fresh mint, all available à la carte or in creations like their artisanal sundaes. If all else fails, order Sweet Rose Creamery’s banana split topped with housemade marshmallows—even after all these years, Sweet Rose’s classic flavors still manage to hit the spot.
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  • Restaurants
  • Ice cream parlors
  • Mid City
  • price 1 of 4

This best-in-class Mexican paleteria with locations in Culver City, Mid-City, Pico-Union and West L.A. stocks over thirty different flavors of Oaxacan-style ice cream bars including juicy watermelon, tangy chile-dusted mango and the smoky, must-try leche quemada. You’ll also find gelato and sorbet on the menu, but the move here is to order a paleta—the icy, fruit-filled treats are just as delicious as your standard scoop on a cone.

  • Restaurants
  • Ice cream parlors
  • Studio City
At the Studio City and Beverly Hills offshoots of this Rome-based gelateria, you'll find 66 unique varieties of gelato and sorbetto reflective not just of Italy, but California as well. Run by husband-and-wife team Alessandro Jacchia and Katyna Mercenari, you'll find flavors like guavas, passionfruit and mamey, an adorable "sushi" gelato bento box and classics like gianduja, stracciatella and frutti di bosco. Chocolate lovers, take note: Fatamorgana churns out a half-dozen varieties—all the better to order one of the shop's six-flavor waffle plate samplers.
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  • Restaurants
  • Ice cream parlors
  • Hermosa Beach
  • price 1 of 4

If you can get past the oh-so-cheeky name, the New Zealand-style ice cream at this Hermosa Beach takeout window is some of the best in the South Bay. Inspired by the ice cream shops back home, co-owners Duncan Parsons and Joe Wedd blend together fruit with a milky (or vegan-friendly oat) vanilla ice cream base—and while that might not sound all that exciting, the end result is a cloud-light frozen dessert like nothing else you can find in Los Angeles. Each order is blended fresh for every customer and can be modded out to your exact specifications. For those who crave extra sweetness, there’s the Hokey Pokey (honeycomb toffee), but we like the mixed berry variety best. In a cup or in a cone, the fresh fruit ice cream is a soft-serve lover’s dream—and a refreshing, lighter treat for hot days or whenever you find yourself at the beach.

  • Restaurants
  • Ice cream parlors
  • Koreatown
  • price 1 of 4

Located directly across from Koreatown’s Boiling Crab is Honeymee, an ice cream shop serving luxuriously creamy not-too-sweet “pure milk” soft serve with pure honey. The move? Get the Sweetie, which displays the honey in gorgeous amber swirls, or the Honeymee, which features a giant chunk of honeycomb on top (who needs a cherry?). There are chocolate sauce, matcha and affogato options as well, but let’s be honest—you’re here for the honey. You can also find Honeymee along Sawtelle, in Little Tokyo and further-flung locations in Gardena and Buena Park.

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  • Restaurants
  • Ice cream parlors
  • San Fernando Valley

The artists formerly known as Helados Pops now go by Pops Artisanal Creamery, but a scoop of hibiscus tea sorbet is just as sweet by any other name. The generational family operation whips up some of the best ice cream and sorbets in the greater San Fernando Valley, drawing on the varying ripeness of fresh fruits to inform each batch—whose recipes get tweaked accordingly. Flavors here are bright and always rotating, so you might find spiced cucumber one week and cashew fruit the next, with a handful of flavors almost always in the mix (thankfully the tamarind, young coconut, and vegan chocolate are almost always on offer).

  • Restaurants
  • Ice cream parlors
  • Sierra Madre

Tucked away in the sleepy one-stoplight town of Sierra Madre, Mother Moo is one of the best places for classic ice cream in the San Gabriel Valley—a part of L.A. County that’s chock full of artisanal creameries. Locals stop in for root beer floats, milkshakes and ice cream in flavors like salty chocolate; peppermint stick; roasted banana; raw honey; and triple milk, which combines buttermilk, cream and nonfat milk. Owner Karen Klemens handcrafts her ice cream using local, seasonal produce and organic dairy, and you can really taste the difference in each bite. A newer line-up of dairy-free sorbets makes it easy for anyone who’s lactose intolerant to join in on the fun, and there’s homestyle pies, cakes and cookies—perfect for making into Mother Moo’s delicious ice cream sammies.

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  • Restaurants
  • Ice cream parlors
  • Alhambra
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This Alhambra institution is like a leap back in time: Fosselman’s opened in 1919, and though it moved to its current location more recently (‘74, to be exact), it still provides all the old-timey charm of an old-school ice cream parlor. The flavors are almost all straightforward and classic, while the operation is run by third-generation Fosselman’s who offer half-gallons, choose-your-flavors ice cream cakes, and six-packs of ice cream sandwiches featuring chocolate cookies. Their most popular flavors include the Cookie Monster, which mixes Oreos, graham crackers and cookie dough into a bright blue vanilla base.

  • Restaurants
  • Ice cream parlors
  • Culver City
  • price 1 of 4

With a cornucopia of sugary flavors and affordable pricing, this Ohio-based ice cream franchise hits the perfect middle ground between gourmet shops and bargain bin options like Thrifty's. Every scoop of ice cream is made at in-store at each Handel's location, and the brand's captured our attention with flavors like Buckeye (peanut butter base with fudge ripple and buckeye candy pieces), Elvis (banana base with peanut butter ripple) and a delightful mint Oreo. While we're admittedly less keen on the fruit flavors like strawberry, which tend to taste merely sweet, we love any flavor that uses cookies, candy, chocolate or peanut butter. Just note you'll have to leave L.A. proper to get a fix: As of now, Handel's is open in Santa Monica, Culver City, Manhattan Beach, Downey, Pasadena, La Cañada, Long Beach, Northridge and Woodland Hills.

See the best ice cream shops in America

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