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Morgenstern's Finest Ice Cream King Kong Banana Split
Photograph: Paul Wagtouicz

The 12 best ice cream shops in NYC

NYC is packed with acclaimed new ice cream parlors and old frozen favorites

Amber Sutherland-Namako
Written by
Amber Sutherland-Namako
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We love ice cream in all its forms—and all year round. Though we’ll happily partake any time, ice cream—like music festivals, picnics and outdoor diningis a joyful harbinger of warmer weather. Just try to be grumpy with a great big ice cream cone on a sunny day—you cannot! New York City has an abundance of options for when you can’t catch the Mister Softee truck. These are our favorite classic, offbeat, unique and traditional ice cream offerings this season.

Time Out Market New York
  • Time Out Market
  • DUMBO

Sugar Hill Creamery owners Nick Larsen and Petrushka Bazin Larsen’s seasonal ice cream flavors are often inspired by their Midwestern and Caribbean backgrounds as well as their longtime home of Harlem. The husband-and-wife team has been crafting distinct ingredient combinations out of their Central Harlem store since 2017, and devoted fans hungry for frozen treats that you won’t find in the supermarket led the pair to open a second location in Hamilton Heights just a few years later. Stop by often—there’s always an innovative new flavor to try.

Best ice cream in NYC

  • Restaurants
  • Ice cream parlors
  • Chinatown
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A family-run Chinatown institution for more than 40 years, this popular scoop shop sells durian, pandan, red bean and other lesser-seen ice cream varieties. The place is compact, so plan on taking this perfect treat for a walk through the neighborhood. The same team also operates a Lower East Side offshoot at Essex Market.

  • Restaurants
  • Ice cream parlors
  • Forest Hills

If you want a real trip down memory lane, Eddie's Sweet Shop paved the road with sugar and cream. The Forrest Hills staple's been scooping frozen treats for more than 100 years. Its simple homemade ice cream and malted milkshakes make it look easy to withstand the test of time.

 

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  • Restaurants
  • Ice cream parlors
  • Carroll Gardens

One of our favorite store-bought ice cream varieties also has a brick-and-mortar shop in Cobble Hill. Founder Pooja Bavishi's Malai serves up egg-free flavors like rose with cinnamon roasted almonds, sweet milk, star anise, ginger root and Turkish coffee. 

  • Restaurants
  • Ice cream parlors
  • East Village
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Although it first came to fame as a fairly precious artisinal local ice cream truck, then chain, Van Leeuwen's more recent and geographically wider renown is for its successful stunts like a "limited edition" mac and cheese flavor. But it still offers options like chocolate, honeycomb and Sicilian pistachio, all churned from scratch in Greenpoint. Van Leeuwen also offers an array of vegan options. 

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  • Restaurants
  • Ice cream parlors
  • Williamsburg
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This circus-striped ice cream spot has expanded into multiple locations, including Williamsburg's Domino Park. Chef-owner and WD-50 alum Sam Mason whips up unique flavors like lemon thyme shortbread and matcha rocky road.

  • Restaurants
  • Ice cream parlors
  • Carroll Gardens
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If you're searching for proof that New Yorkers love to pantomime simpler times, this old-timey soda fountain is the pudding. The antique-y spot evokes a Rockwellian universe, where sweethearts dip straws into a single egg cream and scrappy dogs lap up milk shake spills. Plus, there's an emphasis on seasonal, local ingredients—just like in the old days.

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  • Restaurants
  • Ice cream parlors
  • Lower East Side
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When only soft serve will do, Soft Swerve wildly improves on some old familiars of the form. Our favorite flavors include ube purple yam and Thai tea, plus you can swirl some of the options. 

  • Restaurants
  • Ice cream parlors
  • Upper West Side
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Ice cream truckers Doug Quint and Bryan Petroff offer their quirky soft-serve creations in a cute Manhattan shop, emblazoned with a giant rainbow-swirled cone. Crowd favorites like the Dorothy (vanilla ice cream, dulce de leche and crushed Nilla wafers) will make you feel like a golden girl.

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  • Restaurants
  • Ice cream parlors
  • Lower East Side
  • price 1 of 4

This modern, industrial tasting room offers 40 flavors at a time, plucked from a 300-strong repertoire that includes wasabi, vanilla-saffron, avocado and a range of chocolate flavors, plus dozens of fruit sorbets. Its glass-walled production room is visible from the street for dessert and a show. 

  • Restaurants
  • Ice cream parlors
  • East Village
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This is the brainchild of graphic-designer-turned-dessert-maven David Yoo, who's churning out all-natural sweet cream-based parlor classics like salted caramel and roasted pistachio, along with oodles of toppings. If it's one of those days where a few scoops won't do, whole ice cream cakes are also available. 

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