The 13 best ice cream shops in NYC

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.

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.

If you want a real trip down memory lane, Eddie's Sweet Shop is just the place to get your sugar rush on. Scooping sundaes for over 100 years, this Forrest Hills staple's been scooping frozen treats for generations. Their simple homemade ice cream and malted milkshakes make it look easy to withstand the test of time.

Though it now has 10 locations in NYC, we fancy this one's rooftop. Across its spots, Ample Hills churns out ever-changing, off-the-wall flavors that will please inner and actual kids alike. Snap! Mallow! Pop!, a marshmallow number studded with crunchy, toasted rice-cereal nubs, is as comforting as a bake-sale Rice Krispies Treat. Ooey Gooey offers the ultimate indulgent scoop swirling chunks of St-Louis-style butter cake in creamy vanilla ice cream.

What began as a humble cart outside of a Fort Greene restaurant has expanded to two ice cream shops downtown. A few blocks from his temporarily-closed original Rivington Street spot, Nick Morgenstern’s flagship parlor serves more than 88 flavors. Even vanilla purists can feel like they’re trying something new with versions infused with bourbon or burnt honey.

One of our favorite store-bought ice cream brands finally opened up a brick and mortar in Cobble Hill. Founded by Pooja Bavishi, Malai serves up flavors from around the world. There's rose with cinnamon roasted almonds, sweet milk, star anise, ginger root and Turkish coffee. Look out for the season flavors, like the sweet roti and ghee. 

In addition to its full range of scoop flavors (chocolate, honeycomb, Sicilian pistachio)—churned with hormone-free milk sourced from upstate cows—the environmentally conscious ice cream café serves an array of vegan options. Using combinations of cashew milk, coconut milk and cacao butter, they've been able to create dairy-free options that are just as creamy and rich as than the original.

The 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.

If you're searching for proof that New Yorkers love to pantomime simpler times, look no further than this old-timey soda fountain. At the antique-filled apothecary—rehabbed by siblings Peter "Petey" Freeman and Gia Giasullo, with the help of reality TV show Construction Intervention—nostalgists can transport themselves to a Rockwellian universe, where sweethearts dip straws into a single egg cream and scrappy dogs lap up milk shake drippings. Plus, there's an emphasis on seasonal, local ingredients—just like in the old days.

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.