There’s stopping for ice cream, and then there’s rerouting an entire road trip because somebody makes a scoop with smoked vanilla and pine. We support both.
Across the country, ice cream makers are churning out flavors that go well beyond chocolate and vanilla, stuffing scoops into doughnuts, turning nostalgic treats into frozen masterpieces, and occasionally making you wonder, “Wait, that works?” Spoiler: It usually does.
Pack the stretchy pants. These small-batch ice cream shops are worth the detour.
Salt & Straw
Leave it to Salt & Straw to look at a perfectly good scoop of ice cream and ask, “But what if we added black pepper?”
The Portland-born favorite has made a name for itself with unexpected combinations and seasonal menus that aren’t afraid to get weird. Strawberry Honey Balsamic with Black Pepper has become a signature, while limited-edition flavors can venture into everything from cake and candy to savory ingredients. Even the menu changes frequently enough to make repeat visits dangerously easy to justify.
Bi-Rite Creamery
See a line snaking down the sidewalk in San Francisco’s Mission District? There’s a decent chance ice cream is involved.
Bi-Rite Creamery has been drawing crowds with small-batch scoops made from high-quality ingredients for years. Salted Caramel is the celebrity here, balancing sweet, salty, and deeply caramelized flavors in one dangerously easy-to-finish cone. Grab your scoop and head toward nearby Dolores Park for the full San Francisco experience.
An’s Dry Cleaning
No, they won’t press your shirts.
San Diego’s An’s Dry Cleaning occupies a former dry-cleaning shop and has kept the theme alive in wonderfully committed fashion. Flavors become “fabrics,” tasting spoons resemble buttons, and the rotating menu gives you another reason to come back once you’ve worked your way through the current lineup.
Behind the playful concept is seriously crafted gelato, with flavors that can venture into combinations such as saffron and honeycomb toffee. Think less wash-and-fold, more scoop-and-devour.
Frankie & Jo’s
Plant-based ice cream doesn’t have to feel like the responsible alternative, and Frankie & Jo’s is here to prove it.
The Seattle scoop shop makes its ice cream from plants, with organic ingredients and a menu that’s gluten-free. Then things get interesting. California Cabin combines smoked vanilla and pine with black pepper cardamom shortbread for a flavor that sounds a little like camping but tastes considerably better than licking a tree.
Get it in a house-made gluten-free waffle cone and prepare to reconsider everything you thought you knew about dairy-free dessert.
Coneflower Creamery
At Omaha’s Coneflower Creamery, “farm to cone” isn’t just cute marketing.
The shop sources ingredients from local farms and makes its ice cream, sauces, inclusions, and waffle cones from scratch. That attention to detail shows up in flavors like Brown Butter Almond Brittle, alongside seasonal creations that make excellent use of what’s growing nearby.
The inventive scoops may grab your attention first, but don’t overlook the classics. When you’re making almost everything yourself, even vanilla gets to show off.
Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams
Before Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams became a freezer-aisle celebrity with scoop shops around the country, founder Jeni Britton was making ice cream in Columbus, Ohio.
The brand’s Brambleberry Crisp remains one of its greatest hits, combining vanilla ice cream with brambleberry jam and oat streusel. Then there are flavors like Wildberry Lavender and Strawberry Pretzel Pie, which somehow manage to taste both nostalgic and completely new.
Yes, you may have seen Jeni’s at the grocery store. No, that does not mean you should pass up the scoop shop.
Caffè Panna
At Caffè Panna in New York City, restraint is not really the point.
The shop is known for rich ice cream loaded with swirls, crunches, chunks, and enough mix-ins to make every spoonful a treasure hunt. Cookies ‘n Panna goes big on cookie pieces, while Italian influences regularly find their way into the shop’s flavors and toppings.
Lines are common, flavors rotate, and deciding what to order may take longer than actually eating it. This is a judgment-free zone. Get two.
Tricycle Ice Cream
Remember chasing down the ice cream truck as a kid? Tricycle Ice Cream takes that energy and gives it a serious upgrade.
The Providence shop specializes in playful frozen treats, particularly ice cream sandwiches and ice cream tacos that riff on childhood favorites. Past creations have paired sweet corn ice cream with blueberry blondies and coated taco-style treats in caramelized Fruity Pebbles.
It’s nostalgic without being predictable, and considerably more exciting than anything you pulled out of the neighborhood ice cream truck freezer.
Ferris Acres Creamery
There are farm-fresh scoops, and then there are scoops served while cows are basically your neighbors.
Ferris Acres Creamery sits on a working family farm in Newtown, Connecticut, giving your ice cream run an appropriately pastoral backdrop. The servings have a reputation for being generous, so this is not the moment to pretend you’re only having “a little something.”
Go classic with Black Raspberry or dig into Cookie Jar, then find a spot outside and enjoy one of those summer moments that requires absolutely no improvement.
Crescent Ridge Dairy Bar
Crescent Ridge Dairy Bar has been scooping ice cream in Sharon, Massachusetts, since 1968, and longevity tastes pretty good.
Located on a working dairy farm, the old-school stand serves dozens of flavors, including Butter Pecan, Coffee Oreo, and Campfire S’mores. The combination of farm roots, big scoops, and classic dairy-bar atmosphere makes it feel like the kind of place your grandparents might have taken you, assuming your grandparents were smart about ice cream.
Mayday Ice Cream
Florida is hot. Ice cream is cold. Sometimes travel planning really can be this easy.
At Mayday Ice Cream in St. Augustine, the flavors lean fun and nostalgic. The Parent Trap brings peanut butter and Oreo together in a pairing that needs very little explanation, while the Aviator combines Nutella ice cream with Biscoff cookies and chopped hazelnuts.
Can’t commit to one? Order a flight and turn dessert into a tasting experience. It’s basically research.
Novel Ice Cream
Why choose between ice cream and a doughnut when Novel Ice Cream will happily remove that burden from your life?
The Arizona shop’s signature Dough Melt tucks ice cream inside a warm glazed doughnut, creating the hot-cold, soft-creamy dessert mashup you didn’t know your road trip needed. The Leslie Knope goes another route by pairing ice cream with a fresh waffle.
Traditional scoops and flights are available too, but you didn’t drive all this way to play it safe.
La Paleta
Popsicles are only the beginning at La Paleta in Las Vegas.
The shop specializes in handcrafted Mexican-style paletas bursting with fruit and colorful flavors, but the dessert menu doesn’t stop there. Belgian waffles piled with ice cream, boba milkshakes, and açaí bowls give indecisive sweet tooths plenty to work with.
There are even board games around the shop, so you can settle in, challenge your travel companion to something competitive, and order another treat when nobody can agree on the rules.
