Anybody who knows me knows that I love ice cream. Growing up, it was a tradition to go to the local ice cream shop every Friday after school. Now, when I travel, I always research in advance the best spots to visit.
This post will continue to get updated, but this is my personal current ranking of the best frozen dairy confections around the world.
Top Five
1. Mora Iced Creamery-Bainbridge Island, WA
A short ferry ride from downtown Seattle, Bainbridge Island is lined with gorgeous trails along the water. Mora Iced Creamery, which is only a short walk from the docks, draws significant crowds in the summer for good reason. By the time I arrived, they were out of their lavender honey ice cream for the day, but the coffee and pistachio flavors were so good that I immediately texted friends on the east coast to tell them that they needed to visit.
2. Molly Moon's-Seattle, WA
There's a reason that Molly Moon's has locations throughout the Seattle area and is now available in Seattle supermarkets. The salted caramel is my personal favorite, but the seasonals are also always exciting to try.
3. Bi-Rite Creamery-San Francisco, CA
Bi-Rite sounds more like the name of a pharmacy than an ice creamery, but the small shop next to Dolores Park uses local ingredients to make incredible flavors like lavender honey and creme brûlée.
4. Toscanini's-Cambridge, MA
With everything homemade in the store, it isn't too much of a surprise that Toscanini's has been called "The World's Best Ice Cream" by The New York Times. My personal recommendation is the malted vanilla: it's truly a revelation.
5. Wentworth Homemade Ice Cream-Hamden, CT
A surefire way to tell that a place is good is when it draws a huge crowd close to closing time on a cold night. The seating area is fun and cheery, and there is outdoor seating, too, in the form of a gazebo and picnic tables.
Of all the flavors on the menu, the graham slam is the winner. The graham cracker ice cream has chocolate chunks mixed in, and it pairs really well with rainbow sprinkles and whipped cream. At Wentworth, as you can see from the photo of a two-scoop serving, they are not stingy.
Honorable Mention
Ample Hills Creamery-New York City, NY
Ample Hills can get packed, so you may find yourself walking along the Hudson River while you enjoy your ice cream. Order Nonna D's Oatmeal Lace ice cream, which mixes in cookies made from a family recipe. A fan of caramel ice cream myself, I would also highly recommend their take on it.
Best in Europe
Da Vinci Gelato-Athens, Greece
Most Impressive Ice Cream
Taggart's-Canton, OH
Nothing more needs to be said than providing the menu description of Taggart's famous Bittner: "A Canton Classic, ¾ of a pound of vanilla ice cream with homemade chocolate syrup blended throughout and generously sprinkled with roasted pecans. Popular since the 1930’s."
Best U.S. City for Ice Cream
Seattle
From the classic Molly Moon's, where the smell of fresh-made waffle cones fills the space, to the old-fashioned feel of Shug's Soda Fountain, Seattle is an ice cream lover's paradise. I'm still attempting to convince everyone that this isn't the only reason I chose to move there after graduation.
Molly Moon's-Seattle, WA
Fainting Goat Gelato-Seattle, WA
Shug's Soda Fountain-Seattle, WA
The Best of the Rest
1. Cows Creamery-Niagara-on-the-Lake, ON
2. Tipsy Scoop-New York City, NY
You must be 21 to enter this shop, because all of the ice cream has alcohol mixed in, combining two of the best treats into one. With up to 5% ABV, the ice cream has an alcohol by volume value similar to beer, but it's much more satisfying.
3. Amorino-Boston, MA
With shops around the world, Amorino is known for their gelato roses.
4. Arethusa Farm Dairy-New Haven, CT
During a visit to Yale, Anderson Cooper admitted that Arethusa Farm Dairy's is his favorite ice cream in the area, so it obviously had to make the list. The prices are phenomenal, especially given the serving size and quality of seasonal flavors like pumpkin with ginger molasses cookies.
5. Berthillon-Paris, France
