The 12 Best Places To Get An Artisanal Ice Cream Scoop In New York City
Ice cream chains like Ben & Jerry's and major ice cream brands like Breyer's have been on the streets and in stores for decades. While their appeal is undeniable, artisanal ice creams take things to a higher level, and some of the best scoops can be found in New York City.
Artisanal ice creams taste better because of their quantity, quality, and creativity. To start, large companies produce ice cream for the masses, and artisanal ones make theirs in smaller batches. As Harmony Valley Creamery explains, small-batch production promotes better quality control and the flexibility to play around with the recipes. Artisanal ice creams can have mouth-watering ingredients (hello, raspberry cheesecake chunks) and inventive names to compete for your attention. Plus, artisanal ice creams don't use artificial ingredients to enhance the taste or extend shelf life.
The dozen small-batch ice cream makers described below are some of the best the Big Apple has to offer, and some of the flavors you'll read about will make you stand up and take notice. But since they are made in small batches, the flavor you want might not be available at any given time. So if you see one you like online, call first to see if it's on that day's menu. These artisanal ice cream spots were chosen for their stellar reputations, flavor selections, and ability to stand out from the competition. But don't call them ice cream parlors, because that term is outdated. Now, these creamy, cold treats are served at scoop shops.
OddFellows Ice Cream Co.
A strange moniker perhaps, but OddFellows is successful enough to have expanded from its original Brooklyn location to four other NYC scoop shops plus more in Pennsylvania, Florida, South Carolina, Massachusetts, and Korea. This small-batch company calls its flavors wacky and we can't disagree; the main flavor creator and assembler is the pastry chef and James Beard Award nominee Sam Mason.
One of the oddest ice cream names here is a special holiday flavor called Buddi's Spaghetti Sundae. This has a maple ice cream base, with all kinds of candy mixed in. You'll find it in OddFellow's Holiday Movie Night collection, which also includes other flavors like Razzleberry Dressing and Banofee Pie. Not sure where all of these names come from, but since they're so delicious, you won't worry about the origins.
OddFellows also had a partnership with Penguin Random House that led to four book-inspired flavors. One standout is the non-alcoholic Smoky Bourbon Vanilla Twist, which was inspired by book plot twists. The key to the incredible flavor is smoky almonds that enhance the sweetness.
Morgenstern's Finest Ice Cream
Morgenstern's Finest Ice Cream also has some strange-sounding flavors — how does Olive Oil Chocolate Eggplant sound? It has this vegetable mixed in after it's cut up and coated in olive oil and dark chocolate. The Pineapple Salted Egg Yolk also sounds unusual and gets its taste and texture from pureed pineapple, cornmeal, and salted egg yolk. If you aren't feeling quite that adventurous, the flavor list also includes more familiar choices like Bubble Gum, Raspberry Dark Chocolate, Rockiest Road, and Salted Caramel Pretzel.
Morgenstern's is in Greenwich Village, in Lower Manhattan. Its mission is to push the flavor profiles first, with ingredients that combine different textures and strangely complement one another. And if you can't make it to Morgenstern's Greenwich Village location, the company ships its ice cream nationwide. Many other artisanal ice cream shops also do this, and as with Morgenstern's, you'll need to order several pints.
Van Leeuwen Artisan Ice Cream
Van Leeuwen's ice cream menu doesn't show dozens of flavors, but you'll see most of the basics plus more unusual ones like Kraft Macaroni & Cheese (!) The theory for this recipe is that people like eating those cheesy noodles and also love ice cream, so it made sense to combine the two and create a bright yellow creamy treat. It has Kraft cheese sauce mix in it, plus some paprika and turmeric. The Marionberry Cheesecake has swirls and chunks of this fruit, plus cream cheese and brown sugar. And if you've never heard of marionberries, Oregon Raspberries & Blackberries explains that the tart fruit is a hybrid of two blackberries and is named after Marion County, Oregon.
There are also a lot of vegan options at Van Leeuwen, like the Peanut Butter Brownie Honeycomb. That's made with coconut cream and cashew milk, making it a fine option for people who are lactose intolerant. Mayo Clinic explains that people with this condition experience intestinal discomfort after consuming dairy products, and Van Leeuwen's eight vegan options aren't made with dairy milk. Some of the other vegan choices also sound pretty amazing, like Chocolate Crumble Strawberry Jam and Vegan Churros & Fudge.
Blue Marble
With three scoop shops in NYC (Lincoln Square, Upper West Side, Brooklyn), Blue Marble has made a name for itself by only using all-natural, organic ingredients. Future Market Insights posts that the ingredients in organic ice cream are naturally grown without the use of fertilizers or pesticides, which is important for many consumers. What exactly is put into Blue Marble's awesome ice cream recipes, though?
Blue Marble's cool and creamy Mint Cocoa & Cookies flavor's first two ingredients are cream and sugar, followed by things you'd expect like cocoa and peppermint extract. If you see locust bean gum on there, don't worry. It might sound gross but Healthline claims that it's the same thing as carob gum, which is vegan. Other flavors worth trying here are the buttery Salt-Kissed Caramel and eye-opening RISE Nitro Cold Brew Coffee. You might also want to stop by a Blue Marble after you read the company's mission statement. This women-owned business is committed to corporate social responsibility, is a Certified B Corporation, is USDA-certified organic, and only uses non-GMO ingredients.
Ample Hills Creamery
Ample Hills Creamery has 11 scoop shops in the New York City metro area — plus one in California — and is based in Brooklyn. These guys are known for adding great things like pecan brittle and peppermint patties into their recipes. Few things go together as well as candy and ice cream, but Ample Hills adds in other goodies, too.
If you are fond of Greek pastries, you have to try the Nectar of the Queens flavor. It's made with housemade baklava pieces and cinnamon ice cream. Ice cream lovers of all ages also go for Breakfast Trash, a vanilla ice cream with all kinds of crunchy cereal mixed in. The Night at the Moo-seum is a good choice for chocoholics, who can dig into the chocolate pieces and bits of salted pretzels. There are more than 40 selections on the flavors page, with other must-tries like Corn to Run, No Sleep Till Pumpkin, and Pistachio Squared.
Sugar Hill Creamery
Sugar Hill Creamery incorporates the flavors of Harlem and the Caribbean into its small-batch artisan ice creams, with year-round favorites and rotating recipes that delight customers. The flavor names are catchy and hint at what is to come. For example, the Harlem Sweeties is a salted caramel ice cream enhanced with bits of butterscotch and homemade brownies. The Drink 'Em Bot 'Up flavor steals its name from Harry Nilsson's "Coconut" song and tastes like a coquito. You might also want to try another fan favorite, Your Neck of the Woods. This is cold and creamy sweet potato pie ice cream (graham cracker crust included, of course) to die for.
According to Newsbreak contributor Ann Brown, Sugar Hill Creamery is a family business owned by Petrushka Bazin Larsen and Nick Larsen. Some of their small-batch flavors remain throughout the year, while others change by season. The couple lives in Harlem, and now owns and operates three Sugar Hill Creamery locations: in Harlem's Mount Morris Park District, Hamilton Heights, and Brooklyn.
Davey's Ice Cream
It's good to know what's in your ice cream, and almost all of the homemade flavors at Davey's Ice Cream are gluten-free. When you read the menu, it also shows the allergens that each one contains. According to Johns Hopkins Medicine, avoiding gluten is important for people who are sensitive to it, like those with wheat allergies and celiac disease. Davey's is a great option for them and anyone else who needs to avoid gluten and certain allergens like peanuts.
According to Goldbelly, Davey's milk and cream are sourced from the Hudson Valley and the custom bases are pasteurized in-house over a period of four days — you can't get much fresher than that. One flavor of ice cream that caught our eye was the Speculoos chocolate chip that's made with caramel, heavy cream, and sea salt. And if you're wondering what on earth Speculoos is, no worries. Maxine's Heavenly explains that it's a Belgian spiced shortbread cookie favored by Europeans. It's also the flavor of Trader Joe's cookie butter. You also can't go wrong with the Nutella chocolate chip or fresh strawberry flavors. And if you're feeling nutty, Davey's roasts the pistachios for this flavor in-house, and you can taste the difference. Davey's has four locations in Queens, Brooklyn, Midtown, and the newest one that opened in East Village at 309 9th Street.
Mikey Likes It Ice Cream
Ice cream entrepreneur Michael "Mikey" Cole has been profiled by The Villager and CBS News and is the local celebrity owner of Mikey Likes It Ice Cream. He has three locations in the East Village, Harlem, and Midtown. There are a dozen signature flavors, and some are named after musical artists (Ice Ice Mikey, Pink Floyd) or movie characters and TV shows (Foxy Brown, Brady Bunch).
You'll see unexpected ingredients in some of them, too, but they go together surprisingly well. For example, Incredible Hulk has kale, fruit, and (what?) sea moss, but if you can get past the green color it tastes pretty great. Mikey's vegan Eat to Heal has a blueberry hibiscus base and is upgraded with crushed pineapple and cayenne pepper, believe it or not. If those sound too far out there for your palate, there's chocolate chip cookie dough, praline pecan, and the Brady Bunch. That last one is made with cookies and creamy banana pudding. Thanks, Carol and Mike Brady!
Tipsy Scoop
We're surprised no one thought of it sooner — ice cream that is infused with liquor. And funnily enough, Tipsy Scoop doesn't call its places scoop shops. It uses the word barlours, which is more on point. This is not the only place on the planet that serves boozy ice cream. You'll also find it at places like Proof Alcohol Ice Cream – though the name Tipsy Scoop sounds a little more appealing, to be honest. Tipsy Scoop has two NYC scoop shops in Manhattan and Brooklyn, plus others in Long Beach, NY, Phoenix, Orlando, and the Bahamas.
The marriage of artisanal ice cream and classic or contemporary cocktails has off-the-charts appeal, and each one of Tipsy's small-batch ice cream and sorbet flavors contains alcohol. But anyone who cannot or does not want the booze can order non-alcoholic scoops in the shops. The flavors taste as good as they sound, and are served up with a few special touches. The iced Holiday Sugar Cookie Martini has vodka and buttercream frosting and is topped with sugar cookie pieces. And then there's Waffles & Whiskey, crowned with small round waffles. For a lighter treat, try the Watermelon Basil Margarita Sorbet. These are so delicious that you'll be tempted to overindulge; you might need a designated driver.
The Original Chinatown Ice Cream Factory
Around since 1978, The Original Chinatown Ice Cream Factory is at 65 Bayard Street and divides its ice cream menu into two sections: regular and exotic flavors. Doesn't that sound amazing? The interesting part is that the exotic flavors are traditional standbys like chocolate chip (made with Madagascar vanilla ice cream) and Oreo cookie, and the regular ones are Asian-inspired.
The regular flavors stand out from what you'll see at other artisan ice cream shops, starting with the Chinese almond cookie. This scoop shop also puts exciting ingredients like black sesame seeds, ginger, lychee, red bean, and taro into its recipes. Other best-sellers are coconut fudge, pumpkin pie, and a chunk-filled strawberry cheesecake.
The Original Chinatown Ice Cream Factory also has rotating special appearances flavors, so you might see ones like Honey Lavender or NYC Cupcake in the ice boxes at any given time. Why not take The Infatuation's advice and try a different one each time you visit — it's the only way to pick a favorite at these family-run scoop shops.
Island Pops
Sometimes, a scoop shop takes a totally different spin on traditional ice cream flavors and makes a name for itself. Brooklyn's Island Pops falls into this category, with its unusual Caribbean-inspired flavors. The year-round menu shows fun flavors like Grapenut, Passion Fruit Cake, Ovaltine, and Guinness Caramel. Perhaps the most interesting is soursop, and we guess that many of Island Pops' customers don't even know what that is. Cleveland Clinic explains that it's a native South American fruit that's also called custard apple. And though it's green and prickly on the outside, the inside is sweet.
Island Pops also brings out seasonal flavors throughout the year, plus ones for special occasions. In the winter, there is a Ponche de Crème Black Cake; stop by in the fall for the Pumpkin Coconut or banana Baileys coconut. There are others in the summertime, like Lemon Nutmeg, Cherry Blossom, and Pineapple Chow Sorbet. Island Pops is owned by a husband-and-wife team who relocated to the U.S. from Trinidad in 2000. They make all of the small-batch ice creams by hand and have one scoop shop in Brooklyn.
Max & Mina's Ice Cream
If you haven't been to deep Queens lately, it's worth making the trip if only to visit Max & Mina's Ice Cream. You can't miss the storefront, which is plastered with different cereal boxes; walk inside, and you'll see more of the same on the walls. This over-the-top décor alludes to this scoop shop's cereal-themed flavors like Fruity Pebbles and Cap'n Crunch, but there are other ones like Chubby Cherry Checker and SpongeBob.
As you'd expect, the Cap'n Crunch flavor has pieces of the beloved cereal in it, but there are also bits of chocolate sandwich cookies. The Fruity Pebbles is simply vanilla ice cream and the cereal, a perfect combination. If you're into color, try the Cookie Monster — it's a blue vanilla, with chocolate sandwich cookies. Restaurantji gives Max & Mina's Ice Cream 4.7 stars, with reviewers raving about the homemade flavors, service, and decor. This is a great place to take kids of all ages who appreciate great ice cream and a fun time.