The ultimate map of Boston ice cream shops
Boston is known for crazy—and crazy-long—winters. When the warm time of year finally comes around, there might be nothing more exciting than celebrating with ice cream. From a good ole’ chocolate cone to a chunky ice cream sandwich, a rich scoop of gelato to a Hong Kong-style waffle smothered in ice cream, you can find plenty of variety in this city when you need to cool down.
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The classic stuff
Ben & Jerry’s
The infamous ice cream duo from Vermont brings chunky mix-ins, fudgy stripes, and punny flavor names to scoop shops in Greater Boston. (NE Aquarium Central Wharf, Boston; 83 Seaport Blvd., Boston; 174 Newbury St., Boston; 800 Boylston St. Prudential Center, Boston; 36 JFK St., Cambridge)
Blackbird Doughnuts
One of Boston’s artisanal doughnut shops also has soft serve at its South End location and ice cream doughnut sandwiches at both spots. (492 Tremont St., Boston; 40 Kilmarnock St., Boston)
Boston Ice Cream Factory
Owner Steve Cirame brings his veteran experience from Christina’s to his latest creamy venture in Dorchester. (777A William T. Morrissey Blvd., Boston)
C Fruit Life
This Hong Kong-style dessert shop brings tropical flavors like mango, coconut, and matcha ice cream to Allston. (171 Brighton Ave., Allston)
Cafe Arpeggio
This longtime South Boston establishment has 103 flavors in their repertoire, with 15-20 on hand in shop. (398 West Broadway, Boston)
Chill on Park
Ice cream, coffee and tea, pastries, and more can all be found at this Dorchester hot (er, cold) spot. (142 Park St., Dorchester)
Christina’s Homemade Ice Cream
Dulce de leche? Lavender? Green tea? Find both classic and rare flavors at this Inman Square shop. (1255 Cambridge St., Cambridge)
Cold Stone Creamery
This franchise gets its name from the frozen granite stone on which workers mix customers’ ice cream with candy, fruit, and other toppings. (94 Belvidere St., Boston)
Crescent Ridge
This old school dairy farm (think: glass bottles and home milk delivery) puts the cream in ice cream with their cows from Sharon. (100 Hanover St., Boston)
Double Chin
The menu of this Asian fusion restaurant includes ice cream sundaes on egg waffles and ice cream sandwiches made with two crispy mantou. (86 Harrison Ave., Boston)
Emack & Bolio’s
Ice cream is good. Ice cream on a chocolate waffle cone rolled in coconut or cereal is better, and that’s what this shop—with five area locations—is known for. (140 Brookline Ave., Boston; 290 Newbury St., Boston; 23 White St., Cambridge; 100 Legends Way, Boston; 100 City Place, Charlestown)
FoMu.
FoMu
FoMu churns together coconut milk and natural sweeteners to make a “gelato-like” dairy-free ice cream. (481 Cambridge St., Allston; 617 Centre St., Jamaica Plain; 655 Tremont St., Boston; pop-up at 227 Newbury St., Boston until Oct. 31, 2018)
Forge Baking Company
Can’t decide on a flavor? Forge offers ice cream flights of four small scoops. (626B Somerville Ave., Somerville)
Frozen Hoagies
What started out as a food truck now brings ice cream sandwiches to patrons at its storefront, too. (864 Broadway, Somerville)
Ghirardelli Ice Cream & Chocolate Shop
These chocolatiers have more than one sweet specialty. Ghirardelli scoops up ice cream, as well. (6 North Market #N2053, Boston)
Gracie’s Ice Cream
Gracie’s sometimes adds three or four new flavors a week, so there’s always something fresh and sweet to check out at this Somerville shop. (22 Union Square, Somerville)
Helados Juli’s
Head here for everything from Colombian cholados to Mexican frescas con crema. (8 Brooks St., Boston)
HI B3AR
This trendy dessert joint puts a twist, literally, on classic ice cream by creating thin rolls of frozen dessert plus mix-ins instead of the usual scoop-on-cones. (147 Brighton Ave., Allston)
Honeycomb Creamery
At Honeycomb, find made-from-scratch, locally sourced ice cream with vegan flavor options. (1702 Massachusetts Ave., Cambridge)
Ice Age
Ice cream is served not in a cone, but in a Hong Kong-style egg waffle. (8 Tyler St., Boston)
The Ice Creamsmith
Here, extras like sprinkles and candies are mixed into the ice cream on a table, not just put on top. (2295 Dorchester Ave., Dorchester)
Insomnia Cookies
This late-night cookie joint puts ice cream in one of the places it goes best: in between two cookies. (708 Commonwealth Ave., Boston; 65 Mount Auburn St., Cambridge)
The J.P. Licks location on Charles Street.
J.P. Licks
With more than 30 years in the local ice cream scene and locations throughout the Boston area, these scoop experts bring chunky flavors to cups and cones. (311 Harvard St., Brookline; 150 Charles St., Boston; 1106 Boylston St., Boston; 1618 Tremont St., Boston; 1312 Mass. Ave., Cambridge; 661 VFW Parkway, Chestnut Hill; 24 District Ave., Dorchester; 659 Centre St., Jamaica Plain; 4A College Ave., Somerville; 611 Assembly Row, Somerville)
Juicy Spot Cafe
Juicy Spot Cafe brings authentic ice cream rolls from Thailand to Boston by way of New York City. (16 Tyler St., Boston)
Lizzy’s Homemade Ice Cream
This ice cream shop has classic flavors for those of all ages, and a few adult-only options, like Bailey’s. (29 Church St., Cambridge)
LuLu’s Sweet Shoppe
This cupcake shop also serves homemade ice cream in gourmet flavors, like pistachio with port wine and Thai tea coconut. (28 Parmenter St., Boston)
Molly Moo’s
Homemade ice cream sandwiches are the name of the game at this shop. (165 HarborWalk, Boston)
NextDoor Cafe
Ice cream rolls are not the only Thai treat found at this Allston hot spot: Bubble tea served in lightbulbs and milk foam complete the menu. (110 Brighton Ave., Allston)
Ron’s Gourmet Ice Cream
Local, beloved Ron’s is both a homemade ice cream shop and a bowling alley. (1231 Hyde Park Ave., Hyde Park)
Sugar Bowl Cafe
Breakfast, lunch, and ice cream—this cafe has it all. (857 Dorchester Ave., Boston)
Sullivan’s
What’s better than ice cream? Ice cream by the waterfront. (2080 William J. Day Blvd., South Boston)
Sprinkles Ice Cream
Among the rows and rows of food purveyors at Quincy Market, Sprinkles doles out ice cream. (120 Faneuil Hall Market Place, Boston)
Tipping Cow
With flavors like creamsicle, ginger lemon, and key lime pie, Tipping Cow gives summer’s sweetest produce a cool makeover. (415 Medford St., Somerville)
Toscanini’s Ice Cream
Get your cold (and caffeine) fix at this homemade ice cream and coffee joint. (159 First St., Cambridge)
Gelato and more
Amorino.
Abbott’s Frozen Custard
Frozen custard has more egg and is slow-churned (as in, has less air) than ice cream. (360 Washington St., Brighton)
Amorino
Instead of scoops of gelato in cups, Amorino serves flower-shaped gelato on cones. (50 JFK St., Cambridge)
Caffé Bene
Have your gelato in a cup or on a waffle at this cafe. (333 Massachusetts Ave., Boston)
Eataly Boston
This mecca of Italian foods hosts a gelato stand where the treat is made with local ingredients. (800 Boylston St., Boston)
Gigi Gelateria
Where better to find delicious Italian gelato than in the North End? (272 Hanover St., Boston)
Joey’s Gelateria
While perusing the aisles of specialty foods at this Quincy market, you can cool down with an Italian treat from their in-store gelato stand. (4 South Market Building, Boston)
