Ice Cream Shops That Are About To Be Everywhere

Summer is peak ice cream season, but if you ask us, a trip to the ice cream shop sounds like a good idea any time of the year. Some of America's most celebrated ice cream shops, like Baskin Robbins and Carvel, have been in business for over 75 years and amassed hundreds of locations (or in Baskin Robbins' case, 7,800) all over the world. What do these two mastodons of the ice cream industry have in common? They started with one shop. Technically, Carvel's was an ice cream truck, but you get the idea.

Ice cream will probably always be popular, and as technology advances and food trends shift, the ice cream industry is more exciting and innovative than ever. Within the last few years, many ice cream shops have grown from local favorites to successful chains. Vegan ice cream, ice cream made with liquid nitrogen, and even gelato were once considered novelties, but now have a more mainstream appeal. Ice cream shops that base their business on these once-confusing concepts have gained a steady customer base that's allowed them to expand beyond their original locations. At the same time, other ice cream shops are earning success by putting a renewed focus on natural ingredients and unique, delicious flavors. To give you a better idea of what ice cream looks like today, we're bringing you a hot list of cool ice cream shops that are about to be everywhere.

The folks at New City Microcreamery aren't alone in their belief that made-from-scratch ice cream is the best in the business. Jeni Britton, the creative mind behind Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams, has been perfecting her ice cream recipe for over two decades, and her efforts are paying off. It started in Columbus, Ohio in 2002 when Britton, an art student turned food experimentalist, opened her flagship store in North Market, where she shared innovative ice cream flavors like Wildberry Lavender, Honey Milk Chocolate, and Brambleberry Crisp with the public market's crowds. Britton's second location opened three years later, and would eventually expand to over 65 nationwide locations and earn her a James Beard Award.

What sets Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams apart is the ongoing commitment to using the best, chemical-free ingredients available from family businesses and fair trade institutions. Jeni's ice cream has the full-bodied texture and decadence of real buttercream perfectly blended with fruit, chocolate, nuts, cookies, or more unexpected components like goat cheese and cream cheese. You can also find Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams inside the freezers of grocers all over the country including CVS, ShopRite, and Whole Foods. Britton also makes a point to keep up with pop culture. The brand has partnered with Apple TV+ to create an original flavor inspired by "Ted Lasso" called "Biscuits With The Boss", featuring homemade shortbread cookie crumbles and a hint of sea salt.

Artisanal gelato is cooling things down in the Lone Star State with help from Botolino, an authentic shop that opened in Dallas in 2017. Botolino's gelato may be American-made, but this place is as authentic as it gets. Owner Carlo Gattini moved from Tuscany, Italy to Texas as a teenager. His father opened Dallas' MoMo Italian Kitchen, which is still open today. Gattini perfectly understands the importance of simplicity, tradition, and well-chosen and pure ingredients, which includes fruit from local Texan farmers. A second Botolino location is in the Preston Royal outdoor mall in Dallas, and a third is slated to open in Dallas' trendy Bishop Arts District in October 2023.

If you're unsure of what makes gelato different from traditionally churned ice cream, you're not alone. Gelato uses more milk than cream and is churned slowly, which creates a denser texture than the fluffy feel ice cream tends to have. For the record, though, the word "gelato" is Italian for "ice cream". Gattini insists on only using high-performance gelato machines made in Italy, and although the flavors change daily, they always exude luxury. Delicate flavors like Mascarpone & Figs and Persian Flower beautifully compliment more minimal offerings like NY Cheesecake and Milk Chocolate. For the non-dairy eaters out there, Botolino also offers a lovely selection of sorbettos, and a Peanut & Jelly Sandwich flavor made with cashew milk.

We've talked a lot about ice cream shops that incorporate fresh ingredients, champion environmental sustainability, and take an artful approach to ice cream making — all of which are good for business and Mother Earth, but Molly Moon's was doing these things long before it was a widespread trend. The Seattle ice cream shop has 10 locations throughout the city, expanding steadily since owner Molly Moon Neitzel opened the first location in 2008. From the beginning, Neitzel aimed to create homemade ice cream that celebrates the local community: its farms, organizations, and people.

To make Molly Moon's signature flavors like Melted Chocolate, Scout" Mint, and Yeti (a sweet cream flavor with housemade granola), Neitzel and Co. predominantly use ingredients native to the Pacific Northwest. Buying from local farmers, coffee roasters, and beekeepers, a practice that supports small businesses in the area and makes for some awesome-tasting ice cream — sounds like a win-win! By donating to non-profit organizations in and around Seattle, providing a 401K matching program for its employees, and committing to renewable energy initiatives like wind power, Molly Moon's sets the standard for what ice cream shops can be in the 21st century. Dozens of grocery stores in Washington and Oregon sell containers of Molly Moon's ice cream, with more grocers being added to the distribution list weekly.

For the family behind Two Roosters, making ice cream at Granny's house was a Sunday afternoon tradition. In 2014, owner Jared Plummer decided to turn those cherished memories into a business, and started Two Roosters Ice Cream out of a refurbished trailer hitched to a custom-painted turquoise Ford pickup truck. Plummer's food truck venture paid off, and he opened a brick-and-mortar location in Raleigh, North Carolina in the summer of 2017. Now, there are three Raleigh shops and a fourth in Durham, North Carolina. The Durham spot opened in 2020, and is located in the Golden Belt, a converted warehouse complex with a great outdoor area that's also home to an artisanal pizzeria and a local brewery. USA Today named Two Roosters one of America's best ice cream parlors.

Two Roosters has been able to expand because the ice cream is rich, high-quality, and inventive. The ice cream shop is known for its "forever flavors" like Strawberry & Honey, Blackberry Hibiscus, and Coffee Bourbon. Plummer also loves to get funky with his flavor concepts, and offers a monthly rotation of original ice creams that he dreams up with a small culinary team. Some of Two Roosters' bold flavor innovations include Pizza (yes, pizza), Sriracha, Fortune Cookie, and Key Lime Gingersnap.

Many of the up-and-coming ice cream shops on this list are barely a decade old — mere infants compared to the legacy of Handel's Homemade Ice Cream. Its origins are in Youngstown, Ohio, where Alice Handel began sharing ice cream she created with an original recipe and fruit from her home garden with the neighborhood. That was in 1945, but Handel's Homemade Ice Cream is still going strong today. Though Handel's is a franchise operation boasting over 100 locations across 12 states, the ice cream you eat here is always made in-house using Alice Handel's recipes. Handel's ice cream shop leans on the traditional side of things, and every store sells at least 45 flavors each day including selections like Eggnog, French Silk Pie, Cinnamon Graham Cracker, and Black Walnut.

If you're in the mood for something a little different from a cone or dish of regular ice cream, Handel's offers an assortment of sherberts in fun flavors like Pink Champagne and Red Raspberry. It also sells something similar to a Dairy Queen Blizzard — but it's called a Hurricane. Handel's bragging rights speak for themselves, but if you need convincing, it was named the #1 best ice cream by National Geographic's global travel guide "The 10 Best of Everything."

We know how important it is for these growing ice cream shops to partner with regional farmers, but Owowcow Creamery, a small-batch business with locations in Pennsylvania and New Jersey, takes these practices so seriously it received a license from the Department of Agriculture to make its organic ice cream base. Owowcow Creamery was also named in USA Today's list of America's 10 Best Indie Ice Cream Shops in 2023.

Since 2009, owner John Fezzuoglio has adhered to Owowcow's original mission of supporting the local agricultural community and sharing the fruits of these labors with others. There are 24 hand-made ice cream flavors available at Owowcow at any given time — a mixture of staples like Cookie Monstah and I Hate Chocolate are offered beside vegan options and seasonal specialties. In addition to its five shops, Owowcow ice cream is sold in retail stores and restaurants.