San Francisco has a long history of scooping up some of the country’s best ice cream, dating back more than 100 years. Like its restaurants, San Francisco‘s ice cream shops run the gamut from old-school charmers to trend-setting innovators. Whether you’re looking for traditional scoops, Asian flavors, gelato, vegan ice cream, or you just want to taste something entirely new, San Francisco has a sweet frozen treat for every craving. Here is the inside scoop on the 15 best spots for ice cream in San Francisco.
The Ice Cream Bar
Best Ice Cream Shop in San Francisco for: Boozy Options
Step into this sleek 1930s-style soda fountain in Cole Valley for timeless treats from scoops to floats to sundaes. The Ice Cream Bar is also a go-to spot for boozy milkshakes and floats like the Sunday Morning—a fruity sorbet float topped with sparkling wine—and Fortunato’s Reviver, a luscious combination of amontillado sherry, caramelized honey, and vanilla ice cream.
Uji Time Dessert
Best Ice Cream Shop in San Francisco for: Asian Flavors
Uji Time in Japantown is a go-to destination for ultra-cute, fish-shaped taiyaki cones, filled with colorful soft serve or “hard” ice cream in a fun variety of Asian flavors. Along with a range of yummy options from black sesame to hojicha to mango Thai basil, the shop offers limited-edition flavors like strawberry rose and lavender, plus lychee ice cream mochi.
Philmore Creamery
Best Ice Cream Shop in San Francisco for: A Caffeine Kick
Need a caffeine kick along with that sugar rush? Add a shot of freshly brewed espresso to any cup of house-made gelato at Philmore Creamery and you’ve got yourself an affogato. Standard flavors at this Pacific Heights gelateria range from classic vanilla to Sicilian pistachio, and rotating flavors feature treats like tiramisu crunch and coffee cardamom.
Garden Creamery
Best Ice Cream Shop in San Francisco for: Vegan Ice Cream
Head to this corner shop in the Mission for house-made ice cream flavors inspired by the owner’s childhood in Hawaii. In addition to dairy options, Garden Creamery offers several delicious coconut-based sorbets sweetened with agave nectar, including Kona coffee, young coconut, Thai tea, and more.
Lush Gelato
Best Ice Cream Shop in San Francisco for: Gelato
This is the place to go in North Beach for creamy, handmade gelato in unexpected flavors like brown butter and chocolate honeycomb, strawberry balsamic, and dulce de leche. Lush Gelato makes its treats fresh daily in small batches, so the texture is extra creamy. Each day the shop offers a tasty nondairy option, like vegan peanut butter cup.
The Castro Fountain
Best Ice Cream Shop in San Francisco for: Milkshakes
Like sister shop The Ice Cream Bar, The Castro Fountain has a vintage vibe, but with a more casual look. Here you’ll find an array of sodas, from old-fashioned egg cream to wild cherry phosphate, along with floats, scoops, and sundaes. Milkshakes and malts come in intriguing combos like Too Good to Be True, a blend of butterscotch syrup, malt, cream, and blackstrap molasses, and the Harvey Milkshake, blended with roasted pineapple and passionfruit syrups. Eggs are the secret to the shakes’ custard-like texture.
Toy Boat by Jane
Best Ice Cream Shop in San Francisco for: Kids
When the owners of the original Toy Boat announced plans to close up shop after nearly four decades in business, Jane the Bakery owner Amanda Michael stepped in to save the day. To the delight of kids and adults alike, she retained the Inner Richmond ice cream shop’s fun, nostalgic feel, including much of the original vintage toy collection and 50-cent rides from Butterscotch, the café’s 1950s mechanical horse. Among the updated features are Jane bakery’s pastries, cookies, and ice cream by three local makers: Double Rainbow, Mitchell’s, and Hometown Creamery.
Smitten Ice Cream
Best Ice Cream Shop in San Francisco for: Instant Gratification
Why buy pre-made ice cream, when you can watch it materialize right in front of your eyes in just 90 seconds? That’s the idea behind Smitten Ice Cream in the Mission, which offers instant ice cream gratification courtesy of owner Robyn Sue Fisher’s patented liquid nitrogen machine. Flavors include vanilla with Madagascar bourbon, cookie dough, Earl Grey, as well as several seasonal options. Adding Smitten’s brown sugar caramel sauce is never a bad idea.
Loving Cup
Best Ice Cream Shop in San Francisco for: Soft Serve
With “swirl shop” locations in Cow Hollow, Russian Hill, and NoPa, Loving Cup is the spot for hand-churned frozen yogurt mixed with goodies like English toffee, Nutella, pretzels, and ganache. Too many choices making your head spin? Choose one of the shop favorites, like Brian Boitano—vanilla soft serve blended with blueberries and toasted coconut—or the Salty Dog, a combination of vanilla, caramel, and pretzels.
Nieves Cinco De Mayo
Best Ice Cream Shop in San Francisco for: Mexican Flavors
Tucked inside a Mexican market in the Mission is Nieves Cinco de Mayo, a mini ice cream café known for flavors like elote (corn), queso, burnt milk, guava, and a variety of raspados (shaved ice drizzled with flavored syrups). Many understandably crave the mangonada, a parfait-like treat layered with mango sorbet, fresh mango, tangy chamoy sauce, chili powder, and lime.
Mitchell's Ice Cream
Best Ice Cream Shop in San Francisco for: Classic Scoops
Fans have been lining up at Mitchell’s in Bernal Heights since it opened in 1953. The shop’s famous ice cream—which comes in the form of cones, cups, shakes, sandwiches, and cakes—is made fresh daily at the shop in a dizzying array of mouthwatering flavors. Classic varieties such as rocky road and rum raisin are joined by ube (sweet purple yam), avocado, ginger spice, and lots more. The Mexican chocolate variety is a perpetual favorite.
Humphry Slocombe
Best Ice Cream Shop in San Francisco for: Far-Out Flavors
There’s nothing “vanilla” about this ice cream joint, known for its off-the-wall, experimental flavors. Stop into the Humphry Slocombe shop at the Ferry Building along the Embarcadero or swing by the Mission location to experience creative, try-them-if-you-dare favorites like Secret Breakfast—a blend of bourbon ice cream and cornflakes—McEvoy Vinegar & Oil, and Fireball Whiskey & Red Hots.
Bi-Rite Creamery
Best Ice Cream Shop in San Francisco for: Local, Seasonal Ingredients
This Mission market, bake shop, and ice cream purveyor draws crowds for its handmade ice cream, made in small batches with local, seasonal ingredients. Bi-Rite’s signature flavors include its ever-popular salted caramel, roasted banana, and Ritual Coffee toffee, plus seasonal treats like balsamic strawberry and various vegan offerings. All baked goods that go into the ice cream, from brownies to snickerdoodles, are made in-house.
Over the Moon Cookie & Creamery
Best Ice Cream Shop in San Francisco for: Ice Cream Sandwiches
Cookie sandwiches are the specialty at charmingly retro Over the Moon in the Marina. Choose from 24 ice cream flavors, from honey lavender to salted butterscotch, then pair your selection with your favorite cookie variety. Cookie recipes come from the owner’s Grandma Millie, who ran a bakery in Oxnard for 40 years. Try the sea salt chocolate chip cookie with coffee caramel crunch ice cream or create your own combination.
Polly Ann Ice Cream
Best Ice Cream Shop in San Francisco for: Decision-Challenged Customers
This Sunset District institution has been scooping up devoted followers since 1955. Polly Ann serves both Western and Asian flavors, including everything from durian to Dutch chocolate. With more than 500 rotating varieties on offer and 50 or so available each day, you may have a tough time choosing. That’s where the shop’s roulette-style wheel comes in; just ask the counter clerk to give it a whirl and order whatever flavor it lands on.
San Francisco isn’t the only California city with an exciting ice cream scene. Just across the bay in Oakland, Curbside Creamery is a can’t-miss stop along the city’s Vegan Food Trail. Also in the East Bay, the Tri-Valley Ice Cream Trail highlights 14 stops for cold, delicious treats. Fresno travelers should definitely check out the ultra-friendly Ampersand ice cream shop, which crafts its offerings with ingredients sourced from nearby farms and dairies.
