Skip to Content

Ice Cream Dreams: LA’s Top 17 Must-Try Scoops 2024

Updated for 2024

The weather is amazing in Los Angeles all year long, which means any season is the right one for ice cream! Ice cream in Los Angeles is an art form, so we’ve done our best to gather what we think are some of the best ice cream shops in LA — and don’t forget about popsicles. Just because there’s only one National Ice Cream Day does not mean you can’t have it any time you want. Go for it!

Ice cream is a treat we can totally get behind. Whether you’re looking for vegan ice cream, dairy ice cream, popsicles, paletas, in a cup, or in a cone — these terrific scoop shops in SoCal have what you’re looking for.


Turn Dough's Soft Serve Ice Cream
Turn Dough’s Soft Serve Ice Cream in their signature Chimney Cake

Turn Dough
1425 Ocean Front Walk, Ocean Front Walk, Venice, California 
6771 Hollywood Blvd., Los Angeles, California 90028

Turn Dough offers a wide selection of soft serve ice cream cone cakes, emphasizing authentic flavors and high-quality ingredients. With a menu featuring 18 signature chimney cakes, customers have the option to personalize their orders with various toppings and sauces. Turn Dough aims to introduce customers to the unique and delightful experience of European desserts, complemented by a local twist.

Featured listings are from our advertising partners.


The Best Ice Cream Scoop Shops in Los Angeles

Afters Ice Cream
Multiple locations around SoCal

Afters Ice Cream is known as the home of the Milky Bun — a singular creation involving ice cream and a glazed bun (something like a donut but without the hole) that’s apparently not to be missed. The brand is also super popular on Instagram, and they’ve got a ton of very creative flavors.

Carmela Ice Cream
2495 East Washington Blvd., Pasadena, CA 91104

Established in 2007, Carmela offers artisan ice cream and sorbets with seasonally inspired flavors such as basil and lavender honey from locally grown and organic herbs, spices, and flowers. Everyday flavors include Brown Sugar Vanilla Bean, Lemon Basil Sorbet, and Strawberry Buttermilk, while seasonal flavors can include Brown Butter Sage and Pear Champagne Sorbet.

someone enjoying a double scoop of ice cream in a waffle cone

Coolhaus
8588 Washington Blvd., Culver City, CA 90232

Coolhaus began as a food truck and became so popular, so quickly that they opened shops in Culver City and Pasadena (the Pasadena site has since been closed). Their ice cream parlors are known for selling gourmet, handmade, and unique flavors such as Guinness Chip, Chicken and Waffles, and Lucky Charms.

Creamistry
6150 Laurel Canyon Rd., Ste. 135, North Hollywood, CA 91606

Creamistry serves made-to-order Liquid Nitrogen Ice Cream, which means it’s about as fresh as possible! Choose your base, flavors, and toppings — it’s all customizable there! They have multiple locations around SoCal.

Creamy Boys Ice Cream - New Zealand Style in Hermosa Beach
Creamy Boys Ice Cream – New Zealand Style in Hermosa Beach

Creamy Boys Ice Cream
1136 Hermosa Ave, Hermosa Beach  90254

Creamy Boys Ice Cream has been around since 2020, popping up at various LA hotspots with their ice cream truck. And now this New Zealand Style Ice Cream has opened their first permanent location in Hermosa Beach. Creamy Boys ice cream is made to order by blending a base of vanilla – in a choice of dairy or vegan – with fresh fruit of your choice, which gives real flavor and color, into a soft serve swirl – a popular style in New Zealand. In addition to the classics like mixed berry and strawberry, they’re also known for their version of the famed New Zealand flavor, hokey pokey. Imagine honeycomb toffee, made in- house, blended into your ice cream and sprinkled on top.

Fosselman’s
1824 West Main Street, Alhambra, CA 91801
(626) 282-6533

A family-owned and operated business, Fosselman’s has been scooping the most delicious ice cream to customers for over 100 years. Completely family-friendly, the kids will love the candy selection and you’ll love the 48 ice cream flavors to choose from.

Related: The Best Birthday Cakes in Los Angeles

Ginger’s Divine Ice Cream and Pops
Two locations including:
12550 W. Washington Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90066
8430 W. 3rd St., Los Angeles, CA 90048

Ginger is the person behind Ginger’s Divine Ice Cream and Pops. She shops at local farmers’ markets for fresh ingredients and makes all of the ice cream, cookies, and brownies the stores sell. The company is known for its amazing flavor combinations, Vegan ice cream, and seasonal flavors.

A couple of different ice cream flavors in a dish

Handel’s Homemade Ice Cream
Multiple locations around SoCal including:
8850 Corbin Ave., Los Angeles, CA 91324

Launched in 1945 in Youngstown, Ohio, by Alice Handel, Handel’s has grown and now includes locations all across the U.S. All of the ice cream flavors are made fresh daily in each location. Look for more stores opening in SoCal soon.

ice cream at Gingers
Ice Cream at Ginger’s

HONEYMEE
3377 Wilshire Blvd., Ste. 116, Los Angeles, CA 90010

HONEYMEE has a select menu offering, but don’t let the small menu fool you: It offers sweet, smooth, all-natural ice cream. The subtle floral honey and not-at-all-icy soft serve is sure to be the subject of your summer food fantasies.

Related: Best Shaved Ice in SoCal

Jeni’s Splendid Ice Cream
Multiple locations in Los Angeles including:
4751 Commons Way, Ste. A, Calabasas, CA 91302
540 Rose Ave., Venice, CA 90291

Jeni’s makes ice cream with a uniquely smooth texture and buttercream body, with flavors like Gooey Butter Cake, Caramel Pecan Sticky Buns, and Brambleberry Crisp, among many others. Jeni’s is also a Certified B Corporation, which means they meet rigorous standards of social and environmental performance, accountability, and transparency. 

Salted Caramel ice cream in a waffle cone at Salt & Straw's newest location in Silver Lake
Salted Caramel ice cream in a waffle cone at Salt & Straw’s Silver Lake location

McConnell’s Fine Ice Cream
Grand Central Market, 317 S. Broadway, Los Angeles, CA 90013

For almost 70 years, McConnell’s has been making their impeccable ice cream the same way — from scratch, in small batches. Ingredients include Central Coast grass-grazed milk and cream, pasteurized at their creamery at The Old Dairy, and the finest local, sustainable, and organic raw ingredients sourced from partner farms, artisans, and purveyors.

Dear Bella Creamery
1253 Vine St. #12, Los Angeles, CA 90038

What if you crave ice cream but are staying away from dairy products? Head over to Dear Bella to get a couple of scoops of vegan ice cream right away! They’ve got flavors like Taiwanese Pineapple Cake, Mango Chamoy, Rocky Road, Birthday Cake, and so many more. They also have treats to go with their ice cream, like cakes, cookies, and even gluten-free waffle cones. It all looks so good!

Magpie’s Softserve
Three locations:
Silver Lake — 2660 Griffith Park Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90039
Tarzana — 18971 Ventura Blvd., Tarzana, CA 91356

Highland Park — 5049 York Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90042

We were reluctant to add soft serve to a list of scoop shops, but this is not ordinary soft serve ice cream. Made from scratch by avowed ice cream lovers, Magpie’s boasts flavors like Malted Milk Chocolate, Corn Almond, Hazelnut Coffee, Fresh Banana, and more. Vegan options and daily flavors are listed on their website.

Bonus: Soft Serve Pies.

Mateo’s Ice Cream & Fruit Bars
Four locations including:
1250 S. Vermont Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90006

Mateo’s opened in 1982 and now has more than 25 different flavors of ice cream and 26 different kinds of ice pops. They also have paletas made with 100 percent real fruit. Everyone in the family will find something they love at Mateo’s.

Rori’s Artisinal Ice Cream
Multiple locations including:
910 Montana Ave., Santa Monica, CA 90403

Rori’s Artisinal Ice Cream is made in small batches using local California Central Coast milk products and local herbs and ingredients. Rori Trovato makes all of the delicious ice cream and cookie recipes for locations from Santa Monica to Carpenteria. Flavors include Malted Milk Ball, Lemon Curd, and Cinnamon Toast Cereal Crunch.

Salt and Straw ice cream cone
a tantalizing ice cream cone at Salt & Straw – Abbot Kinney scoop shop

Salt & Straw
Multiple locations including:
Silver Lake — 3823 Sunset Blvd.

Larchmont — 240 N. Larchmont Blvd. 90004
Culver City — 9300 Culver Blvd. at the Culver Steps
Venice — 1357 Abbot Kinney Blvd.

Cousins Kim and Tyler Malek’s Portland-based creamery, Salt & Straw, has gained fast popularity with their handmade fresh small-batch seasonal scoops here in Los Angeles. When they launched in LA, they crafted a new flavor just for us: a Meyer Lemon Buttermilk Custard with ribbons of blueberry jam served alongside some of their classics like Sea Salt with Caramel Ribbon and Cinnamon Snickerdoodle. There’s a new set of flavors each month!

Sweet Rose Creamery
225 26th St. #51, Santa Monica, CA 90402

Sweet Rose is a small-batch ice cream shop that focuses on local, organic ingredients and farmer’s market fruits and produce — mainly from the Santa Monica Farmers Market. Sweet Rose pasteurizes on-site and makes all ice cream, sorbets, and dairy-free ice creams and cones on the premises from scratch. They feature at least 5 classic flavors daily and 10+ seasonal flavors daily.

a scoop of marionberry cheesecake ice cream at Van Leeuwen
a scoop of marionberry cheesecake ice cream at Van Leeuwen

Van Leeuwen
Multiple locations around SoCal, including:
The Point at El Segundo, 850 S. PCH, Store #1-F, El Segundo, CA 90245
Silver Lake, 2925 W. Sunset Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90026

This company started as a food truck in New York City in 2008. Since then, it has grown and now has locations spread all across the country. Van Leeuwen’s dairy ice cream uses extra egg yolks for extra goodness, which means it needs to be called, “French Ice Cream,” according to some authorities. But we think it’s fine for you to call it anything you want.

Van Leeuwen is known for changing its flavors from season to season, so be on the lookout often for new products to try!

a photo collage of ice cream with the words, Best Ice Cream in Los Angeles.

MomsLA is your source for Things to do with Kids in Los Angeles

Disclaimer: MomsLA has made every effort to confirm the information in this article; however, things can often change. Therefore, MomsLA makes no representations or warranties about the accuracy of the information published here. MomsLA strongly urges you to confirm any event details, like date, time, location, and admission, with the third party hosting the event. You assume the sole risk of relying on any of the information in our list. MomsLA is in no way responsible for any injuries or damages you sustain while attending any third-party event posted on our website. Please read our Terms of Use which you have agreed to based on your continued use of this website. Some events have paid to be listed on MomsLA.

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.