La Golositas ★ 4.3
La Golositas churns gelato without preservatives on Via Cagliari in Alghero and stays open until 01:00 through the summer evenings. An editor pick.
A guide to ice cream restaurants worth a trip, by city. We list operators, signature dishes, and the rooms locals book first.
Ice cream in Alghero
La Golositas ★ 4.3
The Alghero gelateria La Golositas makes lactose-free tubs, gelato cakes and semifreddi alongside the standard counter. It shuts every Monday.
La Golositas ★ 4.3
The Alghero gelateria La Golositas makes lactose-free tubs, gelato cakes and semifreddi alongside the standard counter. It shuts every Monday.
Ice cream in Bristol
Swoon ★ 4.2
Swoon churns Italian-schooled gelato at Wapping Wharf in Bristol with over 100 Great Taste awards, including a Supreme Champion nod for its hazelnut.
Try: Artisan gelato, over 100 Great Taste awards
Tip: The hazelnut won the Supreme Champion award; order it in a tub so harbour gulls cannot negotiate.
Ice cream in Chattanooga
Clumpies Ice Cream Co. ★ 4.4
Clumpies Ice Cream Co. has churned small-batch scoops in Chattanooga since 1999, with the Frazier Avenue shop pulling North Shore queues nightly.
Signature drink: Seasonal small-batch scoop in a waffle cone
Tip: North Shore and Southside shops remain after the St. Elmo store closed in February 2026; Frazier Avenue scoops to 23:00 on Friday and Saturday.
Ice cream in Cleveland
Mitchell's Homemade Ice Cream ★ 4.7
Mitchell's Homemade Ice Cream flagship on West 25th Street, the Ohio City kitchen and shop in a restored old movie theater, hand-crafts every batch.
Signature: Homemade ice cream, Seasonal vegan scoops
Order: Two scoops of the seasonal flavour the kitchen is leading with, plus the kitchen tour on weekends.
Tip: Tours run by appointment on weekends; weekday afternoons stay quietest. Free Bridge Avenue parking lot behind the building.
Mitchell's Homemade Ice Cream ★ 4.6
Mitchell's Homemade Ice Cream on West 25th Street in Ohio City, the Mitchell brothers' production-and-scoop room inside a former movie theater.
Try: House-made ice cream cone or sundae
Ice cream in Columbus
Jeni's Splendid Scoop ★ 4.6
A single Jeni's scoop at the Columbus North Market original counter runs under $7, the city's icon for cheap dessert at the founded-here brand.
Try: Single ice cream scoop
Graeter's Ice Cream Easton ★ 4.4
Graeter's at Easton Town Center is the Columbus-edge French-pot ice cream counter, churned in two-gallon copper kettles in Cincinnati since 1870.
Signature: Black raspberry chocolate chip, French pot ice cream
Order: A scoop of the black raspberry chocolate chip; it is the Graeter's signature for a reason.
Tip: Easton fills up on weekend evenings; the Bethel Road and Hilliard locations move faster.
Ice cream in Frankfurt
Eis Christina ★ 4.5
Eis Christina draws queues down Eckenheimer Landstraße, Frankfurt's benchmark Italian gelato counter and the Nordend's standing summer-evening ritual.
Try: Spaghettieis and seasonal fruit sorbets
Tip: The pavement queue moves faster than it looks; on hot evenings the last scoops of the popular flavours go before 21:00.
Eis Christina ★ 4.5
Eis Christina is the gelato counter Frankfurt argues least about, an unassuming Nordend shopfront with queues since the analogue era of city life.
Order: Two scoops in a cone; the fruit sorbets are the connoisseur pick
Why locals love it: It looks like any corner Eiscafé from outside; only the permanent Nordend queue gives the game away.
Tip: Closed Tuesdays, a detail that has ruined many Nordend evenings; the queue after dinner moves quicker than the afternoon one.
Eis Christina ★ 4.5
Eis Christina's cones remain one of Frankfurt's great cheap pleasures, Nordend gelato at prices that survived the espresso inflation almost untouched.
Try: Two scoops in a cone
Tip: Cash speeds the queue; the price board by the window has barely moved in years and the portions have not shrunk either.
Ice cream in Málaga
Casa Mira ★ 4.2
Casa Mira has scooped turrón ice cream and cut nougat in central Málaga since 1890, a fifth-generation counter on the marble of Calle Larios.
Signature drink: Turrón ice cream and horchata
Ice cream in Puebla
Mary Barragán Helados ★ 3.8
Mary Barragan Helados churns dense helados, paletas and nieves on 16 de Septiembre in El Carmen, Puebla, and keeps going until ten at night.
Tip: Open until ten at night in El Carmen, which makes it the obvious walk after a cemita at the market up the road.
Worth the queue: Nieve
Ice cream in Santa Barbara
McConnell's Fine Ice Creams ★ 3.8
Founded in Santa Barbara in 1949. French pot method, organic local ingredients, no preservatives. State Street shop is the brand's original home.
Signature: Dutchman's Gold vanilla, Eureka lemon and marionberry sherbet, Seasonal small-batch flavours
Ice cream in Taipei
Smoothie House ★ 4.0
Smoothie House on Yongkang Street in Taipei runs the queue mango snowflake ice in summer, mango ice cream over xue hua bing with condensed milk.
Signature: Mango snowflake ice, Strawberry shaved ice
Order: Mango snowflake ice with mango ice cream and condensed milk.
Tip: Open 10:30-22:00 daily. Walk-in; mango season runs May to October.
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