It may be a national chain, but Dairy Queen is a quintessential ice cream experience in the Twin Cities. DQ is headquartered in Bloomington, but the Lexington Avenue location is the Cities’ oldest shop — it dates back to 1947 and still sports an old-fashioned neon sign. Get all the classics here, from a peanut buster parfaits to Oreo blizzards served upside-down.

This iconic St. Paul shop is a step back into the era when diners ordered ice cream from walk-up windows. Conny’s has an impressive array of soft serve flavors, from amaretto and black cherry to pumpkin. (Sauce things up with a butterscotch or crunch dip.) Grab some onion rings and a chili dog to complete the nostalgic summer meal.

2 Scoops opened during the summer of 2020 and quickly became a Selby Avenue fixture. This is a great spot for the classics: Grab a scoop of the rich, delicately salty butter pecan, or the fudgy zanzibar chocolate. Pair a waffle cone with homemade pizza, a chili dog, or a pulled pork sandwiches. There’s a little patch of green space across from the shop for a sweet, impromptu picnic.

Breakfast lovers will especially appreciate the creations at Treats. The soft serve here includes bits of cereals like Cocoa Puffs, Fruity Pebbles, and Cap’n Crunch, and the photo-worthy cones are embellished with additional cereal, drizzles, and garnishes. Treats also serves bubble tea and dessert waffles.

Pumphouse Creamery is all about “farm to frozen” ice cream: All its flavors are handmade in the tiny kitchen with natural and organic, locally sourced ingredients. This makes for some exceptionally flavorful scoops: The strawberry, for example actually tastes like freshly picked wild strawberries. Try the speckled milky chocolate or the mint cookies and cream.

Most local ice cream shops have a plant-based flavor or two, but at Crepe & Spoon in Northeast Minneapolis, everything on the menu is vegan.  Expect classics like mint chocolate chip, vanilla, and coffee, plus harder-to-find flavors like ube (a purple yam) and rosewater cardamom. Although all of the ice cream at Crepe and Spoon is nut-based, a nut-free sorbet is typically on offer.

Sebastian Joe’s was the shop that introduced Minneapolis to premium ice cream in 1984. They’ve been scooping up delectable flavors ever since—try the Pavoratti, made with caramel, banana, and vanilla ice cream with chocolate chips.  With locations in both Lowry Hill and Linden Hills (plus a spot on the menu in dozens of local restaurants), Sebastian Joes is a much-loved Minneapolis institution.

This whimsical ice cream shop in Minneapolis’s Wedge neighborhood has a maximalist roster of flavors: For perspective, its “classics” menu features the “Breakfast Club,” a citrus vanilla base topped with caramelized Fruity Pebbles, and a salted caramel flan brulee. Even vanilla gets a flavor punch up with a dose of MSG. Bebe Zito also serves a great cheeseburger.

Rich and creamy scoops with adult-friendly flavors (think anise hyssop sorbet, cardamon black pepper, and butter cashew), Sonny’s is an ideal stop for a date night on warm evenings. It also may be the only Twin Cities shop serving a wine-flavored sorbet: Stop by to try the organic pinot grigio, finished with a hint of mint.

A sweet little spot in Uptown, La La serves both kid-approved cones and flavors adults adore. One favorite, the Charlottes’ Web, is made with toasted coconut and dark chocolate swirled into vanilla ice cream. There’s also a wide selection of house-made sodas.

This ultra-creamy ice cream is available in a rotating selection of creative flavors. Try some coffee-steeped toffee scoops — the strawberry mascarpone is a masterpiece of fresh-picked berries mixed with a dense, cream base. Grab a pint of Sweet Science’s limited release flavors to take home for later.