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A red paper cup filled with toffee-colored ice cream.
Peach ice cream from Bebe Zito.
Tim Evans/Eater Twin Cities

Where to Eat Ice Cream in the Twin Cities

From classic soft serve stands to chocolate-dipped paletas

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Peach ice cream from Bebe Zito.
| Tim Evans/Eater Twin Cities

Minnesotans, generally speaking, have a reverential attitude about ice cream. That’s owed in part to DQ, patron saint of soft serve — the Twin Cities’ oldest Dairy Queens first opened in the late 1940s, and a few of those spots are still in operation today. But the Cities have even more to offer than peanut buster parfaits. From tart sorbets and creamy paletas to indulgent custards and candy-packed scoops, here are some excellent ice cream shops around Minneapolis and St. Paul.

Note that these ice cream shops are listed geographically.

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Dairy Queen

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It may be a national chain, but Dairy Queen is the quintessential Twin Cities ice cream experience. This Lexington Avenue location is the Cities’ oldest shop — it dates back to 1947 and still sports an old-fashioned neon sign. Find all the classics here, from peanut buster parfaits to cherry dilly bars.

The exterior of an old-fashioned Dairy Queen with bright-painted decals on the windows.
An original DQ in Roseville.
Dairy Queen Lexington Plaza

Conny's Creamy Cone

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This iconic St. Paul shop is a step back in time to the era when diners ordered ice cream from walk-up windows. Conny’s soft serve ventures well outside the chocolate/vanilla paradigm, hitting flavors like amaretto, black cherry, and pumpkin. Grab some onion rings and a chili dog to complete the nostalgic summer meal.

The exterior of a building that says “Conny’s Creamy Cone” and has an awning reading “burgers chili dogs) and a large sculpture of an ice cream cone.
Old-school treats at Conny’s.
Conny’s Creamy Cone

2 Scoops Ice Cream Eatery

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2 Scoops is a great spot for no-frills classics, like rich, delicately salty butter pecan or fudgy Zanzibar chocolate, or banana splits heaped with whipped cream and maraschino cherries. Pair a cone with homemade pizza, a chili dog, or a pulled pork sandwich. There’s a little patch of green space across from the shop for a sweet, impromptu picnic.

Grand Ole Creamery & Grand Pizza

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A St. Paul institution, Grand Ole Creamery makes its ice cream in-house and doles out giant servings in fresh waffle cones. Popular flavors include Black Hills Gold (caramel ice cream with Oreos and praline pecans) and Macdaddy (butter pecan ice cream with Oreos).  The lines are long on hot summer nights, but they move quickly.

A Grand Avenue tradition.
Grand Ole Creamery

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

Nellie's Ice Cream

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Nellie’s specialty is ice cream sandwiches. Served on glazed doughnuts, fudgy brownies, or cookies, these handheld desserts are rolled in toppings like crushed Oreos for added intrigue and crunch.

Raspberry vanilla ice cream between two glazed doughnuts.
An ice cream doughnut sandwich from Nellie’s.
Nellie’s Ice Cream

Fletcher's Ice Cream & Cafe

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Fletcher’s balances classic crowd-pleasers like vanilla and cotton candy with unique scoops like ube and cardamon coffee. The Ritz caramelton — which has a sweet-salty bite, mixing Ritz crackers with house-made salted caramel — is a trademark flavor.

MN Nice Cream

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MN Nice Cream might just have the biggest toppings menu in the Twin Cities. These soft-serve cones are designed to be heaped with peanut butter bark, gummy worms, puppy chow, and toasted marshmallows — the big kind. Each cone is swirled with an impressive flourish.

Crepe and Spoon

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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 rosemary. Although all of the ice cream at Crepe and Spoon is nut-based, a nut-free sorbet is typically on offer.

Dream Creamery

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One of the newest ice cream shops in the Twin Cities, Travail-backed Dream Creamery’s menu is infused with nostalgia. The flavors touch on familiar childhood snacks, mixing pretzels, brownies, and cookie dough into rich cream bases. Dream Creamery also serves burgers, lobster rolls, and other food.

Sebastian Joe's Ice Cream Cafe

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Sebastian Joe’s was the shop that introduced Minneapolis to premium ice cream in 1984 — nowadays, it’s one of the Twin Cities’ most beloved shops. The flavors here tread the line between classic and inventive: The tart raspberry chocolate chip and the Pavoratti, which melds flavors of banana and caramel, are favorites. Sebastian Joe’s has locations in both Lowry Hill and Linden Hills

Bebe Zito Ice Cream

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This whimsical ice cream shop in Minneapolis’s Wedge neighborhood has a maximalist vibe. The “Breakfast Club” flavor is a good example: A citrus-vanilla base is mixed with Lucky Charms, and topped with caramelized Fruity Pebbles. Even vanilla gets a flavor punch up with a dose of MSG. Bebe Zito also has an outpost at Eat Street Crossing food hall.

A red paper cup filled with toffee-colored ice cream.
Peach ice cream from Bebe Zito.
Tim Evans/Eater Twin Cities

Milkjam Creamery

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Another classic Uptown ice cream spot, Milkjam’s flavors range from the refined (the namesake “Milkjam” flavor is made with caramelized sweetened condensed milk) to the totally indulgent (the “Doughboi” cake-batter ice cream is mixed with hefty cookie dough chunks). This shop has some great dairy-free options, too — the vegan chocolate is so dark and rich it almost glitters. The toppings here take Milkjam’s scoops into another stratosphere of flavor.

Two lines of ice cream buckets; a hand is scooping a purple berry flavor.
The lineup at Milkjam.
Katie Cannon/Eater Twin Cities

La Michoacana Purepecha

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An East Lake Street favorite, La Michoacana Purepecha serves a vast array agua frescas and over 30 flavors ice cream. Perhaps most popular are the paletas, some tart and fruity and others made with a rich creamy base. The sandia y limon is a lovely, tart choice for a hot summer day. Balance the sweetness out with Dorilocos or chicharrones.

La La Homemade Ice Cream

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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.

Sonny's Ice Cream Cafe

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Rich and creamy scoops with adult-friendly flavors (think cardamon black pepper, butter cashew, and anise hyssop sorbet), 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. The organic pinot grigio has a delicate hint of mint.

Pumphouse Creamery

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

Four scoops of ice cream in waffle cones sit on a wooden table. From left to right they are berry flavor, a golden brown, white, and berry flavor.
Fresh scoops from the Pumphouse Creamery.
Pumphouse Creamery

Sweet Science Ice Cream

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This ultra-creamy ice cream is available in a rotating selection of creative flavors. The strawberry mascarpone is a masterpiece of fresh-picked berries mixed with a dense, cream base; the black sesame has a nutty flavor and unique gray-purple hue. Grab a pint to take home for later.

Dairy Queen

It may be a national chain, but Dairy Queen is the quintessential Twin Cities ice cream experience. This Lexington Avenue location is the Cities’ oldest shop — it dates back to 1947 and still sports an old-fashioned neon sign. Find all the classics here, from peanut buster parfaits to cherry dilly bars.

The exterior of an old-fashioned Dairy Queen with bright-painted decals on the windows.
An original DQ in Roseville.
Dairy Queen Lexington Plaza

Conny's Creamy Cone

This iconic St. Paul shop is a step back in time to the era when diners ordered ice cream from walk-up windows. Conny’s soft serve ventures well outside the chocolate/vanilla paradigm, hitting flavors like amaretto, black cherry, and pumpkin. Grab some onion rings and a chili dog to complete the nostalgic summer meal.

The exterior of a building that says “Conny’s Creamy Cone” and has an awning reading “burgers chili dogs) and a large sculpture of an ice cream cone.
Old-school treats at Conny’s.
Conny’s Creamy Cone

2 Scoops Ice Cream Eatery

2 Scoops is a great spot for no-frills classics, like rich, delicately salty butter pecan or fudgy Zanzibar chocolate, or banana splits heaped with whipped cream and maraschino cherries. Pair a cone with homemade pizza, a chili dog, or a pulled pork sandwich. There’s a little patch of green space across from the shop for a sweet, impromptu picnic.

Grand Ole Creamery & Grand Pizza

A St. Paul institution, Grand Ole Creamery makes its ice cream in-house and doles out giant servings in fresh waffle cones. Popular flavors include Black Hills Gold (caramel ice cream with Oreos and praline pecans) and Macdaddy (butter pecan ice cream with Oreos).  The lines are long on hot summer nights, but they move quickly.

A Grand Avenue tradition.
Grand Ole Creamery

Treats

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

Nellie's Ice Cream

Nellie’s specialty is ice cream sandwiches. Served on glazed doughnuts, fudgy brownies, or cookies, these handheld desserts are rolled in toppings like crushed Oreos for added intrigue and crunch.

Raspberry vanilla ice cream between two glazed doughnuts.
An ice cream doughnut sandwich from Nellie’s.
Nellie’s Ice Cream

Fletcher's Ice Cream & Cafe

Fletcher’s balances classic crowd-pleasers like vanilla and cotton candy with unique scoops like ube and cardamon coffee. The Ritz caramelton — which has a sweet-salty bite, mixing Ritz crackers with house-made salted caramel — is a trademark flavor.

MN Nice Cream

MN Nice Cream might just have the biggest toppings menu in the Twin Cities. These soft-serve cones are designed to be heaped with peanut butter bark, gummy worms, puppy chow, and toasted marshmallows — the big kind. Each cone is swirled with an impressive flourish.

Crepe and Spoon

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 rosemary. Although all of the ice cream at Crepe and Spoon is nut-based, a nut-free sorbet is typically on offer.

Dream Creamery

One of the newest ice cream shops in the Twin Cities, Travail-backed Dream Creamery’s menu is infused with nostalgia. The flavors touch on familiar childhood snacks, mixing pretzels, brownies, and cookie dough into rich cream bases. Dream Creamery also serves burgers, lobster rolls, and other food.

Sebastian Joe's Ice Cream Cafe

Sebastian Joe’s was the shop that introduced Minneapolis to premium ice cream in 1984 — nowadays, it’s one of the Twin Cities’ most beloved shops. The flavors here tread the line between classic and inventive: The tart raspberry chocolate chip and the Pavoratti, which melds flavors of banana and caramel, are favorites. Sebastian Joe’s has locations in both Lowry Hill and Linden Hills

Bebe Zito Ice Cream

This whimsical ice cream shop in Minneapolis’s Wedge neighborhood has a maximalist vibe. The “Breakfast Club” flavor is a good example: A citrus-vanilla base is mixed with Lucky Charms, and topped with caramelized Fruity Pebbles. Even vanilla gets a flavor punch up with a dose of MSG. Bebe Zito also has an outpost at Eat Street Crossing food hall.

A red paper cup filled with toffee-colored ice cream.
Peach ice cream from Bebe Zito.
Tim Evans/Eater Twin Cities

Milkjam Creamery

Another classic Uptown ice cream spot, Milkjam’s flavors range from the refined (the namesake “Milkjam” flavor is made with caramelized sweetened condensed milk) to the totally indulgent (the “Doughboi” cake-batter ice cream is mixed with hefty cookie dough chunks). This shop has some great dairy-free options, too — the vegan chocolate is so dark and rich it almost glitters. The toppings here take Milkjam’s scoops into another stratosphere of flavor.

Two lines of ice cream buckets; a hand is scooping a purple berry flavor.
The lineup at Milkjam.
Katie Cannon/Eater Twin Cities

La Michoacana Purepecha

An East Lake Street favorite, La Michoacana Purepecha serves a vast array agua frescas and over 30 flavors ice cream. Perhaps most popular are the paletas, some tart and fruity and others made with a rich creamy base. The sandia y limon is a lovely, tart choice for a hot summer day. Balance the sweetness out with Dorilocos or chicharrones.

La La Homemade Ice Cream

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.

Related Maps

Sonny's Ice Cream Cafe

Rich and creamy scoops with adult-friendly flavors (think cardamon black pepper, butter cashew, and anise hyssop sorbet), 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. The organic pinot grigio has a delicate hint of mint.

Pumphouse Creamery

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

Four scoops of ice cream in waffle cones sit on a wooden table. From left to right they are berry flavor, a golden brown, white, and berry flavor.
Fresh scoops from the Pumphouse Creamery.
Pumphouse Creamery

Sweet Science Ice Cream

This ultra-creamy ice cream is available in a rotating selection of creative flavors. The strawberry mascarpone is a masterpiece of fresh-picked berries mixed with a dense, cream base; the black sesame has a nutty flavor and unique gray-purple hue. Grab a pint to take home for later.

Related Maps