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Everyone’s favorite frozen dessert can be found at locations all over the nation’s capital
Tucked inside one of the coolest spots in DC, The Creamery at Union Market is family-owned and has become an essential part of the community after nearly a decade in existence. The shop’s hard-serve ice cream delights in a range of classic flavors and can be enjoyed by the scoop or in pints to-go. You can also try soft-serve and homemade waffle cones as well as milk, butter, cheese and other dairy products sourced directly from local farmers.
Across shops at CityCenterDC, Dupont Circle, Mosaic District and the Hirshhorn Museum, Dolcezza churns out Argentine-style gelato and sorbet, which is to say: extra smooth and extra rich. Notable flavors include orange honey cardamom, roasted strawberry, black and white cookie batter and chocotorta, a popular Argentine dessert made of cream cheese, dulce de leche caramel and dark chocolate cookies. Their Café Unido coffee pairs perfectly with a scoop, and if you’re lucky, snag an alfajor, too – a corn flour-based cookie sandwich filled with dulce de leche and rimmed with coconut.
Right above popular pizza spot Martha Dear along the Mount Pleasant strip sits Mount Desert Island, an ice cream shop named for its birthplace in Maine and one sure to transport you with always-changing flavors. Flavor destinations include Brazil with brigadeiro (cocoa and condensed milk truffles), Norway with salmiakki (salty licorice) or our favorite, Japan, with sakura (cherry blossom). The owners take their small-batch process seriously, producing quality, creamy products in-house and with only five gallons at a time.
Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams
What began as kitchen experimentation is now one of the most successful ice cream brands in the country. Founded by James Beard Award-winning ice cream maker Jeni Britton, Jeni’s has become the gold standard for unconventional ice cream since emerging in Columbus, Oh. in 2002. With numerous locations throughout the DC area, it’s plenty convenient to try one (or several… or all) of Jeni’s unique flavors, including bastani sonnati (saffron, rose water, pistachio), brambleberry crisp (oat streusel, sweet-tart brambleberry jam layered through vanilla), darkest chocolate, brown almond butter brittle and many, many more.
Heavy cream really is “kale for the soul” when you stop by a Van Leeuwen location. Starting as a truck in NYC back in 2008, the shop now serves up “good-good, not good-bad” ice cream all over the country. At the opening of Van Leeuwen's Logan Circle store (its sixth in DC), co-founder Ben Van Leeuwen explained the company's focus on quality, or as he describes it, keeping "the weird stuff" out: "If you look at our vanilla ice cream, it's 17-18% butter fat, 5-8% egg yolks. This isn't something we market on posters because people are like, 'What does this mean?' But that means you're getting the creamiest, chewiest, custard-iest ice cream." Ben and his team also take pride in pioneering new flavors (four new additions every season), frequent chef collaborations and the shop's eight vegan offerings. Other menu highlights include buttermilk berry cornbread, chocolate caramel cheesecake and peanut butter brownie honeycomb.
© Jai Williams
There's just something about Thomas Sweet. It could be the melt-in-your-mouth homemade fudge, the melt-your-heart handmade chocolates or the famous blend-in ice creams. Maybe it’s the massive chocolate chip cookies staring at you upon arrival, or the fact that the Georgetown institution displays its dizzying array of flavors on a chalkboard. Opened in 1979 as the original Thomas Sweet location, the store welcomes sweets seekers until 11 p.m. from Sunday through Thursday and until 12 a.m. on Fridays and Saturdays, in case of late-night cravings.
We’ll get straight to the point: Pitango is serious about its Italian gelato – there’s even a mission statement on its website. Founder Noah Dan, who spent his childhood in Italy, sought the best milk and found a Maryland farm with a herd of organic, grass-fed Jersey cows for his confections. Pitango also uses fresh organic fruit – think raspberries, pomegranates and mangoes – for its vegan sorbets that are entirely fat-free (except for chocolate). A robust cafe and bakery set-up also allows for affogati, espresso drinks, sipping chocolate and house-made croissants, cookies and pastries. Pitango has locations in Penn Quarter, Adams Morgan and at The Wharf (you can find them in Md. and Va. as well).
Southwest Soda Pop Shop
Roots run deep at Southwest Soda Pop Shop, as owner Darryl Jones brings decades of DC hospitality experience to his family-run business at The Wharf. The Jones family is typically on-site serving up the shop’s delightful combo of ice creams, soda pops, hot dogs and even half-smokes. Specialties include the Banana Boat Sundae, decadent cheesecakes, ice cream cakes and even cake explosions (the variety of flavors includes cherry blossom, butter pecan and cookies and cream).
Born in New York, Tipsy Scoop now graces Penn Quarter. We highly recommend a visit if you’re over the age of 21 (although the shop does offer four non-alcoholic flavors). The booze-infused scoops provide a delicate balance of ice cream (or sorbet) and alcohol; Tipsy Scoop even crafted the Cherry Blossom Old Fashioned (featuring Hatozaki Finest Japanese Whisky) specifically for its new city. The “barlour” also serves cocktails (ice cream and regular), takeaway pints, ice cream cakes and sundaes. Beer, wine and hard seltzer are on offer as well and once per month, the store hosts ice cream cocktail mixology classes.
The figurative meaning of Malai is “cream of the crop,” a perfect summation of what founder and CEO Pooja Bavishi aims to deliver to DC customers following the amazing success of her flagship store in Brooklyn. South Asian ingredients and spices provide the foundation of Bavishi’s eggless ice cream, leading to striking flavors (seriously, bask in the glow of this list) and textures truly unique to this shop at The Wharf. Bavishi was inspired by her Indian parents’ morning chai and mouthwatering dishes, which led to experimentation and a spin on ice cream that you can’t find anywhere else.
Petworth resident Charles Foreman founded Everyday Sundae, a concept we can fully get on board with. Foreman wanted to bring premium ice cream to his beloved neighborhood as well as a community space where he could welcome his neighbors and make his mom proud. Everyday Sundae is following through with fun flavors like Cookie Monster (blue and white sugar cookie ice cream twisted with blue cookie dough swirl and Oreo cookies) and Marion Berry (blackberries, raspberries, sweet cream; look, the place loves a good pun!).
Taiyaki soft-serve may take the cake (or ice cream) as the most Instagrammable treat on this list. In a narrow, modern storefront along The Wharf, Fat Fish churns out sushi, bento boxes, poke bowls and Japanese-style ice cream "twists" served in cones of taiyaki (chewy, fish-shaped waffles). Fat Fish prioritizes environmentally friendly practices and fresh, local ingredients. This means that their "groovy" flavors change monthly, so be sure to add this spot to your ice cream rotation.
With locations in both Navy Yard and Georgetown, Ice Cream Jubilee has become a favorite for the frozen treat in the District. The shop specializes in truly creative flavors, including banana Bourbon caramel, cookies and cookie dough, blueberry pie and many more. You can also savor sundaes, milkshakes and sorbets at the local sensation.
Clayboy's has served Hawaiian shave ice to the DMV since the early 1990s. The DIY operation is known for its homemade cane sugar syrups, the softest ice texture around and a Swedish Fish that greets you at the bottom of each cup. The quaint Bethesda cart location offers a 100% vegan, dairy-free, gluten-free product, with kosher items available upon request. Clayboy's also offers private catering.
Next: add DC's rich selection of bakeries and coffee shops to your hit list.
