I love ice cream so much. So. Much. If you ask me if I want ice cream, the answer is yes. Let's go now. Even in winter. Here's what you can get in Utah, more or less in order of preference.
Made-In-Utah Ice Cream
- Leatherby's (Taylorsville, Orem, Draper) Above is a picture of the wonderful Gretchen's Golden Nugget. This place has huge portions of rich ice cream smothered in the best hot fudge and caramel there are, which is really the key to their greatness.
- Creamworx (Highland) Perfectly up my alley with great cream, flavors, and mix-ins.
- Blacksmith Ice Cream (Bountiful) Great cream due to unique freezing/churning process and high quality mix-ins.
- Hidden Oak Gourmet Creamery (Salt Lake) Normally I don't go for fruit flavors, but the way they mix them with chunks of baked goods make for something unexpectedly great! Pricey, though.
- Hatch Family Chocolates (SLC) - The candy I had was nothing special, but one of the ice creams flavors (PB Cookie Dough in Epic Chocolate) sure was.
- BYU Creamery (Provo) A couple great flavors, but unfortunately, it looks like Fluffernutter is dead.
- Brooker's Founding Flavors (Vineyard, Provo) Creative flavor combos and mix-ins AND it's all themed to Independence-era America? Genius. And yet, flavoring is not as bold as it seems it should be.
- Rockwell Ice Cream (Provo, South Jordan) Pretty good flavors, pretty good thick cream.
- The Twisted Cow (Provo) Great flavors and cream, Jimmerosity probably my favorite because it had the most mix-ins.
- Java Cow Ice Cream (Park City) Most expensive ice cream in the state, which makes sense given its location. One flavor I had was great, one was kinda bland.
- Rowley's Red Barn (Santaquin, Washington) Pretty good.
- Casper's Malt Shop (Richmond) The company famous for Fatboys makes good hard ice cream under the name Red Button Vintage Creamery.
- Milk Barn (Morgan) The only negative is skimpy on the mix-ins
- Thurgood Creamery (Syracuse) Skimpy mix-ins but fantastic value!
- Peach City (Brigham City) Good cream and flavor, way too few mix-ins.
- Aggie Creamery (Logan) I seem to like it less over the years, but good.
- Fort Zion (Virgin) The chocolate flavor was fantastic.
- Charlie's Supreme Ice Cream (Logan) Nice and creamy, maybe not as flavorful as it could be.
- Zion Creamery (Springdale Candy Company) A few good homemade flavors next to a selection of Russell's (which is really Farr's).
- Farr Better Ice Cream (multiple locations) It'll do.
- Snelgrove Ice Cream (St George) It's cool that this Utah staple has been resurrected, but it just didn't grab me. Kinda sparse on the mix-ins.
- Color Ridge Creamery (Torrey) A lot of hipster-type flavors, airy cream, little to no mix-ins.
- Cloud Ninth Creamery (SLC) Just didn't hit me in the flavor department.
- Mandarin (Bountiful) This great Chinese restaurant makes its own ice cream, and without the raspberry one it'd be much lower on this list.
- Broken Spur Steakhouse (Torrey) Utilitarian ice cream for putting on pie, but not bad.
- Hill Billy Hand Pies (Brigham City) Utilitarian ice cream for putting on pie, but not bad.
- Big Scoops Creamery (Roy) Can't really put my finger on it, just don't care for it.
- Mrs. Cavanaugh's (multiple locations) Its redeeming quality is you get a lot for a low price.
- Soda Crazy (Layton) Hopefully I had this on a bad day, but it was not good.
- Ideal Dairy (Richfield) Not rich or creamy.
- Cannery Creamery (North Ogden) No one in my group finished their ice cream.
- The Milk House (Midway) Didn't get what I ordered and didn't even finish what I got. Consistency of soft serve with slightly unpleasant mouth coating and minimal flavor.
Note: I generally ignore places that serve other people's ice cream instead of making their own. For example, there are way too many places that charge premium prices for Farr's. But special mentions for:
Ice Age Creamery (Lehi) Points for an animatronic woolly mammoth scene and for being the only place in Utah I know of that serves Reed's Dairy, which is a good one from Idaho Falls.
The Creamery (Beaver) Led me to believe they made their own, but it's really Kemp's. I figured it out when I saw their flavors at Gandy Dancer, a place that handed me an ice cream cone the size of a golf ball.
Also, I don't like nitrogen-frozen or rolled ice cream, so not featured here.
Made-In-Utah Gelato
I think gelato's different approach deserves a separate list.
- Sweetaly Gelato (SLC) Wow
- Dolcetti Gelato (SLC) Wow
- Capo Gelateria Italiana (SLC) Good
- Miss Gelato (Moab) - Pretty darn good
- Harmon's Grocery Store (Farmington) - Not bad
- Bon Bon (various outlets) Had it in one theater and enjoyed it, had it at another and didn't.
National Brands in Utah
- Cold Stone Creamery - It's great and all, but I've had it so much I'm kinda starting to not like the texture.
- Baskin Robbins - It's fun to hate the big guy, but a few of their flavors are great.
- Handel's Homemade Ice Cream - Their mix-in levels can be hit or miss, but the hits are top-tier. I am definitely a Knot Your Average Dough groupie.
- Bruster's Real Ice Cream - It's alright. A little weird how soft it is. Only one in Provo.
- Haagen Dazs - City Creek Mall in SLC.
- Blue Bell Ice Cream - Not franchise shops, but carried at Blue Moo locations.
- Stella's - Coming soon to Pleasant Grove.
- Salt and Straw - Coming soon to Salt Lake.
Honorable Mentions
Although I enjoy them, soft serve and milkshakes are not what really lights me up. But if it's particularly good or creative, it deserves a nod.
- Dairy Keen (Heber City) I once had this right after having gelato and I kinda liked this better.
- Angie's (Logan) This diner must be included due to the popular Clean the Kitchen Sink challenge.
- Creamies (Grocery Stores) This Utah original gets a junior-high-nostalgia mention.
- Monkeywrench (SLC) Technically not ice cream since it's not dairy. Scoop I had was pretty good, but my friend didn't like his.
- Menchies (multiple locations) I love using the froyo as an excuse for going to town on mix-ins and toppings.
- Culver's (multiple locations) The best burger chain shake.
- Mary's Cheesecakes (St George) They don't make their own cream yet, but they do mix it with their cheesecakes to great effect. It's called Slice Cream.
RIP - Gone but not forgotten
- Leatherby's on North Temple - I miss this place so much!
- Howdy Homemade Ice Cream in Holladay - Dr. Pepper ice cream!
- Frosted Rock in Layton and Roy - They beat Cold Stone to Utah. Memories...
- Squirrel Bros in SLC - Loved the name of the shop and the giant cones are still there. Pretty sure they served Snelgrove's.
- Ben and Jerry's in SLC - But you can still get it in grocery stores.
- The Baked Bear in Farmington and Lehi - Had this in CA to mixed reviews.
- Last Course in SLC - I didn't like it.
- Mora Iced Creamery - Never had it, looked like not my style.
- Wasatch Creamery - Fantastic stuff, a very sad loss. Come back!
- Cream'd - Great ice cream, sad story.
- Palette Creamery - No local ice cream in Cedar City now thanks to a ceiling cave-in!
- The Scoop - They served Aggie, BYU, and Rowley's ice cream in once place, which was cool.
- Hello Sugar - A donut plant from Spokane, but the Utah ones had ice cream with edible glitter.
- Nils Swedish Creamery in Farr West - It was good to know you.
- Bees Knees in Midway - Wasn't bad.
- Big Hazy's in Centerville - Was not my style.
- Bow Tie Creamery in South Ogden - Was not my style.
- JJ's Ice Cream - Home delivery with cool combos, but I guess didn't catch on.
- Spilled Milk - If you had to get soft serve, this was the place to do it. A sad loss.
Ice Cream in Other Places
I've gone to so many shops across the country that I've started to become a little jaded with how much mediocre ice cream is out there. Now, if I walk into a shop that doesn't put mix-ins in the cream, I don't bother trying it. Here's the ones that were worth writing home about.
Shining Stars
- Clementine's Naughty and Nice in Kirkwood, MO
- Kelly's Homemade Ice Cream in Orlando, FL
- Cali Cream in Encinitas, CA
- Oberweiss Dairy in the Chicago area
- Afters Ice Cream in the LA area
- G's Dairy Delights in Rexburg, ID
Worth It
- Fenton's in Vacaville, CA
- Silver Lining Creamery in Rapid City, SD
- Be Sweet Treats in Pocatello, ID - So good ice cream and baked goods!
- Leone's Creamery in Spearfish, SD
- Ice Cream Cafe in Gillette, WY
- Little Man Ice Cream in Denver, CO
- Hammond's Gourmet Ice Cream - Had in San Diego, but now only in Honolulu.
- Josh and John's in Colorado Springs, CO
- Espresso West (Wilcoxson's Ice Cream) in West Yellowstone, MT
- Makani's Magic Pineapple Shack in Hilo, HI
- Gypsea Gelato in Kona, HI
- La Gelateria in London, ENG
- Eis Cafe Dolomiti in Rothenberg ob der Tauber, GER
- Cookie Monster in El Cajon, CA - Defunct.
- Thomas Jefferson's Ice Cream at Mt. Rushmore, SD
- Aldo's Gelato in Tulum and Cancun, MEX
- Cloverleaf Creamery in Buhl, ID
- Mars Ice Cream (Reed's Dairy brand) in Chubbock, ID
- Truck Stop in San Pedro, BEL
- Cream Me in Las Vegas, NV
- Chaney's Dairy Barn in Bowling Green, KY
- Downtown Creamery in Fajardo, PR - It's the less-creamy Hispanic style, but very flavorful.
- Catch'n Ice Cream in New York, NY - Defunct
- Braum's Ice Cream in Carthage, MO - Big Oklahoma chain I didn't know about, but good ice cream at a great price.
- Betty Rae's in Kansas City, MO
- Sorry Not Sorry Creamery in Las Vegas, NV
- Brindles in San Antonio, TX
- Booza in Houston, TX (not amazing or anything, but a unique type of ice cream)
- The STIL in Boise, ID
- Sweet Peaks Ice Cream in Bozeman, MT
- Original Rainbow Cone in Chicago area - The novelty does a lot of the lifting, which I'm cool with.
- Kilwins in lots of places - Pretty good, but unusually expensive.
- Insomnia Cookies in lots of places - Cool flavor combos, but not as great as expected.
- Big Dipper Ice Cream in Billings, MT.
