Don’t be vanilla! Try funky flavors at these 8 Phoenix ice cream shops
With flavors like dill pickle, bacon & bourbon, and “Biscoff Biotch,” these eight ice cream shops in Phoenix are far from vanilla. Snag a scoop to celebrate National Ice Cream Month!
I scream, you scream, we’re all screaming for ice cream right now, aren’t we?
There’s no place like Phoenix in July, thanks to the seemingly neverending triple-digit temps. Is it a coincidence that July is National Ice Cream Month? We think not!
While classic chocolate and vanilla will always have a place in our hearts, here are eight ice cream shops around the Valley that are truly pushing the envelope when it comes to unique flavors and unexpected ingredients. Here’s a list of locals’ favorites:
1. Churn
This nostalgic Uptown ice cream parlor attached to gastropub Windsor features rotating flavors of the month, and customers go crazy for options like Peaches n Honey in the summer, Eggnog for those cozy winter months, and Carrot Cake and German Chocolate in the spring.
Right now, Churn is featuring a Camp Patrick S’mores flavor made of a toasted marshmallow ice cream base with melted marshmallows mixed in. Inside the ice cream is a house-made graham cracker streusel and a chocolate sauce drizzle that runs throughout the ice cream.
Location: 5223 N Central Ave, Phoenix
2. Sweet Republic
Sweet Republic is known for crafting unique and unexpectedly delightful flavors — including some boozy selections. Unconventional flavors currently available in its three scoop shops around the Valley include Sweet Corn ice cream (made with locally grown corn from the Freeman corn patch in Mesa) and Strawberry French 75 non-dairy sorbet (gin-infused strawberries and sparkling wine with a hint of lemon). Recent flavors include Jalapeno Avocado ice cream and Dill Pickle ice cream. Because Sweet Republic produces its ice cream in small batches, flavors rotate frequently.
Locations:
9160 East Shea Boulevard, Scottsdale
410 North Scottsdale Road, Tempe
6054 N 16th Street, Phoenix
3. Yonutz
Ice cream and donuts paired together for one seriously decadent dessert? That’s exactly what you’ll get at Yonutz, a donut and ice cream shop known for its smashed ice cream-filled and hot-pressed donut sandwiches. Customers can enjoy a variety of gourmet ice cream flavors that are sure to please the palette, including Biscoff Cookie Butter, Nutella Crunch, Pebble Rebel, and Tiramisu, to name a few.
Location: 21001 North Tatum Boulevard, Desert Ridge
4. The Screamery
Looking for old-fashioned quality mixed with newfangled flavors? The Screamery makes its ice cream one small batch at a time, using a base that has no antibiotics, synthetic hormones, toxic pesticides, or chemical stabilizers.
The flavors change regularly, and current options include Bacon & Bourbon (Maker’s Mark® bourbon-infused base mixed with candied bacon pieces), Bee’s Knees (sweet cream base infused with lavender and mixed with a local honey swirl), and Cowboy Cookie (salted caramel base with oatmeal, walnuts, and chocolate chip cookies).
Locations:
10625 N Tatum Blvd Suite 145, Phoenix
140 N Arizona Ave Suite 106, Chandler
5. Jeni’s Ice Creams
Talk about homemade: The owner of Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams, Jeni Britton, has built every flavor from scratch using a unique recipe that’s been honed and perfected over more than 20 years.
This artisan ice cream company is best known for creative flavors you won’t find anywhere else — try the Brambleberry Crisp (oven-toasted oat streusel and a sweet-tart brambleberry jam layered throughout vanilla ice cream), the Powdered Jelly Donut (vanilla custard, raspberry jelly, and a brown sugar donut crumble), and the Brandied Banana Brulé (banana custard with small-batch brandy, caramel sauce, and burnt sugar candies). Jeni’s is also known for its dairy-free offerings (like Banana Cream Pudding and Caramel Pecan Sticky Buns) and sorbets (don’t miss the Frose, a sangria-style frozen rosé with pear, strawberry, and watermelon).
Locations:
7501 E 5th Avenue in Old Town Scottsdale
15323 N Scottsdale Road in Scottsdale Quarter
6. Handel’s
There’s a lot to be said for traditions, and Handel’s knows it — it has been making homemade ice cream since 1945. It all started when Alice Handel created her first batch in Youngstown, Ohio, using fresh fruit from her backyard garden and her own personal recipes. It quickly became a neighborhood favorite and the rest is history.
Today’s flavors include Blueberry Cheesecake Chunk, Chocoholic Peanut Butter Ripple, Deep Dish Apple Pie, and Spouse Like a House (malted vanilla ice cream with Reese’s Peanut Butter® ripple and chocolate-covered pretzels) among dozens of other delectable combinations. Of course, the classic Strawberry flavor remains the same as it was in 1945, using real strawberries.
Locations:
6137 North Scottsdale Road, Scottsdale
15681 North Hayden Road, Scottsdale
2000 East Rio Salado Parkway, Tempe
1672 E Guadalupe Rd, Gilbert
9784 West Northern Avenue, Phoenix
21182 South Ellsworth Loop Road, Queen Creek
7. Lix Uptown Ice Cream
This is not your grandma’s ice cream parlor, but a trendy spot with a funky, psychedelic vibe (the colorful walls are downright mesmerizing). Lix debuts new flavors all the time, and the current lineup features Mango Sticky Rice, Dirty Chai, Turkish Coffee, Coconut Cream Pie, and Biscoff Biotch.
Aside from the awesome ice cream, it’s also known for its friendly staff who dole out generous samples.
Location:
3343-3 N 7th Ave, Phoenix
8. Creamistry
What do you get when you mix a creamery with a little chemistry? Creamistry, which handcrafts premium ice cream using liquid nitrogen to flash free individual orders at -321° F. This unique freezing process results in ice cream that is ultra-creamy — and, of course, totally customizable.
Try the Key Lime Creation (topped with graham cracker crumble, cheesecake bites, whipped cream, and a wedge of fresh lime), Chocolate Combustion (Chips Ahoy® and Oreo® cookies, topped with more cookies, chocolate fudge, and whipped cream), and Sea Salt Caramel (with made-to-order caramel waffle pieces, golden caramel drizzle, and whipped cream).
Locations:
15345 N. Scottsdale Rd. Ste K1-130, Scottsdale Quarter
335 N Gilbert Rd. #101, Gilbert
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