Though conventional wisdom holds that summer in Seattle doesn’t really start until July, any seasoned Pacific Northwesterner will tell you that “ice cream weather” is deeply subjective. That said, the city’s ice cream shops are always ready, rain or shine, to fulfill our wildest dairy (and non-dairy) dreams. Here are some favorite spots from around the city.
The Best Ice Cream in Seattle
The inside scoop on where to find New Zealand-style soft serve, matcha sundaes, great vegan options, and more
In June 2025 we refreshed this map to add a few new friends: Marmalade, Baiten, and Tip Top Ice Cream.
Know of a spot that should be on our radar? Send us a tip by emailing seattle@eater.com. As usual, this list is not ranked; it’s organized geographically.
The Best Ice Cream in Seattle
The inside scoop on where to find New Zealand-style soft serve, matcha sundaes, great vegan options, and more
Though conventional wisdom holds that summer in Seattle doesn’t really start until July, any seasoned Pacific Northwesterner will tell you that “ice cream weather” is deeply subjective. That said, the city’s ice cream shops are always ready, rain or shine, to fulfill our wildest dairy (and non-dairy) dreams. Here are some favorite spots from around the city.
In June 2025 we refreshed this map to add a few new friends: Marmalade, Baiten, and Tip Top Ice Cream.
Know of a spot that should be on our radar? Send us a tip by emailing seattle@eater.com. As usual, this list is not ranked; it’s organized geographically.
Lil’ Tiger Ice Cream
Lake City’s neighborhood ice cream shop makes its own base — from local milk – and is also distinguished by flavors like Kauai Pie, a nicely bitter coffee foundation layered with shredded coconut, chunks of macadamia, and chewy caramel fudge ripples, as well as the presence of the shop basset hound, Lil’ Tiger, for whom the operation is named. This stretch of Lake City Way is busy, so it’s worth peeling off into the residential streets to park, or better yet, catching the 61.
Sophie Grossman
Nutty Squirrel Gelato
This charming neighborhood nook with locations in Phinney Ridge and Magnolia distinguishes itself with a focus on carefully sourced ingredients and a discerning spread of flavors that leans traditional Italian. The gelateria also deploys a fleet of adorable wheeled stands and trucks to cater weddings and other events around the Seattle area, and it does a bustling trade in to-go pints.
Molly Moon's Homemade Ice Cream
From the PCC freezer aisle to the hallowed space between two Hello Robin cookies, then 10 locations across Seattle and the Eastside (the newest in an idyllic historic building in Waterfront Park), the sun never sets on Molly Moon’s empire. Let’s be honest: Molly Moon’s is more about the wholesome, all-American-date-night atmosphere than the ice cream itself, and the flavors stay pretty classic. Mainstays include strawberry, honey lavender, vegan coconut chunk, and Yeti: that’s vanilla caramel, K’UL chocolate bits, and housemade “yeti granola.”
Indigo Cow
This counter inside of Wallingford izakaya Yoroshiku serves silky soft-serve made with milk from Hokkaido, Japan’s northernmost island famous for its dairy products. The MBR topping combo, which consists of molasses-like brown sugar syrup, tender and chewy mochi balls, and nutty roasted soybean powder (kinako, in Japan) is not to be missed.
Marmalade
Wrought-iron tables beneath leafy boughs and a compact menu of crepes, espresso, and gelato imbue Marmalade with the feel of a tiny Parisian enclave. The label in the case claims the pistachio is the best in Seattle and… it actually might be, thanks to a base of toasty nuttiness overlaid with glimmers of caramelized sweetness that actually conjures pistachio, rather than the almond extract many iterations lean on heavily. Pair it with a scoop of Amarena cherry for a timeless combination, but if you’re only going to get one flavor, it’s worth considering the cafe’s namesake marmalade, which is studded with flecks of orange peel and reminiscent of a highbrow creamsicle.
Sophie Grossman
Baiten
This Japanese-style dessert window is attached to the popular izakaya Tamari Bar, and dishes soft serve alongside fruit sandos on Fuji Bakery milk bread and other rotating sweets. The soft serve comes in one flavor, vanilla, which you can enliven with an assortment of syrups and toppings. The 21-plus Toki whiskey syrup is particularly memorable, the slight smoky burn of the booze softened to a pleasant caramel buzz by the velvety sweet base. Bits of rusk — a twice-baked cookie reminiscent of a graham cracker — add satisfying crunch. The sundaes are elaborate, slightly intimidating affairs packed with custards, jellies, sauces, and powders, but they’re ideal for a group of two to four.
Sophie Grossman
Frankie and Jo's
Co-owners Autumn Martin and Kari Brunson joined forces to bring satisfying, inventive vegan ice cream (made with sprouted cashew milk and gum-free coconut milk) to Capitol Hill. Thanks to a perfectly luscious texture and cult-favorite flavors like California Cabin – a decadent coconut-oat milk base imbued with pungent pine, smoked vanilla, and chunks of crumbly cardamom-black pepper shortbread – this ice cream has many devotees outside the dairy-free crowd. In addition to the one on Capitol Hill, there are locations in Ballard and University Village.
Spencer Lambdin
Hellenika Cultured Creamery
The warm scent of cream and honey is thick in the air at this Pike Place Market scion of the Ellenos Greek yogurt empire. The dairy concoction being churned in real time behind the counter at Hellenika clears froyo’s name of its many late-aughts, low-fat transgressions, the zingy tang of the cultured base perfectly counterbalanced by its thick, buttery mouthfeel. The flavors rotate approximately every two weeks, but some crowd favorites, like the rich, subtle honey macadamia and fragrant ube coconut, are always in the mix.
Sophie Grossman
Shug's Soda Fountain and Ice Cream
Shug’s gives the old-timey soda shop vibe a 21st-century facelift, dishing up sundaes, shakes, and floats made with ice cream from Lopez Island Creamery in a bright, airy space. Their adult libations, like a luxurious prosecco float and a shake spiked with Kahlúa and cold brew (reminiscent of an espresso martini), are just the thing to soothe one’s nerves after a summer day at Pike Place Market.
The Pastry Project
Emily Kim and Heather Hodge, formerly coworkers at Molly Moon’s, launched the Pastry Project in 2019 to shore up a troubling lack of qualified pastry chefs in the Seattle area. They provide free, 14-week instructional programs to the city’s next generation of dessert craftspeople, funding them through a combination of bake sales, subscription boxes, and a soft-serve window in their Pioneer Square kitchen. The decadent, cheffy toppings and masterfully executed hard-shell coatings have ensured a cult following, who can rejoice at 3. P.m. on June 26, when the window will be thrown open for the summer. It’ll remain so every Friday, Saturday, and Sunday through the end of August, from 3 p.m. to 8 p.m.
The Pastry Project
Milk Drunk
Those who’ve sampled Homer’s popular soft-serve walk-up window should be familiar with the inventive flavors at its sibling spot just a few blocks away. The vegan strawberry is a sleeper hit, transcending its dairy-free origins into creamy greatness, and the hardshells are perfect glossy specimens.
Spencer Lambdin
Moto
Moto’s Detroit-style odes to caramelized cheese swiftly became legendary when owner Lee Kindell started selling them out of a whimsical urban cottage in 2021. Like, order-your-pizza-two-months-in-advance legendary. Now that the West Seattle pizzeria has expanded to Belltown, Edmonds, and T-Mobile Park, it’s much easier to come by, and so is the accompanying vanilla soft serve, with ripples of creative flavors like green apple and black cherry. The “Moto cones” are the main sweet attraction: chewy pastry reminiscent of churros crusted in gummy bears, Fruity Pebbles, and other playful fixings.
Matcha Man Ice Cream & Taiyaki
After years operating as a pop-up, taiyaki and matcha soft serve specialist Matcha Man set up shop in Georgetown in 2021, where it quickly became a neighborhood fixture. The fish-shaped waffles filled with ice cream flavors like ube, Thai tea, matcha, and black sesame are still on offer — and are as Instagrammable (and wonderful) as ever.
Tip Top: An Ice Cream Shop
Tucked away in the Highland Park Corner Store is an unexpected piece of complex and coveted machinery: the Little Jem, used across New Zealand (and increasingly Seattle) to blend chunks of fresh, frozen fruit into soft serve to order. The result is startlingly bright and refreshing, with in-season flavors like early summer cherry and strawberry shining with particular brilliance. A couple of small vinyl booths in the corner and a counter along the window provide a good amount of seating, but on peak days the small space can feel a bit claustrophobic; take advantage of the nearby West Duwamish Greenbelt, and bring plenty of napkins.
Sophie Grossman
Laina’s Handcrafted Ice Cream
This terrific Rainier Valley operation tucked into the Stonehouse Cafe serves up small batch ice cream with rotating seasonal flavors, such as Dole whip, guava, a nicely tart lilikoi, and a charcoal-flavored concoction with coconut and cocoa.
