We love these ice cream shops for their outstanding atmosphere, taste, variety, and innovation. And when we say ‘ice cream’ we mean it to cover ice cream, gelato, Italian Ice, frozen yogurt, and custard—summertime in a cone! There is no possible way to rank these because they are all worth going out of your way for.
Grab a frozen custard from Abbott’s and walk on the pier, or a gelato from Royal Café on the canal. Try a specialty flavor like Concord Grape from Lynnie Lou’s, Lavender Goat Cheese from Eat Me, or Cookie, Fig and Honey from Hedonist. Or try several with a flight from Lake Effect or Spotted Duck. Keep these in mind for National Ice Cream Day on the third “Sundae” in July.
This map includes these featured shops and more!
Best Handcrafted Ice Cream Shops in the City of Rochester
1. Hedonist Artisan Ice Cream
Rochester’s South Wedge Neighborhood – Innovative flavors have included Salted Caramel, Cinnamon Chipotle, Lavender Lemongrass, Lemon Thyme, Afternoon Tea Truffle, Malted Chai, Cookie Fig and Honey, and Raspberry Passionfruit Champagne Sorbet. We craft our small batch, super premium ice creams and sorbets in the heart of Rochester, NYs South Wedge neighborhood. We use local cream and the finest natural ingredients to create decadent flavors that bring pleasure with every bite.
2. Eat Me Ice Cream
Rochester’s EMMA Neighborhood – Innovative flavors have included Lilac, Bourbon Vanilla Bean, Caramel Smear, Crystallized Ginger and Cashew Curry Coconut, Lavender Goat Cheese, Spring Garden, Sweet Corn, and Olive Oil & Basil. Eat Me is dedicated to cultivating and inspiring creative thinking and imagination. Taste is a gateway to discovery and ice cream is the perfect medium. We spin out funky, fabulously fresh ice cream in NYS dairy and dairy-free each week. Lick, savor and cry with us.
3. Roll’n Yen Thai Fried Ice Cream
Rochester’s South Wedge Neighborhood – Build your own Thai Fresh Rolled Ice Cream from innovative flavors including Green Tea Mania, Peanut Delite, Thai Chi, Beez, and Chunky Monkey. Choose from 9 Yen Specials, 8 Popp’n Flavors of Boba Tea w/ popp’n boba, with 30+ flavors.
Best Handcrafted Ice Cream Shops in Monroe County Towns & Villages
4. Pittsford Farms Dairy
Pittsford – Pittsford Farms Dairy uses milk from their grass-fed dairy cows, and sells milk to other Rochester-area ice cream makers. There are 60+ flavors available! In an article by Edible Finger Lakes, Charles Jr. says. “It’s unbelievable. I mean, people like our milk, but everyone—and I mean everyone—will do three flips backwards for ice cream.”
5. Read’s Homemade Ice Cream & Custard
Henrietta – Choose from roughly 20 hand-dip flavors like Bubble Gum, Cake Batter, Snickers, and Orange Pineapple, plus soft serve and ices. Treat your 4-legged bestie to a Doggie Delight cup with soft vanilla and a bone! All of our frozen products are homemade on the premises.
6. Bruster’s Real Ice Cream
Henrietta and Webster – Flavors have included Graham Central Station, White Raspberry Truffle, Wedding Cake, Tin Lizzy, Jamaican Me Crazy, Deep Dish Apple Pie, and Coffee Cake Streusel to name but a few. We believe there’s no richer reward in life than the smooth, creamy pleasure of fresh ice cream. Each tantalizing treat is skillfully created in-house with the care and affection that defines Bruster’s.
7. Moonlight Creamery
Fairport – Our signature flavors, like Espresso with English Toffee and Wicked Chocolate, are joined by seasonal favorites and fun and imaginative limited editions to ensure both ice cream traditionalists and adventurers find just the right treat. Flavors change daily, but may include Malted Chai, Olive Oil & Honey, Raspberry Passionfruit, Strawberry, Toffee Almond Chocolate, and Ginger Pear sorbet.
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Best Ice Cream Shops serving Regional & Local Brands
8. Netsins Ice Cream
Irondequoit, serves Perry’s (Akron) – Netsins Ice Cream was established by 2 Irondequoit firefighters. There is nothing like having a neighborhood ice cream parlor to create lasting memories!
9. LuGia’s Ice Cream
Spencerport, serves Perry’s (Akron) – From classic favorites like Chocolate and Vanilla, to exotic tastes like Oregon Blackberry Cheesecake, to wild and wacky flavors like Superman, at LuGia’s we have something for everyone.
10. Ben & Jerry’s RIT
Henrietta, serves Ben & Jerry’s (Vermont) – Located in the Student Alumni Union, Ben & Jerry’s offers over 30 flavors of Vermont’s best ice cream. A variety of different dairy and non-dairy ice cream options, shakes, sundaes, smoothies, cookies and cakes are available.
11. Esther’s Farm Market
Brockport, serves Perry’s (Akron) – Our ice cream parlor [has] several varieties of ice cream from rich and creamy custard to many flavors of hard ice cream. Finish off your treat with a fresh baked waffle cone!
12. Green Acre Farm & Nursery
North Greece, serves Gifford’s (Maine) and Turkey Hill (Pennsylvania) – We have something for everyone, from fat-free, to sugar-free, to gluten-free and lactose-free.
13. i-Scream for Ice Cream at I-Square
Irondequoit, serves Purity (Ithaca) – We serve hard ice cream, soft serve, razzles, sundaes, shakes and more. Flavors change with the season so stop by and see what we have today!
14. Byrne Dairy
Chili, Gates, Brockport, serves Byrne Dairy (Syracuse) – Since 1980 we have been producing our own Ice Cream with our fresh cream and milk from our local family farms.
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15. Abbott’s Frozen Custard
Lake Ave original location – There’s a reason Abbott’s is in 12 Bill Gray’s restaurants, and 10 stand-alone franchised locations. It’s delicious! And summer would not be the same without the Abbott’s on Lake Ave opening for the season, roughly April-October. At Abbott’s, everything we do is dedicated to ensuring our frozen custard is the very best. This starts with our secret family recipe, churned fresh every day in each one of our stands. Our frozen custard is the way ice cream was meant to be.
Best Gelato in Monroe County
16. Royal Café Gelateria
Fairport – I’m thinking if you only get one chance you should try the Spaghetti Ice Cream Sundae: Vanilla gelato, strawberry sauce, grated white chocolate, brownies in chocolate sauce.
17. Oriens Café
Greece – At Oriens Café you will find authentic Sicilian pastries and 24 flavors of Gelato made fresh on site daily, using recipes designed by Italian Pastry Chef Master Salvatore Garofalo.
Best Frozen Yogurt in Monroe County
18. Yummies Frozen Yogurt and Coffee
Fairport – Yummies offers an ever-changing array of delicious treats, both cold and hot!
Best Italian Ice in Monroe County
19. Rita’s Italian Ice
Brighton – You really have to try one of their specialty drinks where the Italian Ice is combined with Frozen Custard, like the Gelati. It’s magical! Real Italian ice made with fresh fruit and made fresh daily!
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These locations are a bit further out of town, but are worthy of mention because people plan day trips around them!
21. Lynnie Lou’s Homemade Ice Cream
Naples – Take advantage of our Drive-Thru service or come inside and see all the flavors for your self! You can relax and watch the world go by on one of our Adirondack Chairs on the hill, or an outdoor picnic table.
21. Nick Charlap’s Ice Cream
22. Cheshire Farms Creamery
Canandaigua – Choose from our great selection of home churned ice creams, non-dairy Dole Whip, and soft-serve custard.
23. Spotted Duck
Penn Yan – Over 95% of our ingredients are either certified organic or grown following the same guidelines. What this means for you is the healthiest ice-cream you can find that actually tastes good! Our lovely Ancona ducks supply us with delicious, rich eggs that make the creamiest custard, and our gardens provide us with delectable fruits.
24. Seneca Farms
Penn Yan – All ice creams are hand swirled with their goodies of fruits, nuts, fudges, or candies and are made fresh on the premises every week!
25. Shark’s Ice Cream
Bloomfield – All Dole Whip flavors are Lactose Free, Fat Free, Dairy Free, Gluten Free, and Cholesterol Free. All of our ice cream is available in a regular cone, waffle cone, or in a dish. Or you can try our waffle bowl sundaes, shark bites, or a traditional sundae.
26. Purity Ice Cream
Ithaca – In 1998, Bruce and Heather Lane bought Purity with an eye towards revitalizing this Finger Lakes icon. We still use Leo’s original recipes for ice Cream the way it used to be made–small batches, with local, high quality ingredients, including BGH-free milk from upstate NY farms.
27. Cayuga Lake Creamery
Interlaken – Homemade flavors include exceptional versions of the classics as well as unique and seasonal offerings such as Lavender, Maple Bacon, Ultimate Fudge Brownie, and our famous Seneca Salt Caramel. Flavors (currently over 200!) are produced on a rotation, with about thirty scooped at a time.
28. Lake Effect Ice Cream
Lockport – We partner with the remarkable amount of talent in our hometown to create amazing frozen creations with a Buffalo twist. Our shop is located right above the historic Flight of Five lock system on the Erie Canal.
29. Hibbard’s Custard
Lewiston – Hibbard’s Original Frozen Custard has been family owned and seasonally operated since 1939.
30. Old World Café & Ice Cream
Corning – Purity creations served in the charming ambiance of a Victorian Ice Cream Parlor.
31. Chill & Grill
Palmyra – Aside from the fact that they make amazing ice cream cakes, they also sell enormous ice cream cookie sandwiches that are straight out of your dreams. (onlyinyourstate.com)
You can’t buy happiness but you can buy ice cream and that’s pretty much the same thing.
I would suggest you add the Chill and Grill in palmyra- the serving size is unreal. My sons and I search every summer for the best spots around town. This place will not disappoint!
Great suggestion, Darren!