The Best Places to Get Ice Cream in America

Bassett’s is one of the oldest ice creameries in the U.S., started by Quaker school teacher and farmer Lewis Dubois Bassett in 1861 in Salem, New Jersey. Ice cream was churned by mules at that time. He began selling his wares in Philadelphia in 1885. Barack Obama dropped in when he was president and ordered mint chocolate chip. As for other flavors, Bassett’s offers such as butterscotch vanilla, coffee fudge truffle, raspberry truffle, and peanut butter swirl.

Amy’s Ice Creams originated in Austin in 1984, and today has outposts in San Antonio and Houston. Its website touts its celebrated Mexican vanilla ice cream as well as dairy-free fruit ices and frozen yogurt. The company says it has more than 350 flavors in its rotation. Among them are standards like coffee, strawberry, and Belgian chocolate. Specialty flavors include Bahama Mama (sweet cream ice cream with rum, coconut rum, orange juice, pineapple juice, and grenadine), blueberry cheesecake (cheesecake ice cream base with freshly roasted blueberries), and Emerald Serpent (peppermint ice cream blended with crème de menthe, with Andes Mints mixed in).

Austin’s Homemade Ice Cream opened in 1947 and has been a regional stalwart ever since. After passing through several owners, it was taken over by Joyce Snyder in 1983. Over the next 35 years, she built the business into a local icon and made ice cream until she was 80. She passed the business on to her children and her grandchildren. Austin’s, which sells about 40 flavors of ice cream, has won awards for its chocolate, vanilla, and strawberry offerings as well as its grape pineapple, which one Yelp reviewer said “tastes amazing (although I know it doesn’t sound appetizing).” Austin’s was cited for best new flavor for its S’more Than a Feeling ice cream.

Kelley Country Creamery claims it has the “best ice cream in the middle of nowhere.” For the Kelley family, Fond du Lac is more than nowhere: It’s home. Kelleys have been part of the Irish population of the Fond du Lac region for 150 years. Today, Karen and Tim Kelley and their five children operate a 200-acre farmstead dairy here and tend to the 65 Holstein cows that provide the milk for their creamery. Among the flavors that can be found are: Amie’s Amaretto, Baby Sunny Apple, Black Forest, caramel cookie crunch, and Christmas pudding.

Lauren and Steve Schultz are the husband and wife team who own Purple Door. On their first date in 2006, Lauren told Steve that it had been her dream to open an ice cream parlor. In 2011, a year after they had their first son, Lauren’s dream was realized. Purple Door started solely as a wholesale business, selling ice cream to local grocers and restaurants. They later opened their retail shop in Milwaukee, where they offer flavors such as absinthe, Arnie Palmer, balsamic vinegar, cinnamon graham crackers and milk, Dinner in Belgium, garlic, and Oatmeal Scotchie.