The temperatures are soaring and so is the desire to dive straight into the ocean or cannonball into the nearest pool. But with beaches being crowded and pools not being a feature in every home, the next best thing you can do is plunge straight into a sweet, heavenly frozen dessert.
Here are some delectable icy treats to indulge in— you can even have some of these choices delivered to you right now.
1. Queens’ Coffee, Coolhaus
Because coffee is essential but also unthinkable in the heat. So why not make it a frozen frappuccino? This flavor is a treat worth the splurge—but so are many other options like Brown Butter Ice Cream, Cinnamon Sugar Churro Dough, Chocolate Chip Swirl, or Midnight Munchies. Plus, they have a cute adult ice-cream truck that doubles up as a bodega.
Location: 8588 Washington Blvd. Culver City, CA 90232
Order on Postmates or look at their food truck schedule.
2. Vegan Banana Pudding, Van Leeuwen
Van Leeuwen went from a humble ice cream truck to becoming a frozen dessert empire. And that’s simply because it creates wildly exciting flavors for every palate and every dietary requirement. Even if you aren’t vegan, you’d be doing yourself a disservice by not trying the Vegan Banana Pudding, Black Cherry Chip, Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookie Swirl, or Pistachio Pint. Tubs cost around $10 each (because you’ll want to take one of those along with you after devouring your scoops).
Location: 300 S Santa Fe Ave, Suite R, Los Angeles, CA 90013 (multiple locations)
3. Dairy-Free Horchata Coconut, Sweet Rose Creamery
It would be hard to find something as creamy with absolutely no cream. Sweet Rose is known for those gorgeous scoops of color perched atop crunchy cones, but even a pint of their horchata coconut will go down just as quickly.
Location: Pop-ups, mostly online
4. Vegan Ice Cream from Dear Bella Creamery
Vegans rejoice! This sweet creamery offers nothing but yummy vegan choices. In fact, you could even get an all-vegan Super Scoop Sundae with all of their 16 flavors, including their seasonal specials like Campfire S’more and Blueberry Cheesecake.
Location: 1253 Vine St # 12, Los Angeles, CA 90038
Order locally online or Order nationally here.
5. Ube Softserve Pie (Vegan), Magpies Softserve
This pretty purple dessert is fun to look at and even better to eat. That’s right, a whole pie of delicious Ube Softserve will surelyy help you keep you cool this week, but you’ll probably crave this frozen dessert all month long.
Location: 2660 Griffith Park Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90039, United States
6. Cereal Milk Soft Serve, Milk Bar
Sweet swirls are made with the famous Cereal Milk that’s made with milk, cornflakes, brown sugar and a pinch of salt. It’s basically the ultra-delicious frozen incarnation of the bottom of your Cornflakes cereal bowl.
Location: 7150 Melrose Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90046, United States
Order online through various services.
7. Nieves De Leche, La Michoacan
Anything from here is a full-blown flavor festival and it’s the best way to cool off and treat yourself. Choose from a whole range of yummy scoops and don’t look back.
Location: 7221 Van Nuys Blvd, Van Nuys, CA 91405
8. Scoops
The ice creamery has been offering sweet, icy, artisanal dreams to L.A. for around 15 years now. The sweet brown bread flavor, in particular, has become a cult classic. But there are tons of wild flavors to let your palate explore, like
Location: 727 N Broadway, #125, Los Angeles, CA 90012
9. Any scoop from Salt & Straw
Salt & Straw simply oozes deliciousness. Every scoop is dripping with flavor and some inventive topping that’s an entire event on its own. The Portland-based, small-batch ice cream shop goes from strength to strength and Angelenos are pretty obsessed with anything they make.
Location: 829 East 3rd St., Los Angeles CA (multiple locations)
10. Mixed Feelings, BAE & Co.
These velvety swirls come in mesmerizing colors and flavors with exciting topping artfully balancing atop (including actual gold). The colorful vegan cones come in flavors like matcha, black, and red valentine and have the perfect amount of sweetness to finish off with. Of course, amongst the highly ‘grammable beauties, the black and cream-colored Mixed Feelings (charcoal pineapple/vanilla) is just as good as it looks.
Location: 369 East 2nd St., Little Tokyo
Order online through Postamtes, Doordash or Grubhub
11. Literally anything from Mashti Malone’s
We’re pretty sure heaven is, in fact, Mashti Malone’s. We challenge you not to drool while watching how they create the signature ice cream wafer sandwich, eating our Saffron Rosewater ice cream rolled in pistachios. There are tons of vegan options and you can choose what it gets rolled in too.
Location: 1525 N La Brea Ave, LA
12. Classic Sundae from Fair Oaks Pharmacy & Soda Fountain
The Fair Oaks Pharmacy And Soda Fountain is a charming ice cream shop found along the historic Route 66 in South Pasadena. They’ve been serving and employing the local community since 1915, making it one of the oldest places you can grab a sundae around L.A. Although you can’t order online, they are definitely worth the visit! Learn more about them here.
Location: 1526 Mission Street, South Pasadena, CA 91030