Houston’s dynamic dining scene doesn’t just consist of expensive steakhouses and Michelin-starred restaurants. In addition to chic local chef-driven hotspots and lauded global franchises, the city has excellent places to score a scoop of ice cream or gelato. And, while frozen treats are a good idea year-round in Houston, these creameries offer an especially welcome respite from the heat and humidity during the dog days of summer.
When hunting for your next cone or cup, consider one of these top Houston creameries.
Honeychild’s Sweet Creams
This frozen custard brand started in Houston, with its founder, Kathleen Morgan, making a commitment to using quality ingredients and sourcing locally. The Heights-area shop offers year-round flavors like black chocolate, buttermilk pie, pecan praline, and Texas sheet cake, with seasonal additions like Meyer lemon, king cake, and fig. Its location inside the M-K-T Heights development makes it a great place for dessert after dining nearby or walking the trails. Visitors get a standard double scoop ($6) or spring for a pint to take home ($9). Flights ($12) are also offered if you are indecisive. 600 N. Shepherd Dr., honeychildssweetcreams.com
Lick Honest Ice Creams
Founded in Austin more than a decade ago by Chad Palmatier and Anthony Sobotik, Lick Honest Ice Creams now has nine locations across Texas, with two being in Houston. Milk and cream are sourced from family farms in Texas and Wisconsin, but the brand also relies on local growers and purveyors for other ingredients. Everyday flavors include caramel salt lick, goat cheese with thyme and honey, and Texas sheet cake, while seasonal choices may be tres leches or lemon sugar cookie. Vegans have options too, like dairy-free choices like chocolate chocolate and pecan joy. Go for a scoop ($6), or take home pints by half ($7) or whole ($12). Multiple locations, ilikelick.com
Van Leeuwen
This ice cream brand that started as a scoop truck in New York City has since expanded to local storefronts in 11 states, with three parlors in Houston, and is available in both national grocery chains. With a focus on all-natural ingredients, Van Leeuwen offers dairy and non-dairy frozen treats, with a number of vegan options like peanut butter brownie honeycomb and triple chocolate swirl ice cream bar. More imaginative flavors include marionberry cheesecake, dulce de leches brownie, and brown sugar cookie dough brownie. Choose one scoop ($7), two ($8), or go all the way with a triple “Goodest” ($10). Multiple locations, vanleeuwenicecream.com
Jenni’s Splendid
Founder Jeni Britton was on the forefront of craft ice cream when she began creating recipes in 1996. She opened the first Jeni’s Splendid in 2002, making natural ice cream with carefully-sourced ingredients which earned the company a Certified B Corporation designation. Britton herself won a James Beard Award for her dessert cookbook in 2012. The ice cream creations continue to impress at Jeni’s with interesting new flavors like citrus glazed pound cake. Other favorites include darkest chocolate and buttercream birthday cake. Houston has four Jeni’s scoop shops, with the Montrose outpost set in a historic building with porch swings out front to wile away an afternoon. Multiple locations, jenis.com
Carvel at Buttermilk Baby
Berg Hospitality’s Buttermilk Baby is a wonderland of colorful nostalgia, further enhanced by the sweet addition of Carvel soft serve to its menu. The restaurant is family-friendly and Instagram-worthy, so it’s a fun outing for kids and adults alike. Beyond traditional soft serve, find shakes, sundaes, floats, ice cream sandwiches ($4), and the indulgent Carvelanche, which combines treats like Oreos, cookie dough, and Reese’s peanut butter cups. Customers can also pre-order one of Carvel’s famous ice cream cakes, like Fudgie the Whale ($30), for a childhood flashback. 600 N. Shepherd Dr., buttermilkbaby.com
Fat Cat Creamery
Ice cream from Fat Cat Creamery is featured at restaurants all around town, including Boomtown Coffee, Crust Pizza Co., and Ninja Ramen, but it also has an ice cream parlor in the Heights. Using milk and heavy cream from Texas dairy Mill-King Creamery and eggs from Ole Dad Farms, Fat Cat produces five year-round flavors: Mexican vanilla, strawberry buttermilk, Amaya coffee and cream, and chai tea coconut. The seasonal offerings change, but guests might find flavors like whiskey butter pecan or buttered rum raisin. There are also ice cream sammies ($6), sundaes, and a rotating soft serve flavor that you can add made-from-scratch toppings like toasted coconut, marshmallow sauce, and meringue kisses. 1225 W. 34th St., fatcatcreamery.com
Underground Creamery
Josh Deleon is the ice cream master behind this e-commerce ice cream concept. Each Saturday, four new ice cream flavors go live on Instagram with instructions for customers on how to pre-order them online, before receiving a date and time for pick up. It’s a bit complicated and the pints aren’t cheap at $14, but that doesn”t deter ice cream connoisseurs from indulging in the creative handcrafted flavors. Underground fans wait in fevered anticipation for what Deleon has dreamed up for each drop. Some recent flavors include labneh lemon bar, malty moosh, and birthday cobber-ish. Customers can sign up for text notifications for the most up to date alerts, and Deleon recommends bringing an insulated bag for pick up, if you can resist eating it in the car. 1010 Shepherd Dr., undergroundcreamery.com
Milk + Sugar
With its motto of “Life is too short for plain vanilla”, this Houston-born concept from Perry and Chou Wong serves freshly-churned ice cream with a focus on mix-ins. Its signature flavors include cereal milk ice cream, blended with toasted frosted flakes; and dulce de horchata, a mix of rice and cinnamon ice cream with a house-made caramel swirl. It gets a little quirkier with options like yum cha, a swirl of pandan and chrysanthemum ice cream. Single scoops are $6, but the shop allows customers to choose two half scoops for the same price. Multiple locations, milkandsugarcreamery.com
Flower & Cream
With three locations across Houston, this ice cream and frozen yogurt shop is one of the cutest places to indulge in artisan frozen desserts. Its brick and mortar is bright and airy with whimsical indoor swings and a line of colorful Konery cones lined along the counter; while the outpost at the Post food court allows for wandering to the rooftop Skylawn for a spectacular view of the Downtown skyline. Flavors include French vanilla bean, the adults-only Kahlua and cookies ($12), and vegan delights like peanut butter cup and chocolate cookie. Top yours off with Lucky Charms marshmallows, or a drizzle of hot caramel. Multiple locations, flowerandcream.com
Amy’s Ice Cream
Famous for its Mexican vanilla ice cream, Amy’s first opened in Austin more than 40 years ago. With two locations in Houston, the Texas ice cream brand keeps adding to its line up, with new flavors and treats like ice cream cakes and Texas-themed shortbread cookies. Amy’s even offers homemade dog treats ($6), playfully called pawstries. As far as ice cream for humans, flavors include Belgian chocolate and coffee, while the Smooth & Creamy collection has options like fluffer nutter, honey habanero, and ube cheesecake. Customers who are 21 and up can try one of the spiked ice creams, like St. Arnold Irish Hello and Negroni. Multiple locations, amysicecreams.com
Amorino
Childhood friends Cristiano Sereni and Paolo Benassi started their gelato empire in Paris more than two decades ago, and it has since become a widely recognized international brand. There are two outposts in Houston with a third on the way. Using all natural ingredients, each gelati is shaped like a rose, and just like a rose, they come in lots of different colors. Once orders are placed, each rose is prepared by hand with flavors incluuding coffee, caramel, pistachio, and stracciatella. There are numerous variations and add-ons like a gelato-filled macaron ($3), and the larger grandioso macarons ($7). Multiple locations, amorino.com/en-us
La Argentina
Argentinian-born Florencia Mansilla opened this gelato shop in Katy in 2016 to carry on the legacy of her father, Daniel, who founded his own gelato brand 40 years ago in Venezuela. The gelato comes in flavors like Mexican vanilla, strawberry, caffe Bologna, and pistachio. In addition to other frozen treats like sorbets and bonbons, the menu includes macarons ($3), danishes ($3), and a selection of coffee-based drinks. 3750 S. Mason Rd. #200, Katy, argentinagelato.com
Cosmic Ice Cream
Husband and wife Julian and Camille Haynes opened this scoop shop in Webster during the pandemic and its success led to two more locations in Spring Branch and Pearland. Always Flavors include banana pudding, campfire s’mores, and cosmic birthday cake, while seasonal options might include key lime pie, carrot cake, and circus animal. Go for a flight ($14), which features four mini scoops, or have any flavor made into a milkshake ($9). For a shareable and over-the-top treat, try the ice cream nachos ($10). Multiple locations, cosmichtx.com
Red Circle Ice Cream
At Nickey Ngo’s scoop shop, ice cream is playful, fun and sometimes a little funky, like the limited time crawfish ice cream that debuted this spring. Though the ice cream is made sans any actual crawfish, it does have the spicy mudbug flavor that Houstonians love. In addition to handcrafted ice cream, Red Circle offers made-to-order churros and Hong Kong-style bubble waffles. With more than 100 rotating flavors, find everything from lychee strawberry and horchata to durian and hot Cheetos. Multiple locations, redcirclefranchising.com
Rocambolesc
Originally founded in Girona, Spain, Michelin-starred pastry chef Jordi Roca and his wife, Alejandra Rivas, brought Rocambolesc to Uptown Park in Houston in 2022. The dessert shop provides work opportunities to people with intellectual and developmental disabilities, making it a welcome addition to the city. Soft serve-style gelato comes in flavors like yogurt, chocolate, vanilla, and mango and passionfruit, and can be had in a cup or cone with unlimited toppings. For a fun alternative, try the popular panet ($10), an empanada-like brioche filled with ice cream. 1101 Uptown Park Blvd., rocambolesc.com/usa
