The best soft serve in the city (fortunately or unfortunately, depending on who you ask) can be found at T-Mobile Park. This is Mister Softee, and while it conjures intense nostalgic episodes for people raised on the East Coast, it's just phenomenal soft serve to begin with. Perfectly creamy and concrete-like, the creativity stops at vanilla and chocolate—and we're fine with that. Leave us be with a thousand wafer-thin waffle cone chips that come as part of the stadium's new ice cream "nachos."

If the "Got Milk" white-mustachioed celebrity athletes and promises of strong bones and teeth don’t get you extremely hyped to guzzle some liquid calcium, allow us to introduce you to Indigo Cow. It’s a soft serve window in Wallingford that sources its dairy specifically from Hokkaido to make unflavored ice cream. Apparently, these Japanese cows know something the American ones don’t, because the end result is a barely-there sweetness and a refreshing texture.

One of the best spots in town for sashimi, dumplings, and marinated Wagyu cooked on a sizzling hot rock unveiled a soft serve operation known as Baiten. Whereas other spots in town obsess over inventive base flavors, Baiten sticks with a classic, mellow vanilla—and gets wild with the toppings instead. You'll find syrups ranging from black sesame to thick mango jelly, sundaes involving mochi and cookies, and iced hoji latte floats.

This Bellevue cafe specializes in Thai tea, and they’re so committed to the craft that it’s available in soft serve form, too. It tastes like the richest, smoothest, boldest cup of the stuff, only churned to a frozen state. That flavor is fantastic on its own, though we also love the way swirls of the other flavor—could be something like ube or coconut—temper the sharp black tea bite.

At this Pioneer Square cafe, the Copenhagen-sourced coffee is great. And yet, their milk soft serve has a bigger gravitational pull on us. It’s the treat to prioritize, in all of its pure unflavored glory, and its subtle sweetness is just as nice plain as it is in affogato form topped with olive oil drizzles and sugared espresso dust. There’s another, far more popular soft serve spot around the corner, but Day Made’s open more often (Monday to Friday)—and you can only get a Graza shower here.

The Pastry Project is not an ice cream shop—it's an organization that provides baking training to those who face barriers. And in the summer on weekends, their front door turns into a soft serve window, selling cones, cups, ice cream cakes, and cookie sandwiches. While they typically have standard flavors like (purple) vanilla and chocolate, they're delicious, and made even better when loaded with The Pastry Project's homemade peanut crunch topping.

Matcha Man used to be a pop-up, and while it sure was fun chasing them around the Puget Sound, it's even better to know that we can stop in their Georgetown shop anytime (well, during opening hours at least) for a freshly-griddled taiyaki with excellent matcha soft serve dispensed inside. The green tea ice cream is clearly the standout, but we'd use their cereal milk flavor in our morning Cornflakes every day if we could.

You know things are getting serious when the soft serve is freckled with real vanilla bean. Sabine's mellow, custardy showing is a summer staple—and when swirled with the sidekick of the moment, like creamy chocolate tahini or strawberry sumac, it eats like a frozen peanut butter cup or strawberry shortcake, respectively. It's not too sweet nor too rich, perfect for breaking up an afternoon of shopping up and down Ballard Ave.

This Central District takeout window's velvety soft serve paired with bakery-level toppings—like brownie crumbs or white chocolate strawberry bits—makes for a perfect little treat. We wouldn't expect less of the Temple Pastries team. Swirls of vanilla are snow-white, extra creamy, and while it looks like one measly cup couldn't possibly be enough, the stuff is rich.

Fun fact: Washington is the top commercial producer of rhubarb in the U.S., so it’s fitting that The Flora Bakehouse’s rhubarb sundae is a winner. It has custardy vanilla soft serve, ribbons of gingery rhubarb compote, and crunched-up meringue. Light enough to eat before a hike and served at a vegetarian bakery that has an urban rooftop garden—it doesn’t get more PNW than that, folks. Note that you can also get their soft serve pumped into a hollowed-out croissant.

The affogato is a genius invention. But when you swap out gelato for velvety soft serve, which is exactly what's happening at Mainstay Provisions, it's even better. Since this cafe's freshly-piped vanilla is so smooth and porous, the hot espresso poured on top steeps each bite, flavoring the ice cream throughout with bittersweet latte essence. When you require dessert and caffeination all at once, it hits just right.

If you almost skipped this guide because you keep a Lactaid sewn into your pants pocket at all times, just wait. This whimsical coffee shop in Mt. Baker serves vegan soft serve every day. That's right—all three flavors are made with oat milk, so no need to work a “dairy day” into your schedule. While you can pass on the overwhelmingly oaty and sweet vanilla, the chocolate and orange creamsicle flavors are both rich and refreshing. Order it piped into a birthday cake, blue corn, or orange cone.

Milk Drunk is one of the newer spots on the list, and it deserves to be here for their chocolate soft serve alone. It’s a little malty, not too sweet, and pairs really well with an order of mozzarella sticks dipped in herby green aioli. In addition to vanilla and malted chocolate, this fried chicken sandwich shop on Beacon Hill serves two rotating vegan flavors (some examples are coconut fig and rainier cherry), and they’re so good that we sometimes crave those over the dairy options.

Pick Quick's soft serve is creamy, not too sweet, and cement-thick. That’s totally a good thing—it stands up to chocolate dips, warm caramel, and/or a cup of fizzy root beer. This stuff is an ideal third wheel to a double cheeseburger and hand-cut fries, and more importantly, will not melt too much while you eat those other things.

If you're not familiar with flavor burst soft serve, that's probably because Moto—a Detroit-style pizza shop in West Seattle—is the only place in town where we've seen it. Essentially, imagine a regular soft serve machine, with artificial syrups pumped into the ridges, causing, well, bursts of flavor. You get it now. Anyway, there's nothing quite like creamy cold vanilla with a karate chop of fictional blue raspberry essence. Ask Lee (the owner) to top yours with his homemade chili crisp.

You may know this Filipino bakery for its mini purple cheesecakes, but now there's purple soft serve. Hood Famous' summer ice cream comes in both ube and sweetened condensed milk flavors, and a swirl of both has a great tang and subtle salty notes that pair perfectly with a toasty ube cookie shoved on top. Or better yet, make a sandwich with two of them.

At this Indian counter on Capitol Hill, you can eat delicious kathi rolls stuffed with things like fried aloo tikki or fresh crumbly paneer—as well as fries dipped in a fantastic green chutney. But afterwards, you should eat a cup of housemade soft serve. Their bases feature flavors like coconut cardamom or mango, and sometimes they’ll have special sundaes, like vanilla ice cream with hot fudge and roasted peanuts.

Nana's is another great option for matcha soft serve. It’s quite balanced—the bitterness of the green tea is toned down perfectly without being sickly sweet. We love it especially when swirled with vanilla and/or eaten with an entire slice of matcha pound cake shoved on top.

Enjoying a huge cup of Atulea's soft serve is like eating a frozen cloud—it's the lightest and fluffiest of any of the options on this guide. And while the flavors rotate at this Capitol Hill tea cafe, the typical matcha and blue butterfly pea-stained mint is a fantastic combination. A swirl of them both is equal parts creamy and refreshing, complete with grassy matcha balanced by a subtle minty zing.