PHILADEPHIA 🍦 Good soft serve makes us feel like we walked into a room that’s had the A/C cranked up all day. That’s exactly the feeling we get after eating having a cup or cone from 1-900-ICE CREAM, home to the best soft serve in Philly. The Rittenhouse and Fishtown locations serve creamy, delicious flavors like sort-of-salty chocolate, birthday cake batter, and Dankaroo (with cookie crumbles and a frosting shell), as well as ice cream bricks and several take-home pints.

MIAMI 🍦 This soft serve shop was once a Dairy Queen, but it’s now our favorite place to get ice cream in Miami. It has a drive-thru, a couple of shaded tables in the back, and the absolute nicest people working the windows. You have three soft serve choices: vanilla, chocolate, or vanilla and chocolate twist, plus 29 different toppings. Our favorite order is a small vanilla cone dipped in butterscotch. It kind of tastes like pancakes, and it’s just over $3 with tax.

CHICAGO 🍦 Shawn Michelle’s is a must-visit scoop shop in Chicago for creative flavors that are interesting without seeming like they’re trying too hard. Order the honey cinnamon graham cracker (it has a perfect balance of crackers and honey), the rich and smooth banana pudding, or the Delta, which tastes like an oddly satisfying creamy Kool-Aid. If you’re a first-timer, expect to be practically force-fed samples of their signature flavors by the friendliest people who work there.

MILWAUKEE 🍦 Wisconsin frozen custard is made golden and rich from egg yolks, and you can find a perfect swirl at Kopp’s in Milwaukee. Workers wear white paper hats at this ‘50s-era spot, and they take this midwestern delicacy seriously. The flavors rotate with the season, like Bailey’s Irish Cream Coffee, which makes a compelling case to clean out your freezer so that a pint, or three, fits. We also love the German apple streusel and the very rich tiramisu.

LAKE GEORGE, NY 🍦 Martha’s has been pumping out mountainous swirls of soft serve for nearly 80 years. Today, the ice cream shop sits right across the street from a Six Flags just outside of Lake George, and they have an encyclopedic menu of classic flavors like birthday cake, banana, and an orange creme twist that tastes exactly like a creamsicle in soft serve form. If you don’t feel like racing to finish a cone before it drips all over your hands, they also make a dense cremewich.

LOS ANGELES 🍦 One of the smartest moves you could make in Los Angeles (besides being born a nepo baby) is grabbing a scoop of Thai gelato at Kanomwaan. The gelato is rich and custardy with that full-fat texture that coats your whole mouth. The Thai part comes from the flavors, like vanilla-y pandan and smoked salted egg that tastes like the sweet smell of blown-out birthday candles. Stop by for a basic cup (two-scoop minimum) or corral friends for a giant shaved ice sundae.

AUSTIN 🍦 Bésame is a colorful trailer with a permanent residency at the large, popular Austin brewery Meanwhile Brewing, and it’s our favorite way to finish up a meal of smoked meats from the nearby BBQ truck Distant Relatives. Flavors change regularly based on what’s in season, so expect things like lavender and blueberry ice cream with Fruity Pebbles, or an earl gray ice cream with wildflower honey meringue.

CAPE COD 🍦 Ice Cream Cafe in Cape Cod has flavors for everyone—regardless of dietary restrictions. There are dozens of flavors ranging from avocado to brownie batter, plus many vegan, non-dairy, sugar-free, and gluten-free options. If you come here in the late afternoon or early evening, there’s usually a line out the door that spills onto the deck, but it moves quickly. Try flavors like black raspberry, peppermint stick, and maple walnut, and add on a salt-water taffy.

SAN FRANCISCO 🍦 Mitchell’s has been around since 1953, and it’s become somewhat synonymous with San Francisco itself. The small creamery on San Jose Avenue is one of the best in SF and usually draws long lines thanks to flavors like banana, cantaloupe, ube, and buko. There’s a heavy emphasis on Filipino ingredients, and you’ll find multiple types of coconut and lots of tropical fruits like jackfruit and lychee featured here.

ATLANTA 🍦 Voga Italian Gelato in Atlanta is decadent enough that we feel compelled to eat it wearing a monocle and pocket watch. The mood at Voga is understatedly elegant, with dark wood finishes, dim lighting, and plush leather seating. And it all makes sense because they sell gelato so rich it could pay off your student loans. The Inman Park shop makes some of Atlanta's silkiest and creamiest gelato with a range of rotating flavors like zabaglione and vanilla bourbon. Get a couple of scoops.

NYC 🍦 The flavors at NYC’s Sugar Hill Creamery have fun names like Buggin’ Out (malted vanilla) or Chairperson Of The Board (blueberry cheesecake) that always make us smile when we walk in. But the decadent texture of ice cream is the real reason we come back again and again. Rotating flavors capture the essence of summer—peach cobbler and sweet corn with jalapeño are some of our favorites. Make sure to try Sweet Socialism, a vegan single-estate dark chocolate sorbet that’s super rich.

WASHINGTON, DC 🍦 This carry-out-only restaurant in Washington, DC specializes in pizza, ice cream, and wine, three (almost) universal human desires. The pizza and shawarma-spiced wings are great, but it’s the ice cream that keeps us coming back. Gemini serves some of the best we’ve ever had with flavors like coconut sorbet with passion fruit and chocolate that you can buy by the pint. Our absolute favorite is the simple, but forever classic vanilla fudge, which is rich and creamy.

MINNEAPOLIS 🍦 Don’t go to Bebe Zito in Minneapolis and expect to order just a scoop of vanilla. This wacky ice cream shop uses ingredients like caramelized Fruity Pebbles and gochujang-flavored brownie pieces, serving them all with color-changing spoons. Some options are inspired by Brazilian flavors, like Romeu e Julieta, a cream cheese custard swirled with guava. Others reference ‘80s and ‘90s nostalgia with the cereal-heavy Breakfast Club and sprinkle filled Animal Frosting.

DENVER 🍦 Liks is a Denver ice cream institution that opened in 1976, also known as the good old days before California figured out we existed and people skied in jeans. Today, it’s still one of the best places in the city to stop for a cone after dinner or a pint to take home. The flavors change daily, but you can’t go wrong with anything that has cheesecake in it (look for the Cheeseman Park flavor). Also, try the caramel apple or the amaretto cherry chip if you see them.