Five Places to Get Ice Cream in Boston Right Now
From Taco Tuesday at Honeycomb Creamery, to creamy soft serve at Jaho Coffee & Tea.
In rain, in March snow, or in May mugginess, Boston is, and always will be, an ice cream town. From longtime favorites like J.P. Licks and Emack & Bolio’s, to Toscanini’s (now in a new Cambridge location), Picco, Rancatore’s, and Christina’s, and newer shops like Gracie’s, FoMu, and more, there aren’t many blocks where you can’t get a frozen fix.
This warm season is shaping up to be no different. These five restaurants, cafés, and scoop shops are on our shortlist to visit this month.
Honeycomb Creamery has its S’mores ice cream taco on Tuesdays in May. / Photo by Joy Yang of Joyly Designs
Honeycomb Creamery
It’s Taco Tuesday at the reigning Best of Boston ice cream shop. Biweekly, the Cambridge shop creates a new, handheld treat featuring a house-made shell filled with ice cream and toppings. The taco is only available on Tuesdays, from 1 p.m. until they close at 10 p.m., or until sellout. This week and Tuesday, May, 22, the s’mores taco ($6) returns: It’s a chocolate waffle cone, with malted vanilla ice cream, chocolate magic shell, graham cracker crust, and toasted marshmallow.
1702 Massachusetts Ave., Cambridge, 617-714-3983, honeycombcreamery.com.
Jaho Coffee & Tea serves house-made soft serve ice cream. / Photo provided
Jaho Coffee & Tea
All locations of this café group now serve Japanese-style soft serve, made in-house at the Salem headquarters. The dense, creamy ice cream is now available year-round in original vanilla milk flavor, with a rotating second option to try by itself, or to swirl together in a lightly salted pretzel cone ($4.67). Currently, find Uji matcha soft serve at the Chinatown and South End locations; and dark chocolate in Salem. All cafés can make you an affogato now, too ($6).
1651 Washington St., South End, 617-236-1680, 665 Washington St., Downtown Boston, 857-233-4094, 197 Derby St., Salem, 978-744-4300, jaho.com.
Little Donkey has a rhubarb white chocolate popsicle on special this spring. / Photo provided
Little Donkey
The dessert game has always been strong at Ken Oringer and Jamie Bissonnette’s global market-inspired small plates joint. This spring, find a few frozen treats worth saving room for during lunch or dinner. Among them is a loaded banana ice cream sundae made with Toscanini’s ice cream ($9); and there’s also a house-made, pretty pink rhubarb #Donksicle this spring, coated in white chocolate with puffed quinoa ($7)
505 Massachusetts Ave., Cambridge, 617-945-1008, littledonkeybos.com.
The patio at Southern Proper. / Photo provided
Southern Proper
The Parlor Ice Cream Co.’s Jacqueline Dole spins a couple custom flavors for the dessert menu at chef Jason Cheek’s new restaurant. The South End spot—which boasts a nice patio on pleasant days—has Parlor’s sweet cream flavor, and it’s the only place to try lemon meringue pie, chocolate chess, and salted caramel popcorn, with new summer scoops on the horizon, Dole says. Order it in a cup, house-made cone, or as an ice cream biscuit sandwich. Parlor Ice Cream has also hooked up George Howell’s Downtown Crossing coffee shop with an exclusive flavor: Try Ethiopian honey there, by itself or as an espresso-soaked affogato. Parlor also has pints available around Camberville and beyond.
Southern Proper, 600 Harrison Ave., Boston, 857-233-2421, southernproperboston.com
George Howell Coffee, 505 Washington St., Downtown Crossing, Boston, georgehowellcoffee.com.
The coolers are stocked at Tipping Cow Ice Cream in Somerville, now reopen for the season / Photo via Facebook
Tipping Cow
This Camberville ice cream company started on the farmers’ market scene in 2013, and opened this nut-free shop in 2016. It reopened for the season this past Saturday, May 12, with pints to go, cups, cones, and sundaes. This week, choose among classics like strawberry, cookie dough, and mint chip, and special flavors like Snickerdoodle.
415 Medford St., Somerville, tippingcowicecream.com.
