From charcoal soft serve to old-fashioned scoops, we recommend second servings.
Sweet Jesus
Sometime in 2015, Toronto became an ice cream city.
That was the year Sweet Jesus opened its shop at 106 John Street. Torontonians, not known for enjoying standing in line, lined up in droves. We've liked soft serve ever since Dairy Queen moved to Canada in 1954, but this was different.
They’d do the DQ thing, blooping the soft serve out into a cone or cup, but then they’d roll it in stuff. Like crushed-up Oreos, or crumbled red velvet cake. Sometimes, they’d add a little cotton candy around the edges that looked like clown hair. It was weird, and we loved it. And we loved Instagramming it.
La Diperie
Just south of the Annex, La Diperie offers equally 'grammable multi-colour soft serve with various highlights and cereal sprinkles that people take into the park and pose with.
Lineups in front of ice cream places on hot days are commonplace, but this place is worth the wait. If your Insta’s been a little dull lately, you should consider La Diperie for your cool treat.
iHalo Krunch
Specializing in the charcoal black soft serve, iHalo Krunch has the perfect unique treat. Be ready for line-ups, phones, poses and most importantly, delicious ice cream!
Dessert Kitchen
Dessert Kitchen specializes in pan-Asian treats with a Taipei-cool bent. Try the kyoho grape seaweed balls with grape shaved ice, mini rice balls and vanilla ice cream.
Desi Burger
Kulfi is a milk-based popsicle that’s been a frozen treat on the subcontinent since the 16th century. You can get it in a lot of places in Little India, but try the ones at Desi Burger first.
You can get the regular ones or the slightly more expensive and much creamier ones that have been churned for 90 hours before being formed and frozen. Traditional flavours include cardamom, mango, pistachio and rose.
Also see: Where to Get the Best Dessert in Toronto with an International Twist
Summer’s
Summer’s is the sort of ice cream you get at the cottage. Old-fashioned scoops, made in small batches by the Helka family, who started making ice cream in Czechoslovakia in the 1930s. This ice cream’s been served from its little hutch below street level in Yorkville (summers only) since 1985.
Dutch Dreams
Dutch Dreams is another single-location family business, serving kosher, Dutch-style hard ice cream since the 1980s in Wychwood Park.
The Big Chill
The Big Chill is soda-fountain-style ice cream in the middle of Little Italy. They’ve got the usual flavours but try the Smartie-sprinkled and mini-Oreo-topped banana split if you’re feeling adventurous.
Hollywood Gelato
Located in the heart of Leaside, on Mt. Pleasant just south of Eglinton, Hollywood Gelato calls itself Toronto’s first gelateria. The truth to that claim is lost in the mists of time, but it is good. It’s a real hangout on weekend summer evenings.
Flo’s Diner
If you want actual diner-style ice cream confections in a diner that started out life as a modern retro spot but has been around long enough now (since the late 80s) to have earned its cool chrome stripes, Flo’s Diner is where you go in Toronto. Its best treats include floats, shakes and malts.
Nanashake
If you’re vegan, frozen desserts can be tough, and though Dessert Kitchen (see above) has several options, there’s an ice cream parlour dedicated specifically to chill-seeking vegans called Nanashake in North York on Yonge Street just south of Sheppard. They’ve got chocolate and strawberry but try the date-flavoured concoction, or maybe the affogato.
Bang Bang
Bang Bang may be the most popular, most lined-up-at spot in the city, which is why I’m putting it last here. Those lines don’t need to get any longer. But if you’re curious about why people would wait up to two hours for ice cream, often served in a little mason jar in flavours like amazake and fresh mint, you should stop by the Ossington storefront to find out.