It’s Ridiculous How Much I Love Denver Part 5: Ice Cream

Jul 6

There is so much ice cream to choose from in Denver, which doesn’t make it easy for an ice cream lover like myself. But who wants easy? Luckily we’ve got range, too; hard ice cream scoops, soft serve, fancy, cheap, lots of mix-ins, not enough mix-ins, I’ll try it.

Again keep in mind that I’m only human and haven’t been everywhere. That’s the fun part! I’ll be working on updating this as I hit more ice cream shops in the future :)

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Liks Ice Cream is my personal favorite ice cream in Denver. This is my first choice and it’s in a great spot in Cap Hill. It’s the best hard ice cream scoops in my opinion, flavor-wise, inclusions-wise, size-wise, vibes-wise, everything. They have an extensive menu of ice cream you can choose from, and it switches up I don’t know how often. I love the amount of mix-ins in a flavor as a mix-in lover. My favorites at any given time are Billionares, S’more’s, and the sorbets are amazing; they also have vegan options, with all of the flavors available in milkshakes and I forget what else is on the menu because I’m always getting two scoops in a cone! Pints are available for purchase, too. Great outdoor seating!!

Sweet Action used to be one of my top visited because I lived down the block, which was great! There’s one in Uptown, one in LoHi, and one on Broadway. I fell in love with their ice cream cookie sandwiches, omg. They’ve got really tasty flavors to choose from for scoops, and you know I love two scoops in a cup so I’m usually going that way. I don’t have a favorite here; they rotate flavors and I love picking whatever I feel called to. They also have a great selection of vegan options!

At first we went to Sweet Izzy because my husband is from the east coast and that’s where they’re from (Cape Cod to be exact). We went and I ended up having what would turn out to be my favorite sundae in town - y’all I’d go for a Hudson sundae every single night of the week if I could. All of their ice cream is gluten-free and plant-based (gf oatmilk + coconut) but you can’t TELL. You can taste some coconut but I love how that adds to my sundae. I love the Hudson sundae. Go for that. Go and try something else! Idk it’s good. In Cherry Creek.

Right Cream on south Downing is such a wild little place! They’ve got the most incredible, thoughtful flavor combos for ice cream scoops and pints, while also churning out some really fantastic food like smash burgers and breakfast sandwiches. I dream of an ice cream sandwich I had a couple summers ago with ube, Oreo, salted toffee……..wow. They keep us on our toes, and I think it’s pretty cool they make such great stuff. Get your ice cream and jam to the music from the brewery next door or go walk around Harvard Gulch!!

Bonnie Brae Ice Cream is a Denver classic, down in the Bonnie Brae neighborhood. It’s got the classic ice cream shop feel, and some great ice cream to match. I love when flavors have a lot of mix-ins and they fulfill this. Like if they say it’s a flavor, it’ll have a chunk of that thing in it. I need that everywhere. That’s commitment. They have such an extensive menu, ice cream, sherbet, vegan options, milkshakes, scoops, sundaes, etc. Good spots to sit inside and out.

Thick’s Gelato and Chocolates is your go to for gelato! Oh they’ve got the flavors you’re looking for and then some. I love this cutie shop up on the edge of Five Points and RiNo. You can of course go small with just a little scoop on a hot day, or you can treat yourself and try a couple different flavors. Oh it’s so good and thick! Haha. They have chocolate bars and truffles, too. You can also get pints, flights, and they also offer a dine-in drinking chocolate and some coffees!

Get Right’s does a lot of things right, gelato included. They have it this summer each Friday, Saturday, and Sunday during their lunch service. The pistachio is to die for, the cookies and cream is so so good, but you truly can’t go wrong with any of the flavors. They’ve got ample outdoor seating and pastries or lunchy items like pizza or soup of the day or a sandwich to go with your gelato.

Sadboy Creamery is excluuuusive, baby. He does a drop once per week, Mondays, at 10 am, and you better have all your devices ready to go to get your hands on one of these pints. They’re handmade, really really cool flavors with a BUNCH of mix-ins. There’s fun names and fun concepts, like one for sale right now, “Doughn’t You Wish You Cookie Was Sad Like Me”, or amazing flavs like strawberry rhubarb crisp or megachunk butterfinger. I believe I just saw that they’re going to be opening a space, either to make more for their drops or possibly for a storefront to sell pints? Unsure. Will have to check. You could, too.

Van Leeuwen is everywhere, I know, but when we got the one in Larimer Square I really wanted to try it. It was really good and honestly I think about the peanut butter brownie honeycomb ice cream extremely often. We tried the mango sticky rice and I really loved how it was the perfect flavor. Mix-in amount is so good. We got a couple pints on sale at the store the other day and I have to say I do really like this ice cream. It was fun to go to the one in Larimer Square later in the evening and sit and hang out on a summer night.

High Point Creamery has such good ice cream - the blackberry basil might just change your life. You can get flights here too which is a great way to try like 5 flavors. You can also get pints, but most importantly their scoops are just so good. They used to be in the Denver Central Market and we loved that. Im also such a sucker for a good butter pecan, and their brown butter pecan is sooo good, along with their salty dog chocolate which is one of my other faves. They’ve also got a popular earl grey shortbread flavor. Ice cream sandwiches made with sugar cookies available, too!

Little Man Ice Cream is a Denver classic. It’s that one you see pictures of, with the giant milk can and the big ass line up the block. Can I say that they coined the salted Oreo ice cream? I feel like they did, at least in my eyes. This place is really good, and they’ve got a bunchhhh of locations up and down Denver and Fort Collins! The flavors are great and it always feels like a summer right of passage to stand in the LoHi line (or drive by it and think about it). They had the most purple ube cheesecake ice cream last time we went in Fort Collins and it made my friend’s mouth purple. More mix-ins!

I love Dairy Queen. I’m from Fargo and DQ has a hold on us. A blizzard? Sign me up. Dilly bars? Ya. An ice cream cake? I got one for my birthday. And they better be turning that blizzard upside down in front of my before I get it. I remember getting tokens for DQ from the DNR when we were kids for wearing our life jackets on the boat. I love a s’mores blizzard but also a chocolate extreme, and sometimes a Reese’s. Back in the day the chicken tender basket was IT. wow. Or a concrete mixer from Culvers!!! The heavier, thicker version of the Dairy Queen blizzard, made with custard and any toppings you want mixed in.

DANG Soft Serve is part of the Little Man universe, and I’d be remiss if I didn’t add them as a fabulous soft serve option if that’s your jam. They’re east, between Park Hill and Central Park. They’ve got fab soft serve, plus sundaes and floats, AND chicken and fries. 80s vibes and a bunch of flavors on top of the traditional flavors, this is a fun place to stop if you’re in the area or make a point to go try.

Nuggs is over on East Colfax and a super yummy spot for ice cream and gelato. They have a lot of original flavors they boast, like Blue Moon, Brotherfinger, Caroline's Birthday Cake, Mountain Squeeze Key Lime, Naiman's Dark Chocolate Cherry, The Love Potion, Stellar Milky Way, and S'more Lovin’, to name just a few. You can also order banana splits, ice cream sandwiches, floats, milkshakes, waffle tacos, sundaes, affogatos, and custom ice cream cakes.

Magill’s World of Ice Cream is a cute, local ice cream shop that reminds me a bit of ice cream shops growing up. Everything feels homey, there’s quarts and cakes for sale, and big freezers full of ice cream to be scooped for you. Underrated and flies under the radar for sure. Hopefully you’re good at making decisions because they’ve usually got around 50 flavors to pick from. DF+SF available.

Heaven Creamery has a bunch of locations across the Denver metro and is a great spot for a multitude of things. You’ll find so many flavors that they rotate through, and a good amount of things are gluten free. Ice cream, gelato, vegan gelato, sorbet which is also vegan, and cakes to order or buy that can be gluten free, sugar free.

Sweet Cow is good hard ice cream! They have locations in Denver, Longmont, and in Boulder. Go for scoops, or if you want you can get a milkshake or sundae or float or ice cream sandwich or whatever. You know I’m getting two in a cup. Vegan options, plus pints, quarts, and cakes available, too! Cute, busy, ice cream shop atmosphere, usually with just a few stools to sit inside. We see their ice cream truck around town!