Best Ice Cream in Austin, TX

This is my guide to the best ice cream in Austin, Texas, perfect for the hot weather ahead of us. This list will include other ICY desserts perfect for this weather!

Zed's Real Fruit Ice cream

Zeds Ice Cream often has a long line and originally comes from New Zealand. They have multiple brick and mortar locations in Austin. The process works by choosing your base and your fruit, which they blend to make your ice cream, and then you can add your choice of toppings.

I recommend trying the raspberry with dairy free vanilla, topped with toasted coconut and La Lechera.

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Birdies

One of my favorite spots to grab soft serve in town is Birdie's. They have some of the best soft serve in Austin in my opinion. It is typically part of their course menu, and they rotate different toppings and flavors.
If you have the chance, I recommend stopping by to grab a cup of their soft serve to go. You can check in at the front of the line and skip the long line if you only want soft serve togo.

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Jeni's Icecream

Jeni's Ice Cream was for a long time my go-to ice cream spot. They are technically a chain with multiple locations.

My favorite flavor is the Bramble Berry Crisp. It features oven-toasted oat streusel with sweet-tart brambleberry jam, blackberries, and black currants layered throughout vanilla ice cream. The only reason it is not my top pick anymore is that the scoops have become smaller and more expensive over time.

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Anh Em

The matcha soft serve at Anh Em is really delicious, and they make it in house. It has a nice, subtle matcha flavor and is the perfect refreshing treat after eating their Vietnamese food.

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Wicked Snow

Wicked Snow serves bingsu, which is a very popular Korean style dessert. Think of mountains of shaved ice that are soft and fluffy like snow, topped with your choice of different flavors.

Personally, I like the matcha one topped with strawberry the most. I also enjoy the more traditional options that include Korean toppings like injeolmi and red bean.

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Kome

This dessert is a dinner only special at Kome. It’s their green tea parfait, featuring matcha ice cream, matcha mousse, red bean paste, mini mochi, whipped cream, Rice Krispies, and Pocky. It’s one of my favorite parfaits in Austin and one of the few of its kind in the city.

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OMG Squee

The Taiyaki soft serve at OMG Squee is one of the most Instagrammable desserts in town. They make their Taiyaki in house, and the soft serve is perfectly smooth. It’s my goto spot whenever I’m craving something like Somi Somi.

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Hawaiian Paradise

Hawaiian Paradise serves a variety of shaved ice, also known as raspas. They offer both milk based and fruit based options depending on your preference.

The ones I really enjoyed were the hazelnut and the guava. They also make all of their syrups from scratch, which makes a big difference in flavor.

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Hana Shave Ice

Hana Shave Ice serves some of the best Hawaiian style shave ice in Austin. They make all of their fruit syrups from scratch with some creative combinations. My favorite ones are the Surfer Girl and the Lava Lagoon.

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Besame

Besame has gained some negative attention recently online, but they are known for having some of the most popular ice cream in Austin. They have multiple locations, including one in Littlefield and another in South Austin at Meanwhile Brewery.

My favorite ice cream there is the Cookie Monster. It is made with ice cream infused with fresh garden mint, filled with shaved chocolate and chunks of salted chocolate chip cookie dough. It is gluten free and egg free.

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Gelato Paradiso

Gelato Paradiso is my favorite spot for gelato. A lot of people might disagree, but I recently went to Rome and noticed that most gelato there uses metal pans on the bottom rather than the fully covered metal tubs people often imagine.

I thought the pistachio gelato at Gelato Paradiso was on par with much of what I had in Rome. If you are looking for really good pistachio gelato, this is the spot.

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Amy's Icecream

Amy's Ice Creams is a classic ice cream spot in Austin with multiple locations and has been open for many years.

The items you must try are their Mexican vanilla ice cream. Sometimes I like adding a drizzle of their hot fudge to turn it into a sundae for an extra treat.

Click website here.

Hui Lau Shan

Hui Lau Shan is my next go-to spot for iced desserts and ice cream. It is a Hong Kong based dessert chain, and my favorite item is the jumbo mango chewy ball.

This dessert comes topped with mango ice cream, several chewy rice balls, and fresh mango chunks. The very bottom layer is mango pudding, so you get everything in one compact dessert. For that reason, I consider it one of the best desserts to enjoy when it is hot outside.

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Andy's Frozen Custard

Andy's Frozen Custard is a spot you have to try, even if some people might disagree. I have converted many people to this chain, and it is probably my favorite for frozen custard. They have multiple locations, most of which are further north, so if you are in the south, you may need to make the drive, but it is worth it.

I usually get the Snow Monster with double strawberries. When I am feeling extra hungry, I get a medium instead of a small, though a small is usually more than enough.

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Asahi Imports

Asahi Imports is the spot to check out for Asian style soft serve. They only serve soft serve on certain days, typically Friday through Sunday, and the flavors rotate.

I enjoy trying their different options, such as plum, matcha, and black sesame, though you never know exactly what will be available until the day you visit.

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Kessho Gelato

If you are looking for dairy-free gelato, Kessho is the spot to try. They are known for their chocolate bars, but they also serve gelato. One of my favorite flavors is the mango sticky rice ice cream. It is lactose free and has sticky rice mixed into the mango ice cream.

The first time I tried it, I found it a bit icy and not quite as rich as the gelato at Gelato Paradisio, but for what they are going for, it is very good and worth a try.

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