15 Best Ice Cream Shops in the West

Must have: Stumptown Coffee

Molly Moon Neitzel uses mostly local fruit to flavor her ice creams—the farthest south she goes for fruit is Napa Valley for blood oranges. And it's not just the customers who are happy here: Employees get free health care, paid leave and living wages.

Molly Moon Ice Cream

917 E Pine St (various locations)

Seattle, WA, 98122,

(206) 708-7947

Must have: Strawberry

Ingredients come from the local farmers' market, one of the best in the country.

Sweet Rose Creamery

826 Pico Blvd

Santa Monica, CA, 90404,

(310) 260-2663

Must have: Churros con Leche

This parlor pasteurizes its own milk and cream to make a rich, thick custard base. They have a location in L.A., too!

McConnell’s

728 State St

Santa Barbara, CA, 93101,

(805) 324-4402

Must have: Orchard Peach

Inventive flavors like the malty M2 (the owner won't reveal what's in it) fill the Lickwich, made with grilled doughnut halves.

Lick Pure Cream

434 Yale Ave N

Seattle, WA, 98109,

(425) 295-4705

Must have: Arbequina Olive Oil

Famous for its collaborations with chefs as well as sweet-savory combos like Fish Sauce Caramel with Palm Sugar.

Salt & Straw

838 NW 23rd Ave

Portland, OR, 97210,

(971) 271-8168

Must have: Swiss Chocolate ice cream

A Bainbridge Island favorite owned and operated by two Argentinean expats; the superb ice cream, made in small batches, comes in flavors like Dulce de Leche and Gianduja.

Mora Iced Creamery

Madrone Ln N

Bainbridge Island, WA, 98110,

(206) 855-1112

Must have: Strawberry Je Ne Sais Quoi (strawberry ice cream with a splash of balsamic vinegar)

Owner and former Peace Corps volunteer Neal Gottlieb puts a big emphasis on sustainability: The ingredients for his ice cream are local; all bowls, spoons and napkins are compostable; and the shop's emissions are offset with renewable energy certificates.

Three Twins Organic Ice Cream

641 Del Ganado Rd

San Rafael, CA, 94903,

(415) 492-8946

Must have: English Toffee ice cream and a handmade waffle cone

“The ice cream has great flavor and mouthfeel, and a large flavor selection that changes with the season. It always reminds me of childhood trips to the ice cream shop,” says 2012 F&W Best New Pastry Chef Devin McDavid, of San Francisco’s Quince restaurant.

Screamin’ Mimi’s

6902 Sebastopol Ave

Sebastopol , CA, 95472,

(707) 823-5902

Must have: Wicked Chocolate ice cream

Among the local ingredients used at this Pearl District shop: Oregon bing cherries for its Bing Cherry Almond Chip and hazelnut butter and toasted hazelnuts from orchards 20 miles away for its Willamette Valley Hazelnut.

Cool Moon Ice Cream

1105 NW Johnson St

Portland, OR, 97209,

(503) 224-2021

Must have: Green Tea mochi ice cream

One fan of Keith Robbins' bite-size mochi (ice cream wrapped in a sweetened rice confection) is superchef Nobu Matsuhisa.

Bubbi's Ice Cream

Koko Marina Shopping Center
7192 Kalanianaole Hwy D103
Honolulu, HI 96825
(808) 396-8722

Must have: Salted Caramel or Black Sesame with Sonoma Honey

Almost everything at this excellent ice cream shop is made from scratch, including the marshmallows for the Rocky Road. Marin County's Straus Family Creamery, the first certified-organic dairy in the West, supplies all of the milk and cream for Bi-Rite's ice creams.

Bi-Rite Creamery

3692 18th St

San Francisco, CA, 94110,

(415) 626-5600

Must have: Vietnamese Coffee

This shop has a retro vibe--check out the nostalgic ice cream cookie sandwiches.

Churn

5223 N Central Ave

Phoenix, AZ, 85012,

(602) 279-8024

Must have: House-made ice cream cones

Mary Canales, a former pastry chef at Berkeley's illustrious Chez Panisse, is now famous in her own right for phenomenal ice creams in flavors like brandied cherry and rose.

Ici Ice Cream

2948 College Ave

Berkeley, CA, 94705,

(510) 665-6054

Must have: Baklava ice cream

The constantly changing, inspired flavors at this 100 percent wind-powered ice cream shop include Oatmeal Stout and Strawberry Balsamic.

Sweet Action Ice Cream

52 Broadway

Denver, CO, 80203,

(303) 282-4645

Must have: Cheese Course Duo (blue cheese with Arizona Medjool dates)

This two-year-old shop prides itself on using exceptional ingredients, from milk and cream from local dairy farms to single-origin, fair-trade coffee beans for its espresso flavor.

Sweet Republic

9160 E Shea Blvd #105

Scottsdale, AZ, 85260,

(480) 248-6979