When you’re in Portland, you get only a small window for ice cream weather, and of course, you don’t want to miss any chance you get to taste some of the most splendid scoops the city has to offer.
From Portland’s very own Salt & Straw to authentic gelaterias to the yummiest vegan ice cream you’ve ever tasted, our round-up always brings you the best names in every category, and ice cream Portland is no exception.
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🍦 Check out this guided ice cream tour around Portland!
1. Salt & Straw
How can we not start our list with Portland’s very own ice cream institution?!
Salt & Straw could easily be the only ice cream brand in the country to have such a cult following, the main reason behind which is quality. Head to one of the three Salt & Straw scoop shops in Portland, and you’re guaranteed to experience the magic.
Salt & Straw’s Honey Lavender is a West Coast classic. Made by steeping huge amounts of lavender petals in local honey, this ice cream comes with a beautifully complex flavor and tastes just like Spring.
From their new Upcycled Foods Series, we personally enjoyed the Salted Caramel & Okara Cupcakes flavor.
Made with upcycled soy, okara flour cake mix, oat milk, and their yummy caramel frosting, this frozen treat is a yummylicious combination of salty and sweet flavors + it’s vegan.
If you like your ice cream chocolatey, indulgent, and extremely decadent, the Chocolate Gooey Brownie is for you.
Folded with housemade marshmallow fluff, you get to taste fudgy pieces of brownie in every spoonful of the ice cream, and there’s nothing like it!
What to order: Honey Lavender, Salted Caramel & Okara Cupcakes, Chocolate Gooey Brownie
Address:
-Division – 3345 SE Division Street, Portland, OR 97202
-NW 23rd – 838 NW 23rd Avenue, Portland, OR 97210
-Alberta – 2035 NE Alberta Street, Portland, OR 97211
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2. Cloud City Ice Cream
Established in 2011, Cloud City Ice Cream offers fresh, handmade ice cream with flavors inspired by the owner – Bryen Gilbert – memories and recipes of his mother.
With a family-friendly atmosphere and plenty of outdoor seating, this spot is a neighborhood staple.
One of the best recreations of Bryen’s mother’s recipes is Caramelized Banana.
This flavor is based on her bananas foster recipe, and is made with organic bananas, dark rum, and brown sugar – as simple as that, and tastes extraordinary!
Circus Friends is a flavor popular among kids; this flavor has sweet cream ice cream as its base, which comes studded with the mother’s frosted animal cookies, and topped with rainbow sprinkles.
Swirled with peanut butter cups and peanut butter ripple, Gold Digger is double chocolate ice cream with all things peanut butter – another kids’ favorite!
The Thai Coconut ice cream is a beautiful blend of rich Thai coconut milk and vanilla and is vegan.
What to order: Caramelized Banana, Circus Friends, Gold Digger, Thai Coconut
Address: 4525 SE Woodstock Blvd, Portland, OR 97206
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3. Cool Moon Ice Cream
Operating since 2007, Cool Moon Ice Cream has Portlandians hooked with some of the best ice cream in the region made with all-natural ingredients and sweetened with cane sugar.
From simple and straightforward flavors to internationally inspired exotic flavors, this place never ceases to amaze ice cream lovers.
A hugely popular flavor here is Kulfi. This is an Indian-inspired flavor, and the ice cream is flavored with cardamom, pistachio, and rosewater, giving away spice, nutty, and floral scents and tastes in every mouthful.
And surprisingly, the ice cream isn’t too sweet.
Their Coffee Crackle is another staple; it tastes like freshly brewed espresso and is a flavor any coffee lover will thoroughly enjoy.
Their sorbets are 100% dairy-free, and our favorite from the menu is the Chocolate Sorbet. It’s smooth, dark, deep in flavor, and tastes intensely delicious!
The Marionberry is fruity and tart, with a jam-like texture, and has a distinctive taste.
What to order: Kulfi, Coffee Crackle, Chocolate Sorbet, Marionberry
Address: 1105 NW Johnson Street, Portland, OR 97209
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4. Kate’s Ice Cream
Kate’s Ice Cream is Portland’s plant-based dessert sensation, offering seriously amazing vegan and gluten-free ice cream.
With beautiful hues surrounding you and a counter tiled in shades of pink, this scoop shop is a dream destination that will have you strung out.
Their most popular flavor, without a doubt, is the Marionberry Cobbler. The combination of the fresh and tangy marionberry jam and crunchy walnuts makes this flavor stand out.
The Pistachio is super refreshing and nutty throughout. This is a classic flavor in a refined vegan variation.
The Salted Chocolate Pretzel is a seasonal flavor that has simple yet flavourful salted vanilla ice cream filled with chocolate-covered gluten-free pretzels and chocolate syrup.
There’s absolutely nothing you can not like about this flavor.
The Cookie Monster is a fun flavor. It has a blue ice cream fully packed with housemade oreos and cookies. Of course, it’s kids’ first choice (duh!).
What to order: Marionberry Cobbler, Pistachio, Salted Chocolate Pretzel, Cookie Monster
Address: 3713 N Mississippi Avenue, Portland, OR 97227
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5. Pinolo Gelato
Pinolo Gelato takes pride in reviving traditional gelato-making methods from Italy to deliver simple, authentic, and flawless frozen treats.
Their gelato and sorbetto are made using natural, local ingredients, and they also serve coffee and espresso, everything offered in a humble and welcoming setting.
If you haven’t already, you NEED TO try Pinolo Gelato’s Lemon Basil sorbetto. Made from fresh squeezed lemons and the absolute best basil, the sorbetto just sings with flavor and gives your palate a refreshing cleanse.
A scoop of this sorbetto would be the perfect way to mark Portland’s summer!
A special flavor to try here is Nonna Luigina. Based on the owner Sandro’s grandma Luigina’s classic Tuscan cake recipe, this is a custard gelato with chocolate sauce on top and garnished with alkermes liquor-soaked (non-alcoholic) sponge cake pieces.
The gelato is silky smooth and the flavor altogether is extremely satisfying, making you yearn for more.
The Cioccolato is velvety and dense goodness, made with organic dark chocolate. Our suggestion would be to pair this classic flavor with their fior di latte gelato for the best combo ever!
What to order: Lemon Basil sorbetto, Nonna Luigina gelato, Cioccolato with Fior di Latte
Address: 3707 SE Division Street, Portland, OR 97202
6. Fifty Licks Ice Cream
Famous for its custard-style ice cream and ice cream cocktails, Fifty Licks is an ice cream parlor chain with multiple locations in Portland.
Made by hand, from scratch, their creations focus on flavor and have the perfect texture too.
Before recommending flavors, we’re obliged to let you know that Fifty Licks ice cream has one of the best consistencies we’ve ever tried. It’s thick, creamy, slightly frozen, and absolutely addictive.
As for flavors, we fell in love with the Mango Sticky Rice. The flavor is light and sweet, and the ice cream tastes just like the original Thai dessert.
The Matcha Mochi will make you want it over and over again. The flavor is intense and sweet, and you can taste tiny bits of chewy and soft mochi in every bite.
The Marionberry and Strawberry flavors are so good, you’ll love them “berry” much!
PS: They provide special scoops and milkbones for your four-legged friends; so, get ready to go on a “purr”fect ice cream date with your favorite partner!
What to order: Mango Sticky Rice, Matcha Mochi, Marionberry, Strawberry
Address:
-2742 E Burnside Street, Portland, OR 97214
-2021 SE Clinton Street #101, Portland, OR 97202
-1647 NW 21st Avenue, Portland, OR 97209
7. Staccato Gelato
Staccato Gelato is a fine combination of Italian gelato-making and fresh Oregon ingredients and flavors.
This bright and colorful little spot has plenty of seating and a kids area too, and offers a rotating selection of 18 gelato flavors on any given day, along with drinks and other delights.
Peeps gelato always makes a comeback at Staccato Gelato. This marshmallow gelato is fun, festive, and will be loved by kids and adults alike.
From the extensive sorbet menu, we absolutely love the Blood Orange sorbet.
Each icy spoonful of this sorbet perfectly captures the flavor of blood oranges, and is superbly refreshing .
At Staccato, they always boast about their Vanilla gelato. Taste this classic flavor, and you’ll know why!
And most importantly, don’t miss their Chocolate Affogato. Chocolate gelato + espresso = heaven!
What to order: Peeps, Blood Orange, Vanilla, Chocolate Affogato
Address: 232 NE 28th Avenue #3148, Portland, OR 97232
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8. Beaux Berry
At Beaux Berry, you can get New Zealand-style real fruit ice cream, which are made to order, and differentiate the place from the rest of Portland’s ice cream destinations.
In addition, they also offer their super premium ice cream made using organic ingredients and make their own sauces as well.
Of course, their best offering is the Real Fruit Ice Cream.
The base here is premium vanilla ice cream, made in-house; you can choose from different Oregon berries, and they will be blended with the ice cream base to bring about a soft serve consistency.
This is as fresh as it gets, and our favorite berry to blend is Strawberry. You could also choose Mixed Berry to enjoy a combination of strawberry, raspberry, marionberry, and blueberry.
The Marionberry in their non-dairy variation is absolutely decadent.
Pro tip: Have some cocoa nibs mixed into your treat to make it even more delectable.
Made in limited quantities, their Dark Chocolate Mousse flavor is just out of this world!
What to order: Strawberry, Mixed Berry, Marionberry (non-dairy), Dark Chocolate Mousse
Address: 3707 NE Fremont Street, Portland, OR 97212
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9. Ramblin’ Rose
Created specifically for vegan and dairy-intolerant individuals, Ramblin’ Rose’s ice cream is 100% dairy-free, soy-free, and gluten-free, served out of an attractive red truck.
Also offering refined sugar-free options, this little truck will make soft serve your new love language!
If you’re new here, you should definitely start with their ever-popular Rose Float.
This soda float comes with creamy soft serve in rose syrup, and is sprinkled with flowers; it is fragrant, silky, smooth, and sets the bar pretty high.
The Raspberry Sherbet is sweet, tart, fruity, soft, and a pure delight!
If you’re a sundae person, our top choices at Ramblin’ Rose are Lilac Blondie Sundae and Caramel Chai Brownie Sundae.
Catering to people with different taste preferences, both these sundae creations hit the mark.
What to order: Rose Float, Raspberry Sherbet, Lilac Blondie Sundae, Caramel Chai Brownie Sundae
Address: 1401 SE Division Street, Portland, OR 97202
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10. Hurry Back Ice Cream
Another beloved Portland ice cream truck, Hurry Back Ice Cream makes small batches of fresh, delicious ice cream right in their truck, and specializes in Philadelphia-style ice cream (made without eggs).
As part of the Top 40 Food Carts in Portland list by Yelp, this cart has been helping the neighbourhood beat the heat for years.
The Root Beer Ice Cream Float ice cream brings back all the fond memories we have of root beer ice cream float.
It tastes just like when root beer mixes with vanilla ice cream – the part that we all love!
The Pomegranate Chocolate Chip, as the name suggests, is a lovely marriage of fruity and chocolate-y flavors.
You get plenty of chocolate chips in every scoop, and it tastes wonderful.
Their Butterscotch is rich and deep, and has a delicious brown sugar flavor.
What to order: Root Beer Ice Cream Float Ice Cream, Pomegranate Chocolate Chip, Butterscotch, Oreo
Address: 7875 SE Lexington Street & SE 13th Avenue, Portland, OR 97202
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Looking for some quality eateries for your meal before dessert in Portland? Our best Portland restaurants list has all the amazing spots rounded up.
How We Create Our “Best” Lists
All Noms Magazine’s “best” lists are created using multiple factors and signals to help readers find the best restaurants, things to do, and places to stay at. Some of these factors and signs include personal experiences, correspondence with locals, and compiling experiences from review sites.
Each list is also created to be balanced (in terms of price, cuisine type, ambiance, and more) as possible. This means that the lists are not specifically created in ranking order. You should be comfortable picking from any of the spots on the list and generally have a good time. But of course, YMMV (your mileage may vary) and everyone may have different experiences/palates.