Ice cream and summertime go hand in hand. On a hot day there’s nothing like an oversized scoop of smooth, handmade ice cream with swirls of chocolate to cool you off.
Thankfully, Northeast Ohio has plenty of ice cream shops to satisfy your cravings. Whether you’re looking for a vintage-inspired ice cream parlor or a modern shop with unique flavors, you can find them here.
Durbin Magic Freeze
Location: 1284 Wooster Road, Barberton, durbinmagicfreeze.com
Opened in 1953, this family-owned ice cream shop has many diehard followers who line up come summertime to enjoy a scoop with their families.
What to order: Hot fudge sundae
East Coast Custard
Locations: Fairview Park, Lyndhurst, Mentor, Painesville, Parma Heights, eastcoastcustard.com
The name, East Coast Custard, pays tribute to the creamy, custard concoction created in New York’s Coney Island circa 1919. But make no mistake, this icy treat has Cleveland roots and began in 1985 with the Parma Heights location.
What to order: Flavors change daily and from location to location
Foster’s Homemade Ice Cream
Location: 30551 Chardon Road, Willoughby Hills, 440-944-9210
This hard-packed ice cream has become a neighborhood favorite. If you’re looking for an around-the-corner type shop this is the place.
What to order: Blue Moon Ice Cream
Honey Hut Ice Cream
Locations: Brecksville, Cleveland, Parma, Solon, Brunswick, honeyhut.com
Started in the Old Brooklyn area of Cleveland in 1973, Honey Hut was a labor of love for city firefighter Frank Page and his wife Marianne. Today there are five Honey Hut locations serving up scoops of silky ice cream.
What to order: Honey Pecan
Jeni’s Splendid Ice Cream
Location: 67 N. Main Street, Chagrin Falls, jenis.com
With unusual flavors like Wildberry Lavender, Goat Cheese with Red Cherries, Savannah Buttermint, Jeni Britton Bauer’s ice cream has quickly become a classic along with garnering national acclaim and accolades. Lines often go around the block at this location.
What to order: Brambleberry Crisp
Malley’s Chocolates
Locations: Aurora, Bay Village, Lakewood, Mentor, North Olmsted, malleys.com
Don’t just order a scoop at Malley’s, instead try one of their more than 50 ice cream concoctions. They’re probably best known for their sundae coated with Malley’s chocolate hot fudge.
What to order: Banana split
Mitchell’s Ice Cream
Locations: eight, including a recently opened Ohio City shop, mitchellshomemade.com
Started by two brothers, these Cleveland natives make some of the best ice cream around with locally sourced ingredients. And if you like your ice cream packed with nuts, chocolate chunks and other fixings, they make their ice creams loaded.
What to order: (seasonal) Geauga Maple Walnut
Pav’s Creamery
Location: 3769 Manchester Road, Akron, pavscreamery.com
A frequent winner of local “Best Ice Cream” awards, Pav’s Creamery offers handmade ice cream, “kustard” and gelato. A note on their kustard: it’s made with cream, not the traditional eggs of most frozen custards, making it one of the creamiest around.
What to order: Flavors change weekly
Sweet Moses
Location: 6800 Detroit Ave., Cleveland, sweetmosestreats.com
This old-fashioned looking ice cream parlor has a soda fountain along with “soda jerks” serving up sundaes in style. Located in the Gordon Square Arts District, there’s handmade ice cream along with candies, popcorn and more.
What to order: the Gordon Square Sundae made with bananas foster ice cream hugged with two chewy brownies drizzled with caramel and chocolate sauces, whipped cream and a cherry
Sweetie Fry
Location: 2307 Lee Road, Cleveland Heights, sweetiefry.com
Pair salty with sweet by mixing hand-crafted ice cream with sizzling French fries. That’s the idea behind this Cleveland Heights hot spot.
What to order: Maple Bacon
Swenson’s Drive In
Locations: seven, with their original location in West Akron, swensonsdriveins.com
Wesley T. “Pop” Swenson opened his first store in 1934 with the intention of drawing in a crowd for a classic burger and fries. While the drive in is known for their “Galley Boy” burger, for something cool and delicious, try one of 18 flavors of milkshake.
What to order: Chocolate Milkshake
For a kid-friendly recipe for ice cream, click here.
