July 14th, 2016 1:55 PM by Nelson Aybar
With the heat of the summer upon us, strolling down the street in Brooklyn can feel like a veritable ice cream advertisement. Almost everyone you encounter is grasping a cone, heaping with ice cream and a smile on their face as they lick their way through. Brooklyn has a bevy of excellent ice cream shops, so which one should you visit next? In advance of National Ice Cream Day on Sunday, July 17th, we found some of the neighborhood’s best ice cream spots for you to check out.
Blue Marble, a Brooklyn-based ice cream shop that has partnerships with Bareburger and Barclay’s, has scoop shops in Prospect Heights and Industry City. Earning rave reviews for their organic ingredients and creative flavors like Green Tea, Midnight Mint Cookie and Mexican Chocolate, their delicious ice cream is also available for purchase in many grocery shops.
Blue Marble can be enjoyed at a Scoop Shop or via the grocery store.
Ample Hills Creamery has locations in Prospect Heights and Gowanus. Their Facebook menu is kept up-to-date with what ice cream flavors they are offering, which currently includes Ooey Gooey Butter Cake, which is their creamy vanilla ice cream with “gobs of St. Louis Ooey Gooey Butter Cake pieces” as well as The Munchies, which is, “Pretzel infused ice cream with clusters of potato chips, pretzels, Ritz crackers, and mini M&Ms”. If that’s not enough to satisfy your ice cream craving, they have 19 other flavors to tempt your palate.
A small sampling of flavors offered at Ample Hills Creamery.
Starting on National Ice Cream Day and running through Labor Day, Ample Hills Creamery has a loyalty card that gets stamped with each purchase and after 5 stamps you’ve earned a free scoop!
A Brooklyn mainstay, Uncle Louie G’s has been in the neighborhood since 1959 serving up delicious homemade gourmet Italian ice and ice cream. Offering samples to anyone who comes in with a smile and NYC-pride Italian ice flavors like FDNY Cherry or NYPD Blue, visiting Uncle Louie G’s is a Brooklyn rite of passage.
Continuing with the Italian inspired trend, L' Albero Dei Gelati, located at 341 5th Avenue in Park Slope, is the outpost of the Italian brand. With delicious gelatos that make the mouth water, this spot is a not-to-be-missed shop on your ice cream touring adventures. With amazing flavors like chocolate mixed with hazelnut, you’ll quickly understand why there are lines down the block to get a scoop of their creations.
The gelato that you may never get enough of, at L' Albero Dei Gelati.
Additional shops that shouldn’t be missed include Van Leeuwen Artisan Ice Cream in Greenpoint and Boerum Hill which has vegan ice cream along with their traditional ice cream.
Odd Fellows in Williamsburg has flavors that are updated daily which makes each visit a special treat. They carry a flavor called Roberta’s Sticky Bun and Bacon which sounds deliciously addictive and Coffee Crunch which could easily replace our afternoon coffee.
The Brooklyn Ice Cream Factory in Brooklyn Heights and Greenpoint has traditional flavors along with Chocolate Chocolate Chunk and Peaches & Cream which will make anyone’s mouth water.
Finally, The Good Batch has decadent ice cream sandwiches using Blue Marble ice cream that are sold in shops throughout Brooklyn. Should you find yourself on Governors Island, both Blue Marble and The Good Batch have an ice cream stand there so you can satisfy your ice cream craving.
The Good Batch’s ice cream sandwiches come in a variety of flavors with different toppings.
Brooklyn has so many great ice cream shops that it may take all summer to visit each delicious store. Although we’ve drooled over many here, Yelp has an even more complete listing of ice cream shops in Brooklyn.
With so many choices available and such terrific flavors the question becomes when can you visit each of these great options. We’ve signed ourselves up for an ice cream challenge to work our way through the flavors and shops of the borough and look forward to seeing you out there, too!