10 Atlanta Ice Cream Shops You’ll Scream For

By Chris Watkins

Published July 20, 2017
Last Updated September 18, 2020

Atlanta’s sweets scene is delivering on sugar-filled offerings from cupcakes and pies to doughnuts and, of course, ice cream. With small batch shops “churning” out decadent and flavor-packed selections to fill your cups and cones with joy, here are 10 Atlanta ice cream shops that are pretty hot.

1. Honeysuckle Gelato

The purveyors of happiness at Ponce City Market’s custom ice cream outpost, Honeysuckle Gelato, bring the flavor-filled whimsy with all of their offerings. Grab a scoop of signatures honey lavender, pecan praline, brown butter plus more, and try your hand at creating the ”club sandwich.” This build-your-own ice cream tower combines Honeysuckle’s signature cookies, a melange of curated gelato flavors and toppings that can get as wild as your imagination.

2. Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams

With locations on the Westside, at Krog Street Market, Decatur and even OTP at Avalon, Jeni’s has blanketed the ATL with a cold front of seriously amazing ice cream flavors. The chef-inspired offerings boggle the mind in their complexity, with scoops of sweet cream biscuits & peach jam, wildberry lavender, Riesling poached pear and more serving up bliss in cups and cones. 

3. Sublime Doughnuts

What do you get when one of ATL’s top doughnut spots begins offering equally scrumptious scoops of ice cream? Not only do you get killer flavors like strawberry rose, creme brûlée and more, but you also get Sublime Doughnuts’ insta-famous Sublime “burger” that puts the curated ice cream selections between a warm doughnut bun. Yum!   

4. Butter & Cream

It’s all about the meticulous care in the ingredients chosen to go into every pint at Decatur ice cream parlor Butter & Cream. Even the classic flavors like Tahitian vanilla, Kona coffee and summer strawberry are teeming with hand-crafted moxie. With this much detail going into “run of the mill” offerings, just wait until you get a scoop of over-the-top options like spicy Aztec pecan, bourbon coffee chip and much more.  

5. Morelli’s Ice Cream

If you ask anyone where to go for some amazing ice cream, Morelli’s will be in their top five. Filled with amazing flavors like original salted caramel, doughnut-chunked Krispy Kreamier, banana and peanut butter-filled Elvis Lives! and more, this Eastside ice cream shop has garnered even national attention from food magazines across the country. A must try!  

6. Paolo’s Gelato

Virginia-Highland gelato house, Paolo’s, brings the Italian treat to your doorstep with a well-appointed selection of flavors to keep you guessing and happy. The menu is separated into variants of chocolate, nuts, creams, fruits and specialty flavors that make a create-your-own ice cream journey of flavors that pair incredibly well together given the combination. Will you take on fragola (strawberry) cream? Or what about mela (apple) rose. The possibilities are endless.

7. Caffe Antico

A trip to Italy is within reach in the Homepark neighborhood with a trip to Little Italia. The quartet of Italian offerings of Antico Pizza, Gio’s Chicken, Bar Amalfi and gelato shop, Caffe Antico, come together for quite the tasting experience. Traditional flavors at Caffe Antico include vanilla, chocolate, pistachio and more, all served in your choice of cup, cone or yummy waffle dish. Saluti!  

8. Queen of Cream

Homemade ice cream made with love is alive and well in Inman Park at Queen of Cream. Transitioning from a cart-only operation to a brick-and-mortar IP space meant more deliciousness in the form of pints, cones and ice cream sandwiches filled with lavender honeycomb, brown butter pecan and seasonal offerings like Georgia peach and cantaloupe sorbet.  

9. Amorino Gelato

Buckhead ice cream parlor, Amorino Gelato, delivers on creamy goodness with tons of decadent flavors brimming with Italian flair. The Shops Buckhead Atlanta gelato spot ups the ante with Instagram-worthy scoops shaped into roses that are bound to put a spell on your heart.

10. Atlanta Ice Cream Festival

The annual ice cream extravaganza is the pinnacle of summer fun bringing together an avalanche of Atlanta frozen treat purveyors to serve up heaping doses of brain freeze at Piedmont Park.

Chris Watkins is an Atlanta-based writer and photographer and serves as the voice of Atlanta Convention & Visitors Bureau (@DiscoverAtlanta) on social media. You can follow him on Instagram @christopherbw.