10 of the Best Ice Cream Shops in Dallas

Summer is being super extra right now. If a plate of enchiladas sounds too heavy, Dallas has ample scoops of pure fruit-laden ice cream to cool you off. And luckily, we have many locally owned places making it from scratch. It's basically good for you. 

Here are some of our favorite ice cream shops. If you prefer gelatos, we made a list of Dallas' best gelaterias recently too.

Bazaria Sweets

700 W. Spring Creek Parkway, No. 102, Plano

Bazaria may just be the ideal destination for fans of cold desserts. The locally owned shop carries almost any cold treat you can imagine, from frozen yogurt to milkshakes to homemade gelato, and it's all Halal certified. A must-try here is the chocolate mousse frozen yogurt, which comes with a creamy chocolate base and fresh chocolate shavings spread throughout. It's almost like eating a real chocolate mousse cake — except, well, it's frozen. Bazaria’s gelato is a real showstopper, too. Made from scratch, the flavors like almond fig and cherry cheesecake make Bazaria stand out among other gelato shops on the area's dessert scene. Especially in the hundred-degree Texas heat, Bazaria might just become your new go-to.

Casa Del Bro

5444 FM 423, No. 100, Frisco

With a menu full of things like steak tacos, cheesy quesadillas and chicken tinga burritos, Casa Del Bro in Frisco doesn’t seem at first like the go-to neighborhood stop for ice cream. But a bright pink neon sign at the back that reads “homemade ice cream” entices. Whether or not you stop by here for the dinner part of the evening, Casa Del Bro is a worthwhile stop for the dessert afterward. Scratch-made batches like cookie butter and strawberry cheesecake come with a creamy base studded with globs of cookie butter and fresh chunks of cheesecake. The ice cream here is whipped up every morning, which makes it softer than your average scoop. Top your dessert off with sprinkles or get it in a waffle cone. Just make sure to get here early. Scoops run out fast.

Fat Duck Ice Cream

Follow on Instagram for places and dates

DeSoto native Bryce Woods is an up-and-coming, small-batch ice cream maker you definitely want to follow. He's been diving deep into the science behind the perfect scoop of ice cream — balancing water, fat, air and sugar — rendering a super-premium, custard-style ice cream. Ooey Gooey is a popular flavor as are milk and cookies and banana pudding. Brunch in Dallas is French toast cinnamon nutmeg ice cream with French toast bites. Keep an eye out for pop-ups. Woods is worth tracking down and can often be found at the Deep Ellum Outdoor Market on Saturdays.

Handel’s Ice Cream

4200 Legacy Drive, Plano

A chain that originated in Youngstown, Ohio, Handel’s has since brought its ice cream to five different locations in the Dallas area. The ice cream shop is perhaps best known for its 120+ rotating flavors, all made fresh in-house each day. Try the best-selling Oreo cheesecake flavor, a vanilla base loaded with huge chunks of cheesecake and Oreo cookies. Seasonal summer favorites include the Key lime pie, pineapple upside-down cake and strawberry cheesecake chunk. Bring your kids, friends and an appetite. Handel’s doesn’t skimp on flavors or portions.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by MELT Ice Creams (@melticecreams)

Melt Ice Creams

405 N. Bishop Ave.

Melt Ice Creams, originally out of Fort Worth (Magnolia Avenue), has a shop in the Bishop Arts District and can also be found in retail outlets like Foxtrot Market and Whole Foods. You can also have it shipped to your door via Goldbelly. Melt crafts premium small-batch ice cream with a high percentage of butterfat for extra creaminess. The house-made waffle cones have real butter and heavy cream. Check out the vegan and dairy-free options if that's how you roll. The real draw here is a constantly evolving menu of seasonal flavors, like the recently dropped Peachy Keen (have you had a fresh peach lately?). A peach and vanilla-bean ice cream base has homemade oat streusel and peach jam swirled in. No, you shut up.

Parlor's Ice Cream

6465 E. Mockingbird Lane, No. 465

Parlor’s takes its concept of nostalgic ice cream to heart. Flavors like milk and cookies, made with a light vanilla ice cream and cookies loaded into the crevices, are sure to incite a sugar rush while reviving some fond childhood memories. Using flavors and ingredients sourced locally and from scratch, owners Brandon and Kellie Stoll are making ice cream as fresh as it gets.

Pure Milk & Honey

5321 E. Mockingbird Lane

This hidden soft-serve spot in Dallas lives up to its name: in pure ingredients, pure decor and pure flavor. Located in Mockingbird Station, Pure Milk & Honey has been serving cold desserts to Dallas since 2019. With a from-scratch business model, the locally owned spot makes all of its soft serve using milk from Texas dairy farms and fresh honey from local beekeepers. It’s churned in-house to spawn an ultra-creamy soft serve that melts almost instantaneously when it hits the tongue. Order in small cups, large waffle bowls or even sandwiched between layers of house-made cake. It’s all fresh and pure.

Tongue in Cheek Ice Cream

526 W. Arapaho Road, Richardson

The original Tongue in Cheek location is in the heart of Richardson, but there's a new shop in Plano, too. If you’re looking for big portions and cheap prices, this might become your new favorite ice cream spot. Try the best-selling banana pudding, a banana-flavored ice cream giving way to fresh wafers in each bite. Other popular option is the Caramel Crack, which comes with a rich caramel base and crispy chocolate balls sprinkled throughout. Ordering your ice cream is only the beginning of the fun here, though. Be sure to grab a spot on one of the swings while you eat. Swinging with a cone in hand makes an ice cream outing all the more fun.

Van Leeuwen Ice Cream

3699 McKinney Ave., No. 101

You'll find Van Leeuwen in the West Village (in the old Paciugo space), where it serves a wide variety of dairy, vegan and gluten-free ice cream flavors. Van Leeuwen distributes its products in grocery stores, but the scoop shop in Dallas makes it much easier to sample a few flavors. Plus, you can get it in a cup, a cone or even a cookie sandwich. The brown sugar cookie dough chunk may just be the star flavor. It comes with a rich, dark sugar ice cream base studded with candied walnuts, brownies and cookie dough. Try other specialties like the marionberry cheesecake and the praline butter cake.

The Yard

4940 Texas Highway 121, No. 100, The Colony

The Yard, which began life on ABC’s hit show Shark Tank, is serving up some of the biggest milkshakes on the local dessert scene. The menu here boasts shakes ranging from the milk and cookies, a vanilla shake topped with a cookie sandwich, to the salted caramel cheesecake, which has a caramel-cheesecake-flavored base topped by a slice of cheesecake. And you can keep the jar when you’re done. This way, you can feel the sugar rush at the moment and remember it later.