Ice cream season is upon us, and nothing symbolizes the sweetness of summer more than an ice cream cone slowly melting down your hand.
Whatever style you prefer, North Brooklyn has the perfect sweet treat for you. Swirled soft serve, unuual flavors, alcoholic scoops, traditional gelato, and vegan options are all offered here in Greenpoint and Williamsburg.
Here’s the scoop on North Brooklyn’s best ice cream shops.
The Screen Door
The Screen Door (145 Driggs Ave.) inhabits an advantageous location near McGorlick Park. Their soft serve and hard scooped ice cream is fantastic. They’ve created unique flavor combinations and serve up some of the most interesting sundae options in the city.
The Screen Door is the perfect place to go for an upgraded take on ice cream truck soft serve. Try the classic chocolate swirl on a cone. After the first lick, you’ll be ten years old again. The Orange Freeze, a delicious blend of vanilla soft serve and orange soda, transports you to a 1950’s soda shop. Another highlight is the Blueberry Cookie Crumble which consists of vanilla soft serve blended with cookie dough pieces and graham cracker, topped with blueberry sauce and whipped cream.
The Screen Door is open daily from 2 to 8pm and closed on Tuesdays.
Davey’s
Davey’s (74 Meserole Ave.) is a traditional ice cream parlor, serving up classic scoops on a cute corner in Greenpoint.
Davey’s uses local New York creameries and source seasonal ingredients from local farmers markets. It’s truly a local operation with the freshest ingredients. You can taste the freshness and love in every scoop.
Try the fresh strawberry ice cream on a waffle cone for simple perfection. The brownie sundae is a decadent treat. It includes a single scoop of ice cream, homemade sauce, dry topping, fresh whipped cream, on a homemade fudge brownie.
Davey’s is open Monday through Thursday from 1pm to 8pm and Friday through Sunday from 1pm to 10pm. They offer pickup and delivery.
Van Leeuwen
If you’re looking to satisfy a vegan craving for ice cream, head to Van Leeuwen (620 Manhattan Ave.), a popular ice cream chain that offers several mouthwatering plant-based options. Both milk-based and vegan options are plentiful. The only worry here will be deciding which flavor to order.
Van Leeuwen is currently offering several limited edition flavors, including Bourbon Cherries Jubilee, Royal Wedding Cake, Wild Blueberry Shortcake. Current vegan flavors include favorites like Peanut Butter Brownie Honeycomb and Brown Sugar Chunk.
The location in Greenpoint is open everyday from noon to 11pm for delivery and walk-up service.
Mister Dips
Mister Dips (111 N. 12th St.) just reopened at the William Vale Hotel. The hip airstream is located on a second floor balcony surrounded by a beautiful park. This favorite among locals feels a little touristy, but in a fun, summery way.
Mister Dips is an all-around great experience. Ordering with a QR-code upon arrival is easy. The employees are extremely friendly and helpful. Little details are not overlooked. For example, the cones are sheltered in plastic wrappers, which means they are not only safe in pandemic times, but safe for kids at any time. There were no drips on clothing and no sticky hands.
The signature emoji-style eyes peeking out of scoops makes Mister Dips very kid-friendly, fun, and always Instagram-worthy. All of the speciality soft serve options, like the Berry Gibbs with strawberry, Nilla wafer and sweet cream, are fantastic. You can also opt for for a classic like strawberry with sprinkles or dipped in chocolate.
Mister Dips also serves really good burgers, waffle fries, and chicken fingers. They are open Wednesday to Sunday from noon to 9pm.
OddFellows
OddFellows (40 River St.) is located across the street from Domino Park, in good company, next to Roberta’s and Other Half Brewing.
They’ve just introduced new Spring flavors like Carrot Cake Cream Cheese, Cinnamon Dulce de Leche, Lemon Shortbread Thyme and Mandarin Jasmine Brulee. But they also have traditional standbys that are anything but traditional like the delicious Olive Oil flavor and the current kids favorite, Sprinkles.
Plus, they’ve recently collaborated with some of the world’s most legendary bars, think Attaboy and Death and Co, and created The Boozy Capsule. Highlights include Death & Co.’s Buko Gimlet, which is coconut cream sherbert infused with New York Distilling Company’s Dorothy Parker Gin, Novo Fogo Cachaça, Kalani Coconut Liqueur, Lime, and Pandan; Maybe Sammy’s La Finca, coffee ice cream infused with Mr Black Cold Brew Coffee Liqueur and Oloroso Sherry with gems of Manuka Honey; and Attaboy’s Penicillin, Dewar’s Blended Scotch Whisky and Islay Single Malt Scotch infused sweet cream ice cream with a hint of Lemon hems of honey, and candied ginger.
They also offer a good selection of vegan flavors. OddFellows really has something for everyone! They are open everyday from 1 to 8pm.
Gentile
Gelateria Gentile (253 Wythe Ave.) is an extremely authentic Italian gelato shop in Williamsburg. The website states, “The origins of the Antica Gelateria Gentile date back to 1880 and to the story of Michele Gentile, descendant of a family of pastry and gelato makers.”
Some of the flavors are literally fresh off the boat. They are labeled as “Apple from Campania” or “Pear from Basilicata” meaning the fruit is imported from the Italian peninsula. They somehow always taste more vibrant than anything else I’ve tried stateside.
Anything labeled “from Italy” is not to be missed. If you’re a chocolate lover, Gentile has the best chocolate gelato New York has to offer. On nice days, there is usually a line outside, but the creamy gelato is worth the wait.
Gentile also serves delicious crepes, coffees, granita and pastries. Plus, they sell the cutest mini cones.
They are open Monday through Friday from 8:30am to midnight, Saturday 9:30am to 12:30am, and Sunday 10am to midnight. They offer takeout and delivery.
“Ice cream season is upon us”
What does that mean? Are you implying that ice cream can only be eaten only during specific times during the year? If so, that’s a myopic view. It’s an interesting phenomenon that almost all of the millennial-era ice cream parlors are closed during the late fall through mid-spring, as if nobody eats ice cream during that time of the year. When I was a kid growing up in the ’60s, ice cream season was perennial. I still do.
The prices on some of these products are outrageous. I went to one to get an ice cream pop on a stick and it was $12.
The guy told me it was vegan and healthy and is saving the planet.
I said it doesn’t matter if I go bankrupt on end up on the street.
the price of milk/cream is very high so its hard to keep prices low, if you can do it cheaper then you should do it
Thank you for your reply. I have not bought ice cream recently but until a few yrs. ago I could get a dove bar at the local convenience store for a few bucks…I am sure they went up but not to $12.
More on subject. I checked my local box convenience store. I can buy three dove bars (minimum) for $3.69 total ie a little over a buck a piece. . I can buy 48 oz. of Breyer ice cream for $4.49, all high quality ice cream albeit not vegan. The local bars here at the expensive stores are both vegan and regular. This is a little cheaper than $12 for a small ice cream pop here in Greenpoint.