Where to find SoCal's best ice cream right now

As summer marches on, expect the heat to stick around.

With these high temps, many of us are searching for a sweet frozen treat to cool off and maybe indulge a little.

I recently sat in for an AirTalk segment with fill-in host Josie Huang, where we both shared some of our local favorites to get ice cream and other frozen treats and heard from listeners who shared theirs.

Take a look and see if your go-to places are here.

Pasadena

A scoop from Kinrose Creamery, dusted with spice and topped with a dried flower.

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Robert Haleblian

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Courtesy Kinrose Creamery

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Kinrose Creamery is one of my personal picks. Owners Maria Oveysi and Moe Kamal make Persian and Egyptian ice cream. Signature flavors include saffron pistachio rose, kanafeh, walnut baklava topped with pashmak (Iranian cotton candy) and sour cherry.

Locations:

• 140 Mills Pl., Pasadena (Old Town Pasadena)
• 16915 Ventura Blvd., Encino

Downtown L.A.

Sad Girl Creamery's Strawberry Animal Cookie Sundae layers strawberry tres leches ice cream with strawberry jam, rainbow sprinkles, frosted animal cookies and housemade vanilla bean whipped cream.

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Courtesy Sad Girl Creamery

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Sad Girl Creamery is another one of my picks. Run by SueEllen Mancini, the pop-up ice cream stand is at Smorgasburg every Sunday, hawking Mancini’s nostalgic Latino ice cream novelties. Flavors include her riff on the iconic Choco Taco, along with a Gansito Sundae made with Mexican vanilla ice cream, strawberry-raspberry-hibiscus jam and yellow cake. Mancini always has something worth stopping by for.

Location: ROW DTLA, 777 S. Alameda St., Los Angeles

Leimert Park

Listener Camille emailed to recommend All Chill, a shop specializing in small-batch and artisanal ice cream, with a built-in hip-hop museum (yup!). The shop ties the flavors to the neighborhood's cultural identity. Fan favorites include bean pie and, as a non-dairy option, cognac and currant.

Location: 3415 W. 43rd Place, Los Angeles

Arcadia

626 Ice Cream is another of my picks. Founded in 2020 by Amber Tan and Waldo Yan after both lost hospitality jobs in the pandemic, the duo took over the longtime Ace Frozen Yogurt space. With a completely reimagined space and menu, flavors include black sesame, roasted green tea, Yakult, lychee strawberry, mango calamansi, and malted chocolate.

Location: 160 E. Duarte Rd., Ste. E, Arcadia

Atwater Village

Wanderlust's Tokyo Rainbow Sherbet blends ramune soda, tart yuzu and creamy strawberry Calpis, inspired by Tokyo summers and childhood conbini treats.

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Courtesy Wanderlust Creamery

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Listener Ann-Marie from Whittier emailed to say Wanderlust Creamery is like a “travelogue featuring flavors from all over the world, and the quality is top-notch. When you walk outside and eat a cone, it doesn't instantly start melting like so many other places' ice cream." Signature flavors include sticky rice mango, Japanese Neapolitan, and Vietnamese Rocky Road.

Locations: Atwater Village, Costa Mesa, Venice, Irvine, Sawtelle, Pasadena, Tarzana, Topanga Social

Altadena

Camille's email also flagged Bulgarini. Owner Leo Bulgarini, a Rome native and trained sommelier, places sourcing as his gelato shop’s reigning ethos — think Bronte pistachios from Sicily, Vestri chocolate from Florence, and Hawaiian macadamia for his various creations. And if you're interested in making a whole meal around your visit, the shop also serves a small pasta menu and tasting dinners a few nights a week.

Location: 749 E. Altadena Drive, Altadena

Highland Park

Owner Tai Kim may have quietly started the artisanal ice cream revolution when he opened the first Scoops over 20 years ago. The original has since closed, but two more locations have opened since — one in Highland Park, where Kim still makes the ice cream for all Scoops locations, and one in Chinatown. As listener Marty from Mt. Washington put it in an email, Scoops "make[s] different flavors all the time, very unusual flavors, and they make non-dairy options too" — case in point, the shop's signature Grape-Nuts–infused brown bread (my personal favorite) and its basil coconut.

Locations:

• 5105 York Blvd., Los Angeles (Highland Park) 
• 727 N. Broadway, Ste. 125, Los Angeles (Chinatown)

Melrose

AWAN is another of my picks. 100% vegan, gluten-free, Indonesian-inspired. Started as a West Hollywood walk-up window; now has brick-and-mortars in Larchmont and Venice. Signature flavors include Balinese vanilla, chocolate Oreo, soursop mango ripple, and blue yuzu.

Locations:

• 5630 Melrose Ave, Los Angeles (Melrose)
• 866 Huntley Dr., West Hollywood
• 540 Rose Ave, Venice
  

Alhambra

"Definitely Fosselman's in Alhambra. Chocolate-covered strawberry is the best," listener Vicki from San Gabriel emailed to say. Josie backed her up, noting the shop still has that 1950s fountain-soda-shop vibe.

Location: 1824 W. Main St., Alhambra

Koreatown / Mid-City / Culver City / West L.A.

"Mateo's Ice Cream and Paletas," listener Loretta emailed. Founded in 2000, Mateo's specializes in Latin American-style ice cream and paletas — think mango chile, black sapote, and horchata, alongside more classic flavors.

Locations: 

• 1250 S. Vermont Ave., Los Angeles (Koreatown) 
• 4234 W. Pico Blvd., Los Angeles (Mid-City) 
• 4929 Sepulveda Blvd., Culver City 
• 11551 Santa Monica Blvd., Los Angeles (West L.A.)

Tarzana

"I just had the roasted strawberry and also pistachio baklava. Delicious," listener Caroline from Woodland Hills emailed about Magpies Softserve. Founded by chefs Warren and Rose Schwartz, Magpies also has locations in Silver Lake and Highland Park.

Locations:

• 2660 Griffith Park Blvd., Los Angeles (Silver Lake) 
• 5049 York Blvd., Los Angeles (Highland Park) 
• 18971 Ventura Blvd., Tarzana

Culver City / West 3rd Street

"Lately I've fallen in love with Ginger's Divine Ice Cream," listener Jerome from Laurel Canyon emailed. The shop started in Culver City before adding a Mid-City/West 3rd Street location near the Beverly Center.

Locations:

• 12550 Washington Blvd., Culver City
• 8430 W. 3rd St., Los Angeles

Anaheim

Tocumbo didn't come up on air, but it's worth including. The shop takes its name from the small municipality in Michoacán that's considered the epicenter of Mexican ice cream and paletas — there's even a giant popsicle monument there. Siblings Jennifer Clausen-Quiroz and Ricky Quiroz started Tocumbo to continue that tradition, using recipes sourced directly from Michoacán. Standouts include ice cream sundaes made with Gansitos (chocolate-dipped snack cakes filled with cream and jam) and a wide selection of paletas, including chamoy, and a chocolate ice cream made with chocolate imported from Zacatecas.

Location: 956 S. Euclid St., Anaheim

Laguna Beach

"Gelato Paradiso in Laguna Beach is the cutest little shop right on the PCH and the flavors are always rotating. My favorite lately has been their take on the Biscoff – Biscotti-flavored ice cream. It is divine," said Fahim Khan, an LAist producer.

Location: 448 S. Coast Hwy, Ste. A, Laguna Beach

Multiple locations

• Handel's is Josie’s  family standby — a homemade ice-cream chain that's been scooping since 1945, with dozens of locations across SoCal. Her family always gets the four-mini-scoop sampler (mint chocolate chip, cookies and cream, rocky road, and mango) when they can't agree on just one flavor. 

• "I'm a Salt & Straw diehard. The quality is unmatched," said Lindsay Wright, LAist senior producer, citing the Portland-born chain's rotating, offbeat flavors as the draw.