The delights of Argentinian, Mexican and Turkish ice cream in SoCal

The perfect beach weather in L.A. makes most days ideal for sampling the large number of homegrown artisanal ice cream options competing for customers' taste buds.

But ice cream flavors and traditions from around the world are also making a name for themselves, vying to become the go-to treat for Angelenos.

Here are three places on our global list, which feature Turkish, Mexican and Argentine ice cream. We highly recommend you try them out.

Freddo (Argentine)

Freddo's key lime flavor with heart-shaped chips served in a waffle bowl.

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Courtesy Freddo

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Having grown up between Buenos Aires and Los Angeles, I’ve always had a genuine love for the classic dulce de leche flavors found in Argentine heladerías. So when I saw an Instagram post from the Argentine Consulate last year announcing that Freddo was set to open in L.A., I was immediately swept up in nostalgia.

With more than 175 stores in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Mexico, Peru, the U.S. and Uruguay, Freddo is one of the great success stories of my home country. They’re an ice cream brand founded in the neighborhood of Recoleta in Buenos Aires in 1969. They’ve become known for their classic Argentine flavors like dulce de leche or caramel (but even better!) and zabaglione.

Freddo's dulce de leche ice cream with Oreo.

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Courtesy Freddo

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The Italian influence — natural to Argentines due to Italian immigration in the late 19th and early 20th centuries — is clearly reflected in the ice cream. The flavors are rich, with creamy textures that enhance the natural taste of chocolate, fruits and nuts.

Freddo opened in Studio City in September, followed this year by a second location in Koreatown in June and a third downtown in late July. All of the locations are well lit, colorful and relaxing spots. They even have board games for families to enjoy.

“We chose to open a gelato store in Los Angeles because we wanted to share the rich, artisanal tradition of Argentinian gelato. L.A.’s warm climate and vibrant culinary scene make it a perfect place,” said Natalia Primo, assistant manager of all Freddo locations.

Aside from dulce de leche and zabaglione, Freddo has more than 25 flavors, including extra creamy strawberry, banana split, pistachio and dark chocolate.

All of their ice cream is imported from Argentina.

“It carries fresh milk, real fruits and ingredients like Argentinian dulce de leche to create smooth, dense gelato with less air than traditional ice cream,” Primo said.

Freddo's opened in Studio City in September 2024.

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Courtesy Freddo

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My personal favorite flavor is stracciatella. It’s rich and creamy, not too sweet, and always carries just the right amount of chocolate chips. That said, it's not the most popular option.

“Dulce de leche is what everyone asks us for, and we have different variations of it, like dulce de leche with chocolate chunks and dulce de leche with Oreo,” said Miguel Eduardo Xolalpa, an ice cream server at the Koreatown location.

If you’re not in the mood for a scoop or two, Freddo also doubles as a coffee shop, offering Italian-style coffee, fruit sodas, dulce de leche-filled ice cream sandwiches to go, alfajores (dulce de leche-filled cookies) and medialunas (sweet croissants).

Galata Ice Cream and Desserts (Turkish)

Galata's ice cream, coffee and pastry options include Turkish baklava.

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Courtesy Galata

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For a completely different ice cream experience, head to Galata Ice Cream and Desserts in Long Beach. The Turkish ice cream shop, which is named after a neighborhood in Istanbul, opened last year in Belmont Shore.

When you walk into Galata, you’ll likely see one of the servers put on a playful show while serving the ice cream, in keeping with Turkish tradition. Using a long-handled scoop, they twirl the cone or cup around the customer — over their heads, around their sides — teasing them to grab it, only to pull it away at the last second — all before finally offering it to the customer.

The location has a pastel pink exterior that can’t be missed. It joins a small cluster of Turkish-owned businesses on Second Street, including Galata Turkish Halal Grill just two doors down and Istanbul Home, a Turkish lamp store next door.

Known as dondurma, the ice cream Galata offers originates from the city of Maras in Turkey. What sets it apart is its use of salep, a flour made from the root of wild orchids, native to parts of the Mediterranean. It’s an ingredient that gives the dondurma its signature stretchy, chewy texture.

Galata's Long Beach shop opened in May 2024.

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Marina Peña

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For LAist

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“It’s not melting like other ice cream. It lasts longer,” said Hakan Yalpi, the manager of Galata.

The shop offers the traditional mastic gum flavor, which is made from resin found in a plant on the Greek island of Chios. It’s an earthy, slightly bitter, pine-like flavor, with subtle hints of citrus and herbs.

“Turkish people mostly come to try the mastic gum, and they’re reminded of their childhoods,” Yalpi said.

But Galata has 25 other flavors as well, including pistachio, kiwi, peach and banana, which are all dairy based, rich and creamy blends.

The ice cream shop also offers coffee, Dubai chocolates and baklava. They’re set to open their second store in San Diego soon.

Mateo’s Ice Cream & Fruit Bars (Mexican)

Mateo's dairy options include flavors like guayaba, cactus fruit and smoked milk.

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Courtesy Mateo's

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True to Oaxaca’s rich traditions, Mateo’s Ice Cream & Fruit Bars features leche quemada — smoked milk ice cream — crafted with caramelized sugar, milk, cinnamon and vanilla, blending smoky, ashy flavors with a smooth, creamy vanilla finish.

“Smoke milk is a really popular flavor in Oaxaca," said Elizabeth Mateo-Richmond, co-owner of Mateo’s and daughter of the brand’s late founder Priciliano Mateo.

"You’ll see a lot of street vendors there selling them, but we make ours differently. In Oaxaca, they use garrafas, traditional wooden or metal tubs, to freeze the paletas. The base ingredient however, like the name suggests, is still burnt milk,” she said.

Mateo’s has more than 20 flavors, both dairy and nondairy fruit flavors, including watermelon, pineapple, coconut, guava, pistachio, coffee and chocolate. They’re a family-owned business and first opened in L.A. in 2000 in Mid City. Known for their tropical fruit-based paletas, or popsicles, they were founded by Priciliano Mateo, who moved to Los Angeles from Oaxaca in 1982 and died in 2018.

The late Priciliano Mateo who founded Mateo's in 2000 in Mid-City

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Courtesy Mateo's

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“My father felt that L.A. was missing paletas, and since he used to sell them in Mexico, his initial thought was to bring something that’s different to a city that hadn’t really been introduced to Oaxacan popsicles,” Mateo-Richmond said.

The mom-and-pop shop business now has four locations: Culver City, Pico-Union, Mid-City and West L.A.. Each shop is vibrant, with walls painted in bright green and yellow and decorated with portraits of paletas and fresh fruit. They also offer ice cream carts for catering.

A variety of Mateo's fruit-based paletas

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Courtesy Mateo's

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“The paletas are very rich, and we use fresh produce on a daily basis. A mango popsicle will have chunks of mango or a strawberry paleta, chunks of strawberry. They just have an authentic richness to the fruits rather than concentrated ingredients,” Mateo-Richmond said.

Mateo’s also offers fruit juices, milkshakes, smoothies and a variety of sandwiches.