This charming neighborhood nook with locations in Phinney Ridge and Magnolia distinguishes itself with a focus on carefully-sourced ingredients and a discerning spread of flavors that leans traditional Italian. The gelateria also deploys a fleet of adorable wheeled stands and trucks to cater weddings and other events around the Seattle area, and does a bustling trade in to-go pints.

A few blocks down from the hectic heartbeat of the Ave, Cold Plate curls ribbons of ice cream into rolled sundaes topped with everything from biscoff cookies and fruity pebbles to boba, lychee jelly, and salted cheese foam. Its “floateas” are a holy union between between soft serve and bubble tea, and the shop presses its own puffles, which are a puffy, chewier, and eminently Instagrammable spin on the basic waffle cone. For devotees of sweet-salty flavor combos, a puffle laced with Korean seaweed and pork floss (basically meat cotton candy) beckons.

From the PCC freezer aisle to the hallowed space between two Hello Robin cookies, to eight locations across the city and on the East Side, the sun never sets on Molly Moon’s empire. If you’re looking for zany flavors, you’d probably do better at Portland’s funkier Molly Moon’s analogue, Salt & Straw, which touched down in Seattle in 2018; let’s be honest, Molly Moon’s is more about the wholesome, all-American-date-night atmosphere than the ice cream itself.

This counter inside of Wallingford izakaya Yoroshiku serves creamy soft serve ice cream made with milk from Hokkaido, Japan’s northernmost island famous for its dairy products. Flavors are often Japanese-inspired, with sweet potato, matcha, and black sesame ice cream and toppings including shiratama dango (mochi balls) and kinako (toasted soybean powder).

This small batch ice cream shop tries to reduce food waste and pasteurizes its dairy daily from local farms. It’s also known for a wide variety of rich flavors, including banana Nutella crunch, London fog, and lemon custard. There are locations in the U District, Ballard, and Capitol Hill, as well as local delivery.

Shug’s gives the old-timey soda shop vibe a 21st-century facelift, dishing up sundaes, shakes, and floats made with ice cream from Lopez Island Creamery in a bright, airy space. Their adult libations, like a prosecco float and a shake spiked with Kahlua and cold brew, are just the thing to soothe the nerves after a summer day at Pike Place Market.

Founders Emily Kim and Heather Hodge, formerly coworkers at Molly Moon’s, launched the Pastry Project in 2019 to shore up a troubling lack of qualified pastry chefs in the Seattle area. They provide free, 14-week instructional programs to the city’s next generation of dessert craftspeople, and fund the operation through a combination of bake sales, subscription boxes, and, as of last summer, a soft serve window out of their Pioneer Square kitchen. The decadent, expectedly cheffy toppings and masterfully-executed hard-shell coatings have ensured a cult following, which has been feverishly inquiring about when the window will return since it closed last summer. The masses can rejoice when it’s thrown open on June 30, and it will remain so every Friday, Saturday, and Sunday 3 to 8 p.m. through August 27. 

Those who’ve sampled Homer’s popular soft serve walk-up window should be familiar with the inventive flavors at the sibling Beacon Hill spot. Mango lassi and matcha are available as a swirl, along with dips and a selection of toppings (including graham cracker crumbles, M&Ms, and potato chips) for extra pop.

After years operating as a pop-up, matcha green tea soft serve and taiyaki specialist Matcha Man recently set down more permanent roots with a new shop. The fish-shaped waffles filled with flavors like ube, and matcha are still on offer and as Instagrammable (and wonderful) as ever.

This terrific Rainier Valley operation tucked into the Stonehouse Cafe serves up small batch ice cream with rotating seasonal flavors, such as Dole whip, the nicely tart lilikoi, and a charcoal concoction flavored with coconut and cocoa.