Lifestyle Mirror

Summer may be wrapping up, but we’re trying to get in our last hoorah while the weather’s still nice. Eat your fill of the season’s best ice cream in these six cities and ease your way into cooler climates. —Sasha Levine (@sashalevine)

Ice Cream Directory:

BROOKLYN, NEW YORK
Brooklyn Ice Cream Factory
1 Water Street

If ice cream had a prototype, it might be found at this joint. With classic, all-natural flavors, like strawberry or vanilla chocolate chunk, served out of a landmark fireboat house, this old-timey spot boasts a special kind of wholesomeness—like something out of The Boxcar Children. The proximity to the new Brooklyn Bridge Park and the views of downtown Manhattan aren’t too shabby either.

CHICAGO, ILLINOIS
Black Dog Gelato
859 N. Damen Avenue

Known for both its ingredients and ingenuity, Chicago’s Black Dog Gelato has some of the most gourmet ice cream around. While the menu changes frequently, look out for the cucumber and rosewater sorbet or the goat cheese cashew caramel gelato, and reconsider your definition of ice cream.

SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA
Bi-Rite Creamery
3692 18th Street

While the creamery has had the last decade to prove its reputation as the place to go for a killer scoop, the intensity of its flavors—like the balsamic strawberry or the salted caramel—is a selling point that’s hard to beat. And if that’s not enough, Bi-Rite makes their ice cream using handmade, local, organic ingredients—sustainably, of course.

BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS
J.P. Licks
352 Newbury Street

If you’re looking for a franchise that hasn’t sacrificed its standards, J.P. Licks is the place to go. And while they make seasonal flavors—like August’s fresh peach ice cream or pineapple coconut sherbet—what’s better than choosing between four different kinds of Oreo? And with ten different locations in the Boston area, you won’t have to worry about wandering too far off from a fix.

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA
Milk
7290 Beverly Boulevard

For ice cream 2.0, Milk has a wicked selection of milkshakes, sundaes, or ice cream sandwiches to choose from. And while the latter may use the cookie from the daintiest of desserts—the French macaroon—these well-portioned sandwiches certainly require more than a thumb and a finger to handle.

AUSTIN, TEXAS
Amy’s Ice Creams
3500 Guadalupe Street

Amy’s has held dominion over the Austin ice cream scene more or less since it opened in 1984. With seven flavors in-store at all times and another 300 that rotate frequently, it would take you an ice cream a day for about 10 months to taste every kind.