Many people have submitted to the mindset that everyone is entitled to their own favorites. Well, when it comes to ice cream, we’re here to tell you that—sorry not sorry—you’re wrong! Here’s our official ranking of ice cream stores in Manhattan. We hope that our objective rubric and big backery will convince you to try out these places, too.
#5: Sugar Hill Creamery
A 15-minute walk away from school, you can find Sugar Hill Creamery on Broadway and 149th Street. While it certainly wasn’t terrible, it left a lot to be desired. For one, the shop is incredibly small, with only three seats available. Secondly, the selection of ice cream was tiny, and approximately a third of them contained alcohol, which further limited options for high school students. On top of that, the quality of the ice cream was arguably the worst out of all of the places on this list. You could feel the little ice crystals when you ate the ice cream (sensory nightmare), and the blueberry cheesecake tasted like a whole lot of nothing.
However, their cookies and caramel flavor was good! It didn’t blow us away, but it was significantly better than the blueberry cheesecake. Additionally, a single scoop of ice cream was $5.50, and they offered a free sugar cone, so it was far more affordable than some of the other places on this list. Overall, Sugar Hill Creamery was just okay, come and take a visit if you’re interested, but a tub of ice cream from the pharmacy might just be the better choice.
Scores
Aesthetic: 0.5/1
Flavor diversity: 0.4/1
Price: 0.9/1
Taste: 0.5/1
Wait time: 1/1
Total: 3.3/5
#4: OddFellows Ice Cream Co.
Located on 8th Avenue and 17th Street, OddFellows had a retro vibe that took us back to the 1960s. The store, while almost empty when we arrived, is really popular, especially among HSMSE students. Sawyer Dufresne (’27), the first person of many who recommended the place, stated that she “went all the time with her family, so it kind of gives me nostalgia.” However, no matter how far the store may take people back, we’re here to give you a rude awakening: It wasn’t the best.
Don’t get us wrong; the ice cream was by no means “bad.” OddFellows had a decent variety of flavors to choose from, including matcha strawberry and dark chocolate peanut butter cheesecake. Additionally, the prices there weren’t terrible, with a single scoop costing $7.75. Unfortunately for all you OddFellows stans, though, in comparison to other places that we visited, the actual ice cream itself didn’t really live up to the hype. It tasted fine, but it wasn’t spectacular, and was overall the most forgettable.
Scores:
Aesthetic: 1/1
Flavor diversity: 0.6/1
Price: 0.7/1
Taste: 0.3/1
Wait time: 0.9/1
Total: 3.5/5
#3: Van Leeuwen
Van Leeuwen is well-known among New Yorkers, primarily due to their large number of locations and weird flavors, including Kraft macaroni and cheese, pizza, and planet Earth. And although their ice cream is famously pricey (one scoop in NYC costs $8), we had to give them a Top 3 spot for one significant reason: Van Leeuwen probably has some of the best vegan ice cream you’ll ever have.
Almost two thirds of all their flavors also have both dairy and dairy-free versions, including their limited editions. Plus, the staple flavors at Van Leeuwen have an incredibly rich flavor and feature slightly varied options to truly find what’s best for you. For instance, do you want chocolate ice cream, or dark chocolate fudge brownie ice cream? Luckily for you, Van Leeuwen gives you both options—and both can be served vegan.
For people who have specific dietary needs (or are picky eaters), Van Leeuwen is certainly worth the heavy price tag.
Scores:
Aesthetic: 0.8/1
Flavor diversity: 0.9/1
Price: 0.5/1
Taste: 0.9/1
Wait time: 0.8/1
Total: 3.9/5
#2: Avrilililly’s Creamery LLC
Are we slightly biased because Avrilililly’s is right next to HSMSE? Maybe. Are we even more biased because we were given free raspberry sorbet? Perhaps…
But Avrilililly’s deserves its number two spot on this list. While Avrilililly has by far the smallest variety of flavors, the ice cream itself was significantly better than the ice cream at OddFellows. Additionally, Avrilililly’s is the only ice cream store we visited that was not a chain, so the service there felt more personal and less “I have to serve you or else I will get fired.” The man working the counter was incredibly kind and patient when we tried samples, answered every single question we had, and didn’t make us pull out our student IDs for the discount—you heard that right, students get a 10% discount!
Avrilililly’s was also the only place that didn’t completely empty our wallets, with a kids’ scoop coming in at $4.50 (the portion size was significantly smaller than Oddfellow’s and Van Leewun, but that comes with the territory of ordering a kids’ scoop). The key lime pie flavor we ordered tasted INCREDIBLE, but if you’re somehow not into that, there’s enough options for everyone’s unique taste buds.
Scores:
Aesthetic: 1/1
Flavor diversity: 0.3/1
Price: 1/1
Taste: 0.8/1
Wait time: 1/1
Total: 4.1/5
#1: Anita Gelato
Overall, Anita Gelato ended up taking the cake (or rather, ice cream) as the best ice cream store in Manhattan. The parlor had by far the most diverse array of flavors, offering a rotating menu of 26 ice cream flavors and six flavors of sorbet, as well as frozen yogurt. The menu had a really good mix of classic flavors (e.g. vanilla, chocolate, and pistachio) and unique flavors (e.g. nougat wafers, biscuit cheesecake, and strawberry mascarpone & ricotta). In total, Anita Gelato has come out with over 150 flavors of ice cream.
Although Anita Gelato was the most expensive (one scoop of ice cream cost $9.25!), their portions were absolutely gigantic, to the point where we couldn’t finish our ice creams and had to call it quits about halfway through. Plus, you can choose two flavors for a small, so we say that it was worth the price. We got the limoncello flavor (essentially a mojito sorbet without alcohol—whether that’s good or bad is up to you) and the milk chocolate pretzel flavor, both of which were delicious. And since there are over 160 locations worldwide, three of which are in Manhattan, you can enjoy Anita Gelato wherever you are!
Scores:
Aesthetic: 1/1
Flavor diversity: 1/1
Price: 0.6/1
Taste: 1/1
Wait time: 0.6/1
Total: 4.2/5
Unfortunately, creating a perfect ice cream store ranking is impossible; what blows our minds might not even make you blink an eye. But at the end of the day, we are THE certified ice cream experts, so you probably want to listen to us.
On a more serious note, all of these stores were wonderful in their own way, whether it was hospitality, aesthetic, or quality. So, try them all! A little sweet treat never hurt anyone—we would even go as far as to say not enough ice cream definitely has.