There’s never not an excuse to get ice cream. Sad? Get ice cream. Happy? Get ice cream. Lonely? Get ice cream. It’s the perfect dairy-based panacea for all life’s problems, and since global warming doesn’t seem to be ending time anytime soon, you may as well indulge in this cold treat.
Here are our picks for the top five places to get ice cream in Los Angeles.
1. Honeymee Ice Cream
Honeymee has various locations in the Los Angeles and Orange county area. This ice cream joint’s claim to fame is its nebulously named “true milk” ice cream made from fresh California Milk. The chain prides itself on its fresh milk and its eponymous ingredient: honey. The menu, with an In-N-Out style level of simplicity, features various soft served ice creams drizzled in honey or chocolate sauce, equipped with a bona fide genuine honeycomb chip atop the soft serve. The menu also boasts honey tea, honey shakes like green tea and sea-salt caramel, as well as ice cream in a bun (a “Babee”) that vaguely resembles a bun of a hot dog.
Recommended flavor: Sweetie—true milk ice cream with honey swirl
2. Salt and Straw
Salt and Straw is an ice cream shop based in Portland that now has locations in Venice Beach and Larchmont. Serving slightly eccentric flavors like Avocado & Strawberry Sherbet and Black Olive Brittle & Goat Cheese, it has quickly become the self-proclaimed (and irksomely named) Los Angeles “foodies’” favorite spots for ice cream. While some of the flavors may elicit eye rolls because of their hipster-like pretension, more orthodox flavors include Roasted Strawberry & Toasted White Chocolate and Sea Salt with Caramel Ribbons.
Recommended flavor: Chocolate Gooey Brownie
3. Milk
Los Angeles’s Milk, home of the famed French macaron ice cream sandwiches that will undoubtedly flutter in and out of your Instagram feed, has garnered celebrity status for its ice creams and desserts (if you roll by the Milk on Beverly, there will inevitably be a large crowd gathered outside). At Milk, there really is something in it for everyone. Not only does Milk have various flavored cookies, cakes, and brownies, sundaes, shakes, floats, and the infamous macaron ice cream sandwiches, but Milk also has savory sandwiches and salads for those who prefer to eat their dinner before dessert.
Recommended flavor: Fruity Pebbles macaron ice cream sandwich
4. Ice Cream Lab
Upon first inspection, Los Angeles’s Ice Cream Lab seems premised on a super-gimmicky idea: “made-to-order liquid nitrogen ice cream.” With various locations in the L.A. area including Little Tokyo, Beverly Hills, Westlake Village and Pasadena, it is nothing short of awe-inspiring watching the ice cream be made in front of you. While the ice cream veers on the pricier side, unique and eclectic flavors are offered to offset the price tag. The flavors are ever-changing but some of the current flavors on the website’s menu include “Banilla,” an ice cream made from diced bananas, Nilla wafers, and caramel Banilla, the very aptly named “Beary Cinnful Horchata” with horchata flavored ice cream with cinnamon teddy bears, as well as their “Blue Velvet” ice cream that has vanilla ice cream with blue velvet cupcake and cream cheese frosting. Ice Cream Lab also has vegan friendly options like their chocolate and vanilla ice creams that can be made into shakes. For those weary of the vegan options, the ice creams do not contain tofu or tempeh product or any other mildly questionable vegan substitute so you can rest easy.
Recommended flavor: Saltlick crunch
5. Afters
Afters, self-proclaimed “home of the milky bun,” is also unofficially the home of every child’s sweet toothed fantasy. It’s the place your mother warned you about, and the culprit of your newly amassed set of cavities and your dentist’s new Porsche. Afters offers milky buns, which are essentially warm glazed donuts stuffed with your choice of ice cream. Afters has various locations in the L.A. area including Pasadena and Long Beach. Afters shies away from the classic ice cream flavors of vanilla and chocolate in favor of more unorthodox renditions on the classics. At Afters you can get your milky bun stuffed with ice cream flavors like jasmine milk tea, churro, acai blueberry and the crowd favorite the “cookie monster,” a delightful blend of various cookies nestled in a bright blue ice cream as the name suggests. You can also add toppings to your milky bun like Fruity Pebbles and sprinkles among other options.
Recommended flavor: Glazed milky bun with “cookie monster” ice cream