The Best Ice Cream In Toronto That You Have To Try

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Want The Best Ice Cream In Toronto? Lick No Further!

Looking for the best ice cream in Toronto? We got you covered! There are few better ways to cool off and enjoy a treat than grabbing a Toronto ice cream.

Given that the city is massive, Toronto is loaded with many places that all offer their own take on the sweet treat. In fact, we even put eating local ice cream as one of the best things to do in Ontario in summer!

Over the years, we’ve gone for ice cream downtown or in the East end (Leslieville) after dinner with family, friends, or just us two.

Each time, it was a great experience. But who/where really has the best ice cream? “Best” is a relative term – but some ice cream places in Toronto are certainly more known than others!

So, to help you decide where to head for a frozen treat, we walked around Toronto to eat ice cream. We’re not kidding – we did this over a few days.

For the record: it sounds like a great idea BUT you can only eat so much ice cream in one day! Here’s where we went for Toronto ice cream and a few other notable mentions along the way!

A Friendly Heads-Up: This post is made up of ice cream places mostly downtown. That said, it’s a post that is certainly not finished yet. We will add to this post as we explore and enjoy more places!

Bang Bang

Navigation Address: 93A Ossington Ave, Toronto, ON M6J 2Z2, Canada

ice cream cone on paper wrapper in front of storefront in toronto.

Starting off with arguably the most popular ice cream place in Toronto. Yes – we went to Bang Bang Ice Cream.

If you don’t know the hype (we didn’t at first), Bang Bang specializes in small-batch ice cream and unique “holders” (like waffle cones or baked cookies). You can even take some home in a “take-home” container.

Located over on Ossington in the city’s west end, it would be easy to miss since it’s just a small shop on the east side of the street heading north.

Of course, the lineup outside makes Bang Bang a dead giveaway. We are never ones to wait in line because something is hyped up but our 35-minute wait was actually worth it.

ice cream in waffle cone held in hand with car behind.
A classic Bang Bang waffle made fresh!

Honestly, the ice cream was excellent. As for flavours, we shared one scoop of campfire marshmallow and one scoop of London fog (like the tea).

If you don’t eat dairy, you’ll be happy to hear that they also have vegan ice cream on tap!

You can get your ice cream in a cup, in a cone, between cookies (like an ice cream sandwich) – or in an actual waffle (we got this) which they bake fresh right there in front of you. Literally hot off the press.

Overall, we’d say try out Bang Bang for the smooth ice cream and the nice staff who know their stuff (you can even sample – but only a few, please).

Ed’s Real Scoop

Navigation Multiple Locations – Leslieville: 920 Queen St E, Toronto, ON M4M 1J5, Canada

If you’re looking for a good ice cream to try, then Ed’s Real Scoop has to be on your list. Ed is an actual guy who started it all at the Beaches location back in 2000.

Since then, Toronto has been blessed with four Ed’s locations serving up small-batch, homemade ice cream that is done on-site and with the purest of ingredients.

We’ve been to Ed’s a handful of times – always at the location in Leslieville – usually after dinner at a place nearby. Every time, there’s a small lineup – but it’s worth it.

They also do other sweet treats like gelato, frozen yogurt, milkshakes, sundaes, and some locations even offer coffee and biscotti!

The next time we go we will snap a photo of the cone we get! Don’t forget about the Beaches location (Address: 2224 Queen St E, Toronto, ON M4E 1E9) and Roncesvalles location (189 Roncesvalles Ave, Toronto, ON M6R 2L5).

Arctic Bites

Navigation Address: 21 Baldwin St, Toronto, ON M5T 1L1, Canada

white storefront sign to ice cream place with trees overhead.
You might miss the shop entrance!

We realize we say “if you want great ice cream” over and over but we did NOT see Arctic Bites coming and WOW was it good!

Located on Baldwin (just off of McCaul and south of the University of Toronto), you can easily walk past Arctic Bites nestled among the other restaurants and shop fronts.

Inside the small, clean shop, you’ll find a place where they do “Thai Rolled Ice Cream”. What’s that mean? If you’ve ever been to a place like Cold Stone Creamery – or an ice cream shop with a frozen cold plate behind the counter – you’ll know.

Basically, they pour the ice cream mixture into the frozen slab and freeze it right in front of you!

ice cream being prepared on cold metal slab.
The masters at work create the ice cream on the cold plate!

Then they artfully spread the ice cream and scrape it off the cold slab. When they do this, it comes off in ROLLS which they insert into the cup. Super cool!

We had the Mr. Grey which was essentially an earl grey tea flavour with whipped cream, Frosted Flakes, a waffle cookie, and a condensed milk drizzle (seen below).

small white cup of ice cream with waffle sticking out on white counter.
We had the Mr. Grey and it was SO good!

Overall, we’re so glad we stopped by Arctic Bites and would definitely recommend stopping through if you’re looking for a nice cold treat!

Brett’s

Navigation Address: 1698 Queen St E, Toronto, ON M4L 1G6, Canada

ice cream shop with white brick and road with cars in front.
Brett’s at the corner of Queen Street East and Kingston Road!

Located right at the corner of Queen West and Kingston Road, Brett’s has become a staple of east-end dwellers since 2017. Now, we honestly haven’t been but Eric’s sister goes semi-frequently and loves Brett’s.

They have 16 flavours on at any given time but boast over 30 in total – and they do handcrafted ice cream that also comes in vegan, dairy, or gluten-free versions!

It’s funny – we’ve passed by dozens upon dozens of times and never made to try it out!

In any case, Brett’s is a top place in Toronto so we will check it out the next time we are there – and haven’t eaten 3 ice creams in a single day!

Sweet Jesus

Navigation Address Downtown: 106 John Street, Toronto, Ontario

pink ice cream in cup with spoon and blue background.
The always Instagramable Sweet Jesus….. // Photo: Laura O.

As told by Laura O. from She Who Wanders

When the temperatures rise, nothing really beats the heat better than ice cream. And leave it to the insanely Instagrammable Sweet Jesus to satisfy your sweet tooth!

With multiple locations around Toronto (and a few others Canada-wide) you’re never far from sinking your teeth into some amazing frozen creations – crazy cones, marvelous milkshakes, perfect pints (to take home), and even creative cakes for that special occasion.

They handcraft everything and it really shows in everything they sell.

So do yourself a favour and take your overheating self to cool down with a sweet treat from Sweet Jesus! In the photo above it’s the Red Rapture in a kid’s size.

That means: Vanilla soft serve ice cream, red velvet cake, cream cheese icing, raspberry sauce, meringue crumble.

Related Articles

If you plan on spending one day in Toronto – or maybe longer – here are some helpful Toronto posts you might find useful!

And there you have it – a handful of the places to find the best ice cream in Toronto. Obviously, we missed a bunch but as we said we will add to this list as we go!

Where do you love to get ice cream? Get in touch and let us know – we’re on a mission and we’ll check out your recommendations because why not eat ice cream, right?

As always, Keep Exploring, eh?
– E&L

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photo of ice cream cone with text overlay Ice Cream Spots in Toronto, Ontario.
Author
Eric Wychopen is a Canadian content writer who loves to share his passion for Ontario. Originally from a small town in Simcoe County, he has almost 50 countries under his belt - but Ontario will always be home. Having travelled thousands of kilometres across the province for work and play, Eric has a wealth of knowledge about the province and is always looking for new experiences in Ontario.