Where to Celebrate National Ice Cream Day in Charleston
National ice cream day only rolls around once a year (July 21st!). And it means you’re officially allowed to eat ice cream all day. While we wouldn’t fault you for camping out at one spot all day long, we recommend hitting up as many spots as possible. After all, Charleston is home to some of the best ice cream, gelato and sorbet in the country.
Belgian Gelato
Want to take a trip to Europe through your tastebuds? Belgian Gelato specializes in none other than (you guessed it!) creative flavors of gelato with Belgium chocolate.
Gelato makers follow an authentic Italian recipe, creating a gelato that has less fat than traditional ice cream. Flavors include chocolate extreme, chocolate orange, pistachio and lemon sorbet. Head to the Mt. Pleasant location for all your favorite gelato flavors in addition to a savory menu that includes crepes, hot dogs, soup and salad.
Cirsea
Cirsea isn’t just another gelateria. They create ice cream, gelato and sorbetto by hand right here in Charleston. Like Jeni’s, they run a pint club — but you don’t need to wait for a certain month to enjoy your ice cream. You can get packages that start at two pints and go up to four any time of the year.
Flavors include toasted black sesame, bourbon caramel, cinnamon, green tea and strawberry goat cheese. Of course, they still have traditional flavors, like chocolate, strawberry and vanilla bean.
Ice & Pan
Ice & Pan specializes in rolled ice cream. That’s right, rolled ice cream. You start by choosing your flavors. Your ice cream makers pour liquid ice cream on a cold flat top. The ice cream sets immediately, and the ice cream maker rolls the ice cream with a spatula. After stuffing your ice cream rolls into a cup, your ice cream maker tops it with brownies, whipped cream and graham crackers.
In addition to rolled ice cream, Ice & Pan also serves bubble tea and savory foods, such as fried chicken and ramen. It’s basically a one-stop shop for sweet and savory.
Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams
Located in Downtown, Jeni’s is a great spot to head to when you’re craving a cup or cone containing inventive flavors. They feature flavors such as Atlantic beach pie pint, black cat espresso and Key lime buttermilk frozen yogurt.
You can get your ice cream or yogurt in a cone or a cup — or, you can score an entire pint of it. They even have a pint club that allows you to try four pints of ice cream, four times a year. They’ll even ship it to you if you’re not local.
Kilwin’s Chocolates
We can’t decide what we love most about Kilwin’s, the candies or the ice cream. Luckily, we can have both.
This old-fashioned chocolate shop opened in 1947. In 1985, they expanded their chocolate business by making their own ice cream. They still use that original recipe today.
Flavors include old fashioned vanilla, chocolate chip cookie dough, cake batter, the perfect apple pie and strawberry chunk. They also have frozen yogurt — one flavor is even made with Greek yogurt.
You can find Kilwin’s all over the East Coast, but we happen to think the very best location can be found right here in Charleston.
Park Circle Creamery
Sometimes you just need a simple ice cream counter to get your fix. Park Circle is all about making the best ice cream possible — and doing it with a smile. They offer 16 flavors, including a few vegan ones.
Flavors include Guinness chip ice cream, peanut butter cup and totally coconut.
Peace Pie
Peace Pie’s two Downtown locations scoop up some of the most inventive ice creams in the city. This ice cream shop is for the people who want their ice cream and their pie in one fell swoop. They create ice cream sandwiches that incorporate ice cream into a pie crust and top it with real pie filling.
Flavors include pecan pie, Key lime pie, banana cream pie and blueberry pie.
Republic Ice Cream
Republic serves up classic ice cream flavors. But when you stick with the classics, you can’t go wrong — especially when you’re using the best ingredients.
Their vanilla ice cream is flavored with exotic spices. The ice cream makers sampled more than 70 different types of vanilla before deciding on the one in their ice cream. Want a little more pizazz in your ice cream? You can add French brandied cherries on top for the perfect balance of sweet and tart.
Vincent’s Drug Store
Vincent’s Drug Store is an old-fashioned drug store style ice cream shop. Try saying that five times fast. This is the spot to head to if you’re craving a little ambiance with your ice cream.
Of course, you can also have your ice cream blended into a milkshake. They also serve up hamburgers, hot dogs and french fries to ensure you don’t go hungry during your visit.
It’s also handy because it’s still a working drugstore. You can grab some batteries after you eat your ice cream.
Ye Olde Fashioned Ice Cream and Sandwich Café
If you’re looking for a local creamery, look no further than Ye Olde Fashioned Ice Cream. This old school ice cream shop serves up classic ice cream flavors, in addition to huge sandwiches, salads, burgers and hot dogs.
They feature ice cream sundae flavors, such as ‘pigs’ trough,’ a double banana split; ‘gold digger sundae’ with butter pecan ice cream, topped with butterscotch, bananas, nuts and whipped cream.