People are passionate about ice cream. I’m among them. Yet, when the question of where to find the dessert (or breakfast) in Hartford gets asked, and responses almost exclusively point to West Hartford Center, I get a little irritated. Not that there’s anything wrong with that other town, but if I’m here and want to make an easy walk to get my frozen dairy fix, why should I hear about what’s at least an hour walk from home?
Besides the treats you can get from just about any convenience store/bodega, supermarket, ice cream truck, or cart, there are more than a few options, so long as you don’t require that it be scooped into a cone, though that can be had within city limits too. Quality varies, as does price. I’ve included items that are technically not ice cream, but can fill in for it as needed. Descriptions are frequently straight from the menu except when the restaurant’s version seemed confusing.
Agave Grill
fried Mexicali ice cream; crepas with vanilla ice cream
Bear’s
Bin228
Black-Eyed Sally’s
Burger King
vanilla soft serve in a cone; soft serve sundaes
Carbone’s
Charcoal Grill
Chet’s Italian Ice (at West End Farmers’ Market on Tuesdays, Billings Forge Farmers’ Market on Thursdays, Old State House Farmers’ Market on Fridays)
Italian ice
City Steam Brewery
Ice cream; sundaes; ice cream pie; pie a la mode
Coyote Flaco
sopapillas (served with vanilla ice cream); churros (served with vanilla ice cream); fried ice cream
Firebox
Beckett’s berry shortcake (served with strawberry ice cream); ice cream
Fire-n-Spice
First & Last Tavern
Friendly’s
ice cream cones; dishes; sundaes; floats; and Fribbles
Froyo World
Harlan Brasserie
Ichiban
La Fonda
Max Downtown
M&M Bistro
English sticky toffee pudding (served with butter-pecan toffee gelato)
McDonald’s
Monte Alban
apple pie burrito (served with vanilla ice cream); ice cream
Mozzicato’s
ON20
Peppercorn’s
Pond House Cafe
ice cream; sorbet; soft serve ice cream
Republic at the Linden
J. Foster’s sorbet or ice cream; Belgian waffle with ice cream. Also, Maple Bourbon milkshake.
Salute
Siam Hartford
ice cream; banana fritter with vanilla or coconut ice cream; sticky rice a la mode; fried ice cream
Sutra
ice cream; fried banana with vanilla ice cream; date pancakes with ice cream; darshan with ice cream
Ted’s Montana Grill
Thai Farms Restaurant
THE BOSS Grill
The Flying Monkey
nonstop brownie (served with vanilla ice cream); de-icer sundae
The Place 2 Be
milkshakes that might as well be ice cream sundaes
The Sweet Shop
Tisane
Trumbull Kitchen
Vaughn’s
Guinness brownie (served with ice cream)
Wendy’s
Wood-N-Tap
BONUS: Capital Ice Cream (coming soon)
Did I miss anything?
Linda P.
Thanks for this. I, too, want to enjoy life’s pleasures in Hartford, not WH.
Jess S.
Glad to see Fire & Spice made the list! I love their vegan pistachio flavor!
Tony C
Queen Bee’s on Park St. Scoops and cones. 510 Park St, Hartford, CT 06106. Got a cone there a couple weeks ago.
I heard there is a Friendly’s in Hartford Hospital.
Thanks for the list.
Brendan
The friendlys at Hartford hospital is ridiculously expensive, though.
Kerri Provost
As expensive as Milkcraft?
If you just dumped thousands of dollars at the hospital, another $10 is nothing at that point and no doubt tastes better
Brendan
I dunno. The $7 Fribble I had didn’t taste better with medical bills.
Brendan
Victoria’s on Maple Ave: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Victoria-Ice/561876307166057?rf=142081862527566
Gaspar Sancoche
Italian ices at Modern Pastry
Kerri Provost
Noted!
Gaspar Sancoche
Also, Cora Cora has amazing home-made ice creams made with Peruvian fruits.
Gaspar Sancoche
Sorry… Cora Cora is in WeHa!!!!!