Minnesota Ice Cream Tour

Ice cream is the currency of summer. There is no better treat on a hot summer day than a stop at an ice cream shop for a drippy, double scoop cone. Our family set out to sample sweet treats at several different ice cream shops for a Minnesota Ice Cream Tour. We tried a few new flavors as well as ordered some tried and true favorites.

Stop #1-Dairy Queen

Dairy Queen is a summer staple in Minnesota, which meant it had to be stop number one on our ice cream tour. Plus the folks at DQ developed an attention-getting marketing campaign; a flight of mini Blizzards. Bring on the Blizzard buffet. Our three picks were Brownie Dough, Cotton Candy and Cookie Dough. The first two flavors were new for summer so we dabbled with a couple of different choices and the Cookie Dough we were confident was a good pick. Brownie Dough was our favorite. It was not overly chocolatey and the brownie bites were soft. It turned out Cotton Candy was a crowd-pleaser as well. The boys love anything with sprinkles and this Blizzard delivered in that category. Ice Cream Experience Rating: 8/10 scoops. If the flight would be been presented on a little tray with placards like beer then….10/10 scoops. Location: Monticello, MN

Stop #2-Wonders Ice Cream Co.

Rolled ice cream is trending right now, so we jumped on the fan bus. Wonders signature flavor menu was extensive and we were a bit overwhelmed by all the choices. After lengthy consideration, we chose the Raspberry Berry, the Sour Tang and the Hella Chocolate. So many yummy flavors were scraped, rolled and creatively placed into these little paper cups. Aside from the yummy flavors, we liked the light and smooth texture of the ice cream. Our seemingly complex creations took just a few minutes to make. Watching these ice cream artists work their hibachi-style ice grill was almost as great as the ice cream itself. Ice Cream Experience Rating: 9/10 scoops. If our three small signature creations would have been less expensive than our lunch….then 10/10 scoops. Location: Maple Grove, MN

Stop #3-Santa Lucia’s

While DQ and Wonders offer vast selections of mixed ice cream creations, Santa Lucia’s keeps it simple with good ole hard scoop offerings (and plenty of them). Four large cases display a dizzying number of flavors, some of which are hard to find. I struggled to choose between the huckleberry and the rhubarb. Despite the fact I could have had a scoop of each in my cone, I went with the huckleberry and was more than satisfied. A small cone or dish here could feed a family of four as scoop sizes border on obscene. Ice Cream Experience Rating: 7/10 scoops. If only the scoop size wasn’t so big that I didn’t scrape some into the garbage just because I wanted to eat the cone then….10/10 scoops. Location: Milaca, MN

Stop #4-Lost Lake Creamery

Streetside seating in front of this old-fashioned ice cream parlor just adds to the experience at Lost Lake Creamery. It’s another simple ice cream shop with generous scoops. This time we licked up raspberry sorbet and Pirate’s Bounty, which was a creamy blend of caramel ice cream with chocolate candy and cookies. There are also 24 other flavors and doggie dishes for four-legged friends. Ice Cream Experience Rating: 7/10 scoops. Add more outdoor benches and tables as well as trash cans to this seasonal shop then….10/10 scoops. Location: Mound, MN

Stop #5-Schoony’s Malt Shop

All camping trips require a stop for ice cream. Schoony’s Malt Shop was just the spot on our visit to Interstate State Park and the Glacial Potholes. Schoony’s has a wide variety of flavors, even coconut. We opted for strawberry, Super-Man and chocolate chip cookie dough. We also ordered a vanilla malt, since the place is a malt shop after all. The malt was hand-made with real ice cream and topped with whipped cream. So good. Ice Cream Experience Rating: 7/10 scoops. Refresh the shop’s interior and spruce up the seating options then…10/10 scoops. Location: Taylor’s Falls, MN

Stop #6-Minnesota Nice Cream

We opted not to add the edible glitter to our specialty waffle cones at Minnesota Nice Cream. Our stop here was a break from the hard scoop shops, to try soft serve cones with creative toppings. The boys both ordered the Dirt ‘n’ Worms with chocolate ice cream, Oreo cookies, gummy worms and sprinkles. I had the Berry Nice with vanilla ice cream, lemon confetti cake, berries and you guessed it…sprinkles. If you’re looking for lactose-free ice cream options, Minnesota Nice Cream has loads. Ice Cream Experience Rating: 8/10 scoops. If parking was more plentiful then….10/10 scoops. Location: Northeast Minneapolis

Stop #7-Milkjam Creamery

Milkjam Creamery offered the most unique and fun flavors of any of our ice cream tour stops. Flavors like Thai Tea, Uma Thurman and Pikachu were some of the most interesting. In addition to dishes and cones topped with creative scoops, the creamery also offers sundaes and ice cream sandwiches as well as boozy floats and shakes. The boys ordered the Ridin’ Duuurty; Oreo milk with Oreo chunks and hunks of salted peanut butter. I opted for the Raspberry Lambic float made with hibiscus lemonade Italian ice. Scott sucked down a Milkjam shake (caramelized goats, cow’s and sweetened condensed milks) with a shot of Irish Creme. The ice cream was so very good and the overall atmosphere was vibrant. Ice Cream Experience Rating: 9.9/10 scoops. Go there. Now. Location: Minneapolis

Stop #8-MN Eis

MN Eis-Ice Cream and Sweets Shoppe carries Wisconsin-made Chocolate Shoppe Ice Cream and it’s heavenly. So creamy. MN Eis makes their own waffle cones and single scoop servings are sized just right. There are many unique and interesting hard scoop flavor choices. We really enjoyed the mint avalanche-mint ice cream with Andie’s candies and Grasshopper cookies. In addition to the great ice cream, the shop is housed in a beautifully restored building with a great atmosphere. MN Eis also has various German-inspired treats and a small candy shop. Ice Cream Experience Rating: 9.9/10 scoops. Must. Go. There. Location: New Ulm

Stop #9-Love Creamery

If you’re looking for vegan and gluten-free ice cream options, Love Creamery has you covered. Located away from touristy Canal Park, Love Creamery offers street-side service of everything from sundaes to pints of their small-batch homemade ice cream to go. Love focuses on fresh ingredients. The mint chocolate chip waffle cone we ordered featured fresh mint that was locally sourced. No artificial colors to make the ice cream green. We sat on their outdoor patio and enjoyed our creamy treats. No one talked, we were too focused on the ice cream. It’s so good. Ice Cream Experience Rating: 9/10 scoops. You gotta go. Location: Duluth

Stop #10- Adele’s Frozen Custard

This Truffle (chocolate, raspberry, fudge) Sundae is all the reason you need to make the trek to Excelsior to visit Adele’s Frozen Custard. The menu of available custard flavors changes almost daily, so check their calendar and plot the perfect time to visit. Adele’s also offers deli sandwiches as well as frozen custard pies. I can’t say enough good things about the truffle sundae. The custard was ultra-creamy, the hot fudge warm and the raspberries juicy. Plus the whip cream topping was smooth and rich. Ice Cream Experience Rating: 9/10 scoops. You gotta go. Location: Excelsior

Stop #11: Sydney’s Frozen Custard

Creative flavor combinations make Sydney’s Frozen Custard a summer sweet shop destination. On our trip, I sank my spoon into the Mixed Berry sundae with strawberries, raspberries and blueberries. A delightful summer combination. Our boys ordered the Mint Fudge Mount sundae and the Oreo Mint Sydnami. Essentially, they are the same treat. One in sundae form and the other more of a blended creation. Next time we’re on Minnesota’s North Shore, I have my eye on the Zanger. If Sydney’s ever plans on getting a liquor license, may I suggest adding rum to the Pina Colada Sydnami. Just sayin’. Experience Rating: 10/10 scoops. Location: Grand Marais, MN

#12-Bridgeman’s Restaurant

Mega-malts are not just an ice cream treat, they are a meal. The revolving menu of giant and gorgeous malts changes throughout the year. There’s sure to be a flavor for every ice cream lover. On our visit we sampled the entire menu of malts; the Diggin’ in the Dirt, Crazy for Cookie Dough, Princess Unicorn and Breakfast of Champions. Our kids loved that you keep the plastic mugs and their malts included a toy truck and mini unicorn plushie. The malts are spendy at $13 each. However, you’ll be more than full after attempting to finish one. Experience Rating: 9/10 scoops only because the cost is a bit steep. Location: Duluth, MN

#13 Jupiter Moon

Fresh and creamy with a menu packed with unique flavors, Jupiter Moon earns 10 out of 10 scoops on our Minnesota Ice Cream Tour. With more than 20 flavors to choose from, we could not decide. The solution; order an ice cream flight. We chose milk chocolate, flamingos in space, honey lavender, stellar strawberry and peach crunch. The milk chocolate was very creamy and smooth. The flamingos in space consisted of mango-flavored ice cream with bits of pineapple; refreshing. The honey lavender was sweet with a hint of floral flavor. The stellar strawberry was indeed stellar and the peach crunch offered a lot of texture with graham cracker bits in peachy, creamy ice cream. Experience Rating: 10/10 scoops. Location: St. Joseph, MN

#14 Bebe Zito

The flavor combinations at Bebe Zito are unique and unusually good. We had the Moria’s Roses (raspberry, strawberry and chocolate covered pretzels) Animal Frosting (self explanatory), Peanut Butter Puppy Chow and Coconut Caipirinha (basically coconut explosion). The menu is simple but the choices are many. A single scoop is eye popping. The boys have decided we already need to go back, there were flavor combinations left behind. Experience rating: 10/10 scoops. Location: Minneapolis

#15 La La Creamery

Upon the first taste of ice cream at La La Creamery, you know it’s fresh. Not only is it fresh, it’s also flavorful and very creamy. We stopped at La La after some delicious pizza at nearby Pizza Shark (on our Minnesota Pizza Tour). We ordered single scoops of Milk and Cookies, Raspberry Honey, Monkey Business and Charlotte’s Web. You can opt to add sprinkles to any flavor selection; of course the boys could not resist. La La offers a rotating selection of homemade flavors, so be sure to check their website before coming to the fun and fresh, Uptown Minneapolis shop. Ice Cream Experience Rating 9/10 scoops. Location: Minneapolis, MN

#16 Pumphouse Creamery

More handmade, fresh, small patch creamy deliciousness is scooped up at Pumphouse Creamery. We ordered single scoops of fresh rhubarb, speckled milky chocolate, Bing cherry chocolate chip and coconut, almonds and chocolate chip. I was particularly delighted to find rhubarb on the menu. It had a great combination of sweet and tart without being overpowering. It’s obvious by the taste and texture of the ice cream at Pumphouse that ingredients are high quality. In fact, the dairy, fruits and some of the chocolate in the ice cream is locally sourced from Minnesota providers and growers. Experience Rating: 10/10 scoops. Location: Minneapolis, MN

#17 Lick’s Unlimited

Located just a couple blocks from Lake Minnetonka, Lick’s Unlimited is the go to spot for a sweet treat after a day on the water. I took a break form my usual flavor selections while at Lick’s and opted for a Raspberry Lemon Sorbet. It was so smooth and very refreshing. It’s easy to understand why on most summer days there is a line stretching outside the small parlor for a scoop of the delicious flavors Lick’s Unlimited has to offer. Location: Excelsior, MN

Bonus Stop: Brigg’s Lake General Store

We consider ourselves regulars at Brigg’s Lake General Store. It’s our family’s mission to keep this gas station, bait shop, hardware store and liquor store in business with frequent visits for everything from frozen pizzas to sheetrock screws. We’re obligated to drop in multiple times each summer for single scoop cake cones. Our order is fairly consistent; one mint chocolate chip, one cotton candy, and one bubble gum; extra napkins. Brigg’s Lake General Store has recently upgraded the seating situation with new picnic tables plopped right outside the entrance. Well played marketing strategy, Brigg’s Lake. Well played. Couple their marketing genius with the clever sizing display and Brigg’s Lake takes home the prize for best stop on the Minnesota Ice Cream Tour. Ice Cream Experience Rating: 10/10 scoops. Location: Palmer, MN

Update: In the summer of 2024, Brigg’s Lake Store added flights of ice cream for just $5! That’s right. You get small scoops of six different flavors for one crisp Abe Lincoln. No more deciding on which flavor to get.

We spent the summer of 2019 on our Minnesota Ice Cream Tour. In 2020 we were on a Minnesota Drive-In Restaurant Tour. This year, we’re hitting up all the best donut shops in the state. Check it out for all the details on the burgers, shakes and pastries we consumed across the Land of 10, 000 Lakes.

Happy Adventuring, Rochelle