There are tons of great options for ice cream in the Ann Arbor area. We have finally made it to most of the reader recommended Ann Arbor Ice Cream spots. Check out our thoughts then chime in with your own favorites.
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Ann Arbor Ice Cream Tour Map
Our Ice Cream Tour Map will help you find ice cream near your home, a restaurant, or a park you are visiting.
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House Made Ice Cream
Go! Ice Cream
Hands down Ypsilanti’s Go! Ice Cream is our favorite local Ann Arbor ice cream spot. Fortunately they are open year round. Summer of 2020 they reopened during the pandemic selling only pints for pickup on Saturdays. They are now open several days a week offering scoops as well as pints to go.
Go! handmakes their ice cream with fresh local ingredients. I am partial to their Mint Chocolate Chip – no green dye here. It has a nice earthy flavor from the fresh mint leaves. My husband loved the scotch ice cream they have every Father’s Day. A seasonal flavor we love is Blueberry and Lemon Curd. My daughter switches her order up the most including sweet browned butter which is always on the menu. Other favorites include Local Honey, Carrot Cake, Apple Pie A La Mode, Coconut Sorbet Each day they offer about 6 flavors of ice cream including at least sorbet.
In non-pandemic times, limited seating is available at the counter or go through the hall to additional seating in a Washington St store front. Currently they are serving from either their window in the Alley or their ice cream bike with indoor seating closed. Free parking is plentiful in nearby lots and on select streets.
At a Glance
Address: 10 Washington St, Ypsilanti (Currently serving from the alley window
Hours: Open Year round. Hours Vary Weekly – Currently Thursday & Friday 2-8p, Saturday & Sunday noon-6p
Restaurants Nearby: Red Rock BBQ, Ypsi Alehouse, Ma Lou’s, Dolores, Bobcat Bonnies, Bellflower, Beezy’s
Parks Nearby: Riverside Park
Blank Slate Creamery
After years of saying we are going to try Blank Slate Creamery, my daughter and I finally tried their ice cream. We tried to visit a few times when they were closed at lunch time, before they opened for the season, or the line was too long. We enjoyed their ice cream, but not as much as Go! Their big advantage is that they offer more varieties at a time.
Blank Slate Creamery has a wide variety of homemade flavors. My daughter and I decided to be indecisive and split a flight of 4 ice creams.
Blank Slate operates seasonally and changes their hours seasonally. While Blank Slate is open daily, they don’t open until 2p on weekdays in the spring. They typically have a long line. It isn’t unusual to see the line wrapped down the block. Blank Slate’s address is 300 W. Liberty, Ann Arbor. Parking near Blank Slate can be a challenge. We had made a few unsuccessful attempts to visit after school and ended up at Washtenaw Dairy because we finally found a spot closer to there. On our visit, we had better luck by parking north of Blank Slate Creamery (across from the Y, although we then walked by many closer spots).
At a Glance
Address: 300 W. Liberty, Ann Arbor
Hours: Operates Seasonally, Summer 2021 hours are 2-10p Sunday-Thursday, and 2-11p Friday & Saturday
Restaurants Nearby: Frita Batidos, Kouzina, many Main Street Restaurants
Parks Nearby: Waterworks Park, West Park
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Mickey’s Dairy Twist
Mickey’s Dairy Twist is a Saline favorite. Mickey’s Dairy Twist is on Michigan Avenue just west of Downtown Saline. They are a walk up ice cream stand with tables available for guests. They operate seasonally.
They handmade their own hard-pack ice cream and also sell soft-serve ice cream. On our visit, my husband enjoyed his cherry amaretto ice cream far more than I enjoyed my flurry. My daughter was at Disney World with her grandparents, so she didn’t get to offer her opinion.
For a couple of years they were located on Michigan Ave between Brecon Grille and what is now Smokehouse 52 (it was a pizza place at the time). I loved that location
At a Glance
Address: 751 W. Michigan Ave, Saline.
Hours: Operates Sesonally, Summer 2021: noon-9p daily
Nearby Restaurants: Downtown Saline including Salt Springs Brewery, Smokehouse 52 BBQ, Brecon Grille
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Serving Ice Cream
Washtenaw Dairy
Washtenaw Dairy is a very popular Ann Arbor ice cream destination – they also have a great selection of donuts. They are open year round. Washtenaw Dairy serves mostly Stroh’s ice cream. On summer evenings it isn’t unusual for the line to be wrapped through the building, out the door, and nearly to the corner – especially when a couple of kids softball teams show up as we have.
Their portions are typically generous and some outdoor benches are available. There is even a water fountain outside.
There is a small lot across the street and street parking is also available.
At a Glance
Address: 602 S. Ashley St, Ann Arbor
Hours: Monday-Friday 5a-8p, Saturday & Sunday 6a-8p
Restaurants Nearby: A bit of a walk from Main St Restaurants
Parks Nearby: Wurster Park, Allmendinger Park
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Michigan Creamery
Michigan Creamery is on State Street in the campus area. They were formerly Stucchi’s Ice Cream. All of their ice cream is Michigan made. We used to visit many years ago when they were Stucchi’s. We stopped in for the first time since their name change recently.
All of their ice cream (and sorbet and frozen yogurt) is Michigan Made. I had a delicious seaside turtle pictured above. My daughter had strawberry cheesecake and my husband had lemon sorbet. In addition to hard pack, ice cream, they offer soft serve and handmade chocolates.
My daughter suggested ordering Junior size instead of small. A Junior is one scoop. A Small is two scoops. She ate all of her ice cream, but kept commenting how big it was. Also, it was well air-conditioned in Michigan Creamery – I was freezing by the time we finished eating our ice cream.
Michigan Creamery’s address is 302 S. State Street.
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Kilwins Ice Cream Parlor
My daughter and I finally tried Kilwins Ice Cream. It has received received several reader recommendations over the years (and my aunt and uncle in Florida rave about it).
Kilwins serves their Original Recipe ice cream. They have in-store made waffle cones and of course hand-crafted caramel and hand-paddled fudge next door in the chocolate shop. While Kilwins is now a national chain, their roots are in northern Michigan.
As we walked in, we were greeted by the smell of freshly baked waffle cones. I knew whatever flavor I chose, it would be in a waffle cone. My daughter who usually sticks to bowls was even tempted by a waffle cone and enjoyed her ice cone. It was well worth the extra $1 for the freshly baked waffle cone.
At a Glance
Address: 107 E Liberty, Ann Arbor
Hours: Sunday-Thursday noon-10p, Friday & Saturday noon-11p
Restaurants Nearby: Main Street, Liberty & Washington Restaurants including Shalimar, Pretzel Bell, Isalita
Dairy Queen
Dairy Queen is always a favorite for a quick, less expensive ice cream. There are several Dairy Queen locations in the Ann Arbor area – Stadium Blvd, Packard Rd, Washtenaw Ave in Ypsilanti, Michigan Ave (in Ypsilanti and Saline), and Main St in Dexter..
Personally, I really like the Blizzards. However, I will often get a cone instead since they have significantly less calories.
Make sure to keep your eye out for their Free Cone Day in the spring. Most of the locations operate seasonally with opening in early March.
At a Glance
Address: 1805 Packard St, Ann Arbor
2430 W Stadium Blvd, Ann Arbor
101 Michigan Ave E, Ypsilanti
1801 Washtenaw Ave, Ypsilanti
400 E Michigan Ave, Saline
8041 Main St, Dexter
Hours: Vary by Location & Season. Most locations operate seasonally
Restaurants Nearby: Depends on Location
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Dexter Creamery
Dexter Creamery serves Mooville Ice Cream and has over 70 topping options. They also make their own Frozen Yogurt. This caused a bit of a dilemma as to which category to put Dexter Creamery into – House Made or Serving. Since this is an ice cream trail and the base ice cream is not house made, I’ve put them into the Serving Ice Cream category..
At a Glance
Address: 8106 Main St, Dexter
Hours: 10a-11p daily
Restaurants Nearby: Aubree’s, Dexter Riverview Cafe, Red Brick Kitchen, Dexter’s Pub, A&W Drive-In
Parks Nearby: Mill Creek Park, Lions Park
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Ice Cream Time
Ice Cream Time in Ypsilanti specializes in Soft Serve Ice Cream, a wide variety of ice cream treats, and ice cream scoops from Independent Dairy. In addition to the ice cream treats, they also have slushies – or combine a slushie with ice cream in a glacier or cooler (blended).
Ice Cream Time in Ypsilanti has always been recommended on our lists of ice cream shops. We planned a family outing to try it. They mostly have soft serve. My daughter and husband opted for Flurries (a lot like a DQ Blizzard) while I had a simple twist cone.
At a Glance
Address: 1240 Ecorse Rd, Ypsilanti
Hours: 11:30a-10p daily
Other Options to Ann Arbor Ice Cream
Our tour is restricted to ice cream, so I have excluded those shops that don’t serve ice cream. For example, we love Iorio’s Gelato (552 E. William St), but since gelato is not ice cream, I have not included them. This also rules out yogurt shops.
Nice list. I did not even know about Go! In Ypsilanti – must try. I guess Zingerman’s creamery is gelato but also very nice on a hot day. Also, side note, Argus farm stop has fluffy bottom farms coming to serve frozen yogurt (but they call it an “ice cream social” so I’m not certain) every Saturday from 1-4 on their patio.
Yes, I purposely left off gelato & frozen yogurt. For gelato we like Iorio’s Gelateria on William (near Cottage Inn).
Anna – Just an FYI Dexter Creamery has soft Frozen Yogurt, Ice Cream, Sorbet, and Gelato. We also have 12 flavors of amazing hand dipped Ice Cream and over 70 toppings. You should stop in, we promise you’ll find many things you love.
Thanks! I’ve updated the list to include you. I don’t get to Dexter as much as I should. But, you are on our list – and we need to visit this spring/summer for playground reviews.