A Quest To Find The Best Ice Cream In Salt Lake City
Utahns love their sweets. And ice cream has always been a local favorite. Eating ice cream in Salt Lake City at classic shops like Snelgrove and Fendall’s was a regular family outing when I was a kid. And it seems like new ice cream shops are popping up all the time around the valley. As an example, my daughter recently introduced me to the very popular Blacksmith Ice Cream Company – a small batch artisan ice cream shop with a growing number of locations in the Salt Lake City area.
I enjoyed my ice cream at Blacksmiths. But as I ate it, I naturally started to wonder where I could find the very best ice cream in Salt Lake City. After all, regular readers know that Food Quests are always part of my travels – like the time I quested for the Best Tacos in Mexico City. And since we don’t typically travel in the summer, I’ve been itching for a food adventure lately. So I decided it was the perfect time to go on a local quest – a Quest to find the Best Ice Cream in Salt Lake City.
Some of the links in this post may be affiliate links. If you buy something after clicking one of these links, I may earn a small commission. This does not cost you anything extra and helps support this blog.
Contents
Sorting Through The Ice Cream Options
Obviously it would be impractical (and unhealthy) to visit every ice cream shop in the valley. So as with any of my Food Quests, I did my research before I went, and narrowed down the candidates before my first taste.
For this Quest, I relied on both Reddit and Google Reviews to help me decide where to go. The “Best Ice Cream in Salt Lake City” question has been asked on Reddit several times and I read through all the various responses. I obviously chose to visit the Salt Lake area shops mentioned most frequently, as long as they also had Google Reviews higher than 4.5 stars.
I also decided to stick with shops that sold only hard ice cream. I did that mostly for the sake of simplicity – it’s easier to compare apples to apples. But hard ice cream shops were the most mentioned on Reddit anyway. So consequently..no soft serve, frozen custard, or gelato on this particular Quest.
I also decided to exclude national chains. Haagen Dazs has always been my store-bought favorite. And they do have a shop in downtown Salt Lake. But I decided to focus exclusively on Utah companies. Plus, with the exception of Handel’s Ice Cream, local ice cream shops dominated the Reddit conversation.
Ultimately, I visited 7 ice cream shops on this Quest for the Best Ice Cream in Salt Lake City. At each one, I would ask about the most popular flavors, and I would taste those flavors if samples were offered. However, I would buy the flavor that personally appealed to me most. And I would always choose a single scoop cup. (I completed this Quest in just a few days. It was wisest to limit how much ice cream I ate…which was really hard to do sometimes.)
The ice cream-loving Redditors did not misguide me. I ate a lot of good ice cream on this Quest. Over the length of this post, I will rank my personal preferences for you – from lowest to highest. And by the end, I will reveal my choice for the Best Ice Cream in Salt Lake City.
Snelgrove Ice Cream
For older Utah residents, when you bring up the best ice cream in Salt Lake City, the first place that comes to their mind is usually Snelgrove. I mentioned earlier that when I was a kid, Snelgrove was a special stop whenever we came to Salt Lake. So of course, I needed to include this iconic ice cream shop in my Quest – especially since it gets Reddit love too.
Snelgrove Ice Cream was founded all the way back in 1929 and truly became a Salt Lake institution for premium ice cream over the decades that followed. The brand was bought by Dreyer’s in the 1990s, and eventually its production was discontinued. However in recent years, the Snelgrove family has relaunched the brand and brought back some of the original recipes. You can now find several Snelgrove stores around the state, including three in the Salt Lake Valley. I visited the Sandy store on my Quest (Google Rating 4.8).
Snelgrove offers a large selection of flavors including some of their own legacy flavors like Caramel Cashew and Burnt Almond Fudge. I asked the employee about popular flavors and he listed Brown Sugar Cookie Dough and Bear Lake Raspberry. I sampled several flavors, but ultimately chose Vicki’s Mint Brownie – mint ice cream with brownie chunks and chocolate flakes. Mrs. TT was with me and chose the Caramel Cashew. So I tried it as well.
And while the flavors were pretty good, the ice cream itself wasn’t on the same level of the other shops I visited. It seemed to have a lot of air in it. And the mix-ins weren’t as premium as those I ate elsewhere. The price for a single scoop cup was $4.99. And it was the smallest serving I received on this Quest. My Rating – 5.5/10
Blacksmith Ice Cream Company
I think that Blacksmith Ice Cream Company was mentioned more than any other ice cream shop on Reddit. And a visit to Blacksmith was where the idea for this very Quest started. They have 3 different locations in the Salt Lake City area – Bountiful, Millcreek, and Midvale. My daughter and I stopped into the Midvale location (Google Rating 4.8) for a return visit during the week of the Quest.
Blacksmith Ice Cream Company makes their ice cream differently than the other shops featured in this post. First, they pour all their premium ingredients onto a frozen anvil. They then mix everything together with a spatula as the ice cream freezes. The result is a denser ice cream than machine-churned varieties. This is because less air enters during the mixing process.
Because this was my third visit to Blacksmith, I’d tried a handful of their flavors before. I did ask the employee which one was the most popular. His answer was Raspberry followed by Honeybud (lavender ice cream with homemade honeycomb candy mixed in). I’ve tried the Raspberry before, and I didn’t love it. I thought it was a bit tart, and it was filled with too many hard raspberry seeds for my liking.
This time I chose a split single cup of Honeybud and Chewy Gooey Buttercake (a flavor I tried elsewhere on the Quest). My daughter ordered Berry Cheesecake (cheesecake ice cream with berry swirls and Biscoff cookies.) These were the least expensive cups on the entire Quest at $4.85 each.
I thought all the flavors tasted great, though the standout of the three was the Berry Cheesecake. But this was mostly due to its premium add-in ingredients rather than the ice cream itself. The ice cream at Blacksmith is definitely dense. It was by far the densest I ate while searching for the best ice cream in Salt Lake City. And consequently it wasn’t as enjoyable for me as most of the other ice creams. It had a firm stretchy consistency, and was missing the creamy mouth feel that I found elsewhere (and prefer). My Rating – 7/10
Monkeywrench
Monkeywrench also gets frequent love on Reddit. However, the ice cream at Monkeywrench is unique. It is 100% vegan. They use coconut cream and cashew cream in their base. Monkeywrench has two locations – one downtown at the Gallivan Center and another in the Sugar House neighborhood. Both are walkup shops with an ordering window. I visited the Sugar House location (Google Rating 4.7)
When I walked up, I couldn’t see the ice cream behind the window, but their various flavors are listed adjacent. I asked the employee about their most popular flavors. She immediately directed me toward the Lavender Blueberry Honeycomb. It’s a combination of lavender infused ice cream (with coconut cream base), blueberry compote, and honeycomb candy. She also told me that Budderfinger was a top-seller. It’s a combination of peanut butter ice cream (coconut cream base), peanut candy, and chocolate shavings.
I decided to order the Salted Caramel. That’s always been a favorite ice cream flavor of mine. Plus, I wanted to try one of their flavors with a cashew cream base. And it absolutely exceeded my expectations for a vegan ice cream. It was rich and creamy and I never would have guessed it was vegan (a frequent comment on Reddit).
The cost for a single scoop cup was $6. If you want to sit down and enjoy your ice cream, you’ll find several picnic tables on the edges of the parking lot. My Rating – 7.5/10
Hidden Oak Gourmet Creamery
Hidden Oak Gourmet Creamery (Google Rating 4.8) is a small ice cream shop located inside the Church & State Marketplace in downtown Salt Lake. This is a historic 130 year old Church that’s been converted into an event venue and marketplace. It’s located directly across the street from the Salt Lake City Public Library, and just around the corner from the new Salt Lake Art Museum (featured in my post on the best Salt Lake City museums.)
Though Hidden Oak Gourmet Creamery occupies a small space within the marketplace, its ice cream has definitely made a big name for itself. It’s won the Best Of State Award for “Artisan Ice Cream” two years running – an award they proudly display inside the shop.
The ice cream at Hidden Oak is yet another unique style. It is a French-style ice cream. This means that egg yolks are added to its base. This imparts a silky smoothness to its texture. The friendly owner of Hidden Oak guided me through their 10 flavors and let me sample several. Ultimately, I elected to go with the popular Strawberry Basil – a basil infused ice cream mixed with ribbons of homemade strawberry curd. It was the first flavor he created.
And it was undeniably the most decadent ice cream I ate while questing. The egg yolks did add a silkiness not found in the others. However, the flavors of the Strawberry Basil were a little bit more subtle than I hoped for. A few days later, I bought a pint of their popular Lavender Lemon flavor at Pirate O’s – a gourmet grocery store in Draper. (Hidden Oak does sell their ice cream in Salt Lake City at a handful of retailers.) But again, the flavor was just OK. I preferred the flavor of the lavender ice cream at Blacksmith.
So while the ice cream quality at Hidden Oak is great, I thought the flavors I tried didn’t stack up to others on this Quest. The cost for a single cup is $6. My Rating – 8/10
Leatherby’s Family Creamery
Leatherby’s Family Creamery has been a favorite destination for ice cream in Salt Lake City for over 40 years. They are also beloved for their caramel sauce. So I wasn’t surprised to see it get frequent mention on Reddit. Leatherby’s has three locations – in Taylorsville, Draper, and Orem. It has been named Best Of State in the “Casual Ice Cream” category for 14 straight years.
I visited their Draper location (Google Rating 4.6). Leatherby’s is part ice cream shop, part casual restaurant. But they do have a Take Out door if you are simply popping in for some ice cream. They offer the widest selection of flavors that I encountered. I counted thirty two. And many of their flavors are very traditional.
I asked the employee about favorite flavors and he indicated Cookies n’ Cream, Vanilla, Cookie Monster, and Biscoff Cookie Butter. I decided to order the Peanut Butter Cookie Dough ice cream featuring peanut butter ice cream, with ribbons of caramel, and small chunks of cookie dough.
And it was very good. I’d actually never been to Leatherby’s, even though I’ve lived in the Draper area for over 25 years. I always thought they were more famous for their toppings and ice cream creations, rather than their actual ice cream. But their actual ice cream exceeded my expectations. It was creamy, firm, and flavorful. A single scoop cup cost $4.99. My Rating – 8.2/10
Brooker’s Founding Flavors Ice Cream
Brooker’s Ice Cream also has a location in Draper (Google Rating 4.8), along with 9 other locations across the state. Mrs TT and I visited Brooker’s for the first time a couple of weeks ago when she was having an ice cream craving. And I was very impressed. So I already knew it could be the best ice cream in Salt Lake City.
Brooker’s began in Utah County, and it has won many of the Utah County Best Ice Cream awards. Brooker’s website does a good job explaining their Super Premium Ice Cream. This is an actual FDA quality ranking that requires a high concentration of butterfat for optimal creaminess, a low level of air incorporation for density, and the highest quality of additional ingredients. (Most ice creams on the Quest also qualify as super premium.)
Brooker’s Founding Flavors Ice Cream has an American Revolutionary History theme for both its ice cream and its decor. All the flavors have history-based names. And all the staff dress in 18th century outfits. I personally find all of this a strange distraction from the ice cream itself. But different strokes for different folks.
I’ve tried three different flavors over my two visits to Brooker’s. Shoe Leather of Valley Forge – coconut ice cream with chunks of coconut cookie (and yes, that name is the worst of the Quest…or ever for that matter). Abagail Adams’ Salted Crack Cookie Advice – salted caramel ice cream with crack cookie chunks, roasted pecans, and smoked almonds. And John Adam’s Oh My Ooey Gooey Butter Cake – cream cheese ice cream with chunks of butter cake. The bonneted employee told me that the latter was probably the top seller, and it’s the ice cream in the photo below.
All of these flavors were excellent and the ice cream was unquestionably super premium. It is as creamy and dense and luxurious as advertised. But it’s not fight-with-the-spoon dense like Blacksmith’s ice cream. And I far preferred this version of Ooey Gooey Buttercake to the version I ate there. The price of a single scoop cup is $5.85. My Rating – 9/10
Rockwell Ice Cream Company
And so now we come to the final ice cream shop on this Quest – Rockwell Ice Cream Company. This is the shop that gets my award for best ice cream in Salt Lake City. Rockwell currently has three locations – one in downtown Salt Lake, one in Provo, and one at the Salt Lake City Airport. So even visitors on an airport layover can enjoy Rockwell’s super premium ice cream.
I’d not heard of Rockwell prior to seeing it show up a lot on Reddit. I visited the downtown location which sits directly behind the Eccles Theater on Regent Street (Google Rating 4.7). I asked the employee which flavors are most popular. He pointed me towards the flavor board where the top 3 are listed above all the rest – Honeycomb, Biscoff, and Muddy Buddy. I sampled the Honeycomb and it was delicious.
But I also sampled the flavor that made Rockwell famous. And with that one bite, I immediately knew that I needed more. So I ordered a cup of The G.O.A.T – the ice cream that won the title of America’s Best Ice Cream in 2019 at a national competition.
This ice cream mixes goat cheese with its cream base. It also has swirls of homemade blackberry-lemon jam and rosemary roasted almonds. The ice cream itself is Super Premium quality, but the flavors push it to another level. Tangy and sweet and rich and complex – all at the same time. I’m actually haunted just looking up at that photo. I think it just might be the best ice cream I’ve ever eaten.
This aptly named The G.O.A.T at Rockwell Ice Cream Company is the hands-down winner of my Quest to find the best ice cream in Salt Lake City. My rating – 10/10
A single cup of ice cream of Rockwell’s costs $5.50. And the good news is that you don’t need to visit the shop to enjoy the best ice cream in Salt Lake City. They will ship it nationwide if you order at least 6 pints.
Final Thoughts
So another Thorough Tripper Food Quest comes to an end after lots of tasty exploring. And I clearly found what I think is the best ice cream in Salt Lake City. But I don’t think you’ll be disappointed with the majority of these shops when your own ice cream craving needs to be satisfied. Just be sure to find your way to Rockwell eventually!
If you need to eat something savory before enjoying your ice cream, then check out My Quest to Find the Best Sandwich in Salt Lake City
If you want to read about some of my otherl dessert Quests, then check out these posts:
A Quest To Find the Best Loukoumades in Athens
A Quest To Find the Best Churros in Madrid
And if you are visiting Salt Lake and would like some activity ideas, then be sure to check out these posts: