Cool off with frozen treats at these Atlanta dessert shops and restaurants
A sweltering, humid Georgia summer is on the horizon, so it’s time to start making an ice-cold bucket list of all the frozen sweet treats to taste when it gets too hot to do anything else.
Metro Atlanta has more than enough to offer, from towering sundaes and icy bingsu to swirls of soft serve and vegan ice cream. Here are some dessert shops and restaurants around Atlanta offering must-try frozen treats this summer.
Where to get frozen custard in metro Atlanta
Frozen custard is ice cream’s creamier, softer sibling. Berens Frozen Custard keeps it simple with straightforward offerings of chocolate, vanilla plus one rotating special flavor each day. But simple doesn’t mean boring when the frozen custard is this high quality.
For an extra bit of pizazz, opt for a sundae like the hefty banana split, or go for one of the concretes, featuring decadent mixes of frozen custard, toppings and sauce, like the brownie hot fudge that blends vanilla custard, homemade brownie pieces and hot fudge.
Berens Frozen Custard. 420 Grayson Pkwy., Grayson. 770-709-6052. 156 E. Crogan St., Lawrenceville. 470-359-7196, berenscustard.com
For those craving frozen custard closer to Atlanta’s perimeter, check out Southern Custard in Brookhaven. It serves vanilla and chocolate daily with a third rotating flavor available, including options like cinnamon brown sugar, Biscoff, rocky road and banana pudding.
Also on the menu are shakes, malts, sundaes and affogato, an Italian dessert of frozen custard topped with steaming espresso. For a decadent treat, order the poffertjes, which are mini, puffed Dutch pancakes that come with two scoops of frozen custard and warm hot fudge.
Southern Custard. 3575 Durden Dr. NE, Brookhaven. 404-402-1570, southerncustard.com
Where to get soft serve in Atlanta
The team behind Little Tart Bakeshop owns Big Softie, a soft-serve ice cream shop with several locations around Atlanta. The soft serve offerings include staples like vanilla, chocolate, vegan matcha and vegan oat vanilla, plus several rotating flavors each season, like mango and Thai tea.
A long list of toppings and homemade sauces can make a towering swirl of soft serve irresistible. You’ll find chewy honeycomb, pink praline crumbles, Cheez-It brittle, chocolate cookie crumble, peanut crunch and sauces like the addictive rosemary caramel.
There are soft-serve shops in Summerhill and Poncey-Highland, plus a walk-up window in Old Fourth Ward.
Poncey-Highland. 632 N. Highland Ave. NE, Atlanta. bigsoftieatl.com
Summerhill. 66 Georgia Ave. SE, Atlanta.
Old Fourth Ward. 405 N. Angier Ave. NE, Atlanta.
Where to get gelato in Atlanta
Cremalosa, a gelateria in downtown Avondale Estates, offers a front patio and a view of the main street on which to enjoy cups and cones of creamy gelato.
Find seasonal gelato flavors that riff on both classic Italian ingredients and Southern abundance, like stracciatella, banana pudding, salted caramel, peaches and cream and mascarpone and caramelized fig.
For those looking to cool down in a boozier way, order a frozen cocktail with offerings such as a frozen French 75, Bellini or margarita.
Cremalosa. 70 N. Avondale Rd., Avondale Estates. 404-578-2739, cremalosa.com
Where to get Indonesian desserts in Atlanta
Gula Indonesian Dessert Cafe in Doraville has enough sweet treat options to warrant multiple trips. The cafe comes from the next generation of the restaurateurs behind JAVA Indonesian Foodmart and Tempo Doeloe in Chamblee. Their daughters and grandchildren opened this elegant shop last year with drinks, some savory snacks and a variety of colorful and refreshing Indonesian desserts. It also offers an Indonesian tea service that’s available by reservation.
While it’s hard to go wrong with any of the balanced desserts on the menu, the bubur campur offers a mix of flavors and textures like a squiggle of pandan custard, gelatinous black sticky rice, chewy sweet potato and taro balls and a side of coconut milk to pour over the mixture. The es durian arrives as a mound of melt-in-your-mouth shaved ice, scoops of sweet durian fruit, silky grass jelly and starchy red beans that balance the sweetness.
Gula Indonesian Dessert Cafe. 5177 Buford Highway NE, Doraville. 470-359-4899, instagram.com/gula.atl
Where to get halo-halo in Atlanta
Those in search of this colorful dessert from the Philippines can check out popular restaurant Kamayan or grocery store Manila Mart.
Kamayan is a full-service Filipino eatery where the halo-halo is best enjoyed after a meal in its bright dining room, while Manila Mart is a grocery store that offers a small seating area for those looking to enjoy this treat right away.
Halo-halo, which means mix-mix, comes in a cup filled nearly to overflowing with a bounty of treats. Before eating, take a long spoon and mix it up (like the name demands) so all those flavors and textures can interact.
The crushed ice, which makes up the bulk of the treat, plus a scoop or two of ube ice cream will cool you off after a hot day. Combine that with silky, caramelized leche flan, crunchy bits of cereal on top (Fruity Pebbles at Kamayan and corn flakes at Manila Mart), a starchy sweetness from the beans and a fruity, gelatinous chew from the jellies piled on the bottom, and it makes for a dessert that satisfies all possible cravings.
Kamayan ATL. 5150 Buford Highway NE, Doraville. 678-231-2122, kamayanatl.com
Manila Mart. 5938 Buford Highway NE, Doraville. 678-389-8595, sites.google.com/site/manilamart88
Where to get smoothies and fruit cups in Atlanta
Lotta Frutta is a colorful, outdoor cafe in Old Fourth Ward that offers a welcome respite from hot walks around the historic neighborhood. The cafe offers towering cups of fruit and refreshing smoothies that will disappear far too quickly.
Lotta Frutta has been in the neighborhood since 2006 and was founded by a South Texas native whose family was born and raised in Mexico. While there’s no indoor seating, there are plenty of outdoor tables at which to enjoy a smoothie or fruit cup. If a smoothie isn’t filling enough, find Latin American-influenced sandwiches and daily soups on the menu as well.
Lotta Frutta. 590 Auburn Ave. NE, Atlanta. 404-588-0857, lottafrutta.com
Where to get locally made ice cream in Atlanta
Morelli’s Ice Cream is a local shop that’s been around since 2008 and has locations in Virginia-Highland, at the Ormewood Plaza and the Chattahoochee Food Works in west Midtown. It’s known for offering fresh ice cream in a variety of flavors, and those looking for classic ice cream scoops, sundaes and milkshakes can’t go wrong at Morelli’s.
Flavors rotate often, so check the website to see what’s being served at each location. There are classic flavors like salted caramel, mint chip, rocky road and coffee Oreo, as well as more creative offerings like coconut jalapeno, chocolate ginger and guava cheesecake.
Ormewood Plaza. 749 Moreland Ave. SE, Atlanta. 404-622-0210, morellisicecream.com
Virginia-Highland. 1002 N. Highland Ave. NE, Atlanta. 678-915-2598.
Chattahoochee Food Works. 1235 Chattahoochee Ave. NW, Atlanta.
In downtown Chamblee, you’ll find an ice cream shop inside of a cherry red train caboose from the 1980s. The Frosty Caboose has been around for more than 15 years offering a selection of 36 ice cream flavors, sundaes and milkshakes.
The Frosty Caboose backs up to a Norfolk Southern train track and a MARTA line, so grab a locomotive-themed sundae and watch the trains roar past. On clear days, you might even catch sight of airplanes landing and taking off from DeKalb-Peachtree Airport.
The Frosty Caboose. 5435 Peachtree Rd., Chamblee. 770-451-4556, frostycaboose.com
Where to get bingsu in Atlanta
Spring 2nd Branch, the casual Korean restaurant from Michelin-starred chef Brian So, will suit almost any occasion with its expansive menu, but don’t skip out on dessert. The kaesogeum bingsu is ideal for sharing as it comes out with a dome of sesame shaved ice, the flakes so delicate they’ll practically dissolve in one’s mouth. Pour the tiny pitcher of sesame milk on top for optimal creaminess.
Beneath the layers of shaved ice is a thicker, salted sesame ice cream, and the mix of sesame milk, ice cream and shaved ice makes for a satisfyingly textured scoop.
Spring 2nd Branch. 113 Church St., Marietta. 770-575-3454, spring2ndbranch.com
Where to get vegan ice cream in Atlanta
Wendy Golding’s plant-based ice cream shop, The Creamy Spot, proves that nondairy treats can taste just as good as their dairy counterparts. Her container shop is just off the Southside Beltline Trail at the Container Courtyard in Pittsburgh Yards, and it offers seasonal ice cream flavors, milkshakes, ice cream sandwiches and popsicles.
The ice cream flavors rotate based on seasonality, but find offerings like butter pecan, chocolate, vanilla and orange creamsicle sorbet.
The Creamy Spot. 352 University Ave. SW, Atlanta. 404-738-6310, thecreamyspot.com
Where to get aboong in Atlanta
After shopping around Doraville’s H-Mart, pay a visit to Yaki Yaki, a stall that serves the Korean dessert Aboong, which is a fish-shaped waffle pastry (called bungeoppang) that’s topped with ice cream.
At Yaki Yaki, customers pick their flavor of ice cream from options like green tea, vanilla, chocolate and strawberry, then the fish-shaped pastry is filled with either red bean paste or custard and used in lieu of a cone. If that doesn’t suit one’s fancy, also on Yaki Yaki’s menu is bingsu, bubble waffles (that are wrapped around ice cream), and mini bungeoppang with a variety of fillings.
Yaki Yaki. 6035 Peachtree Rd., Atlanta. 408-966-0770.
About the Author
Olivia Wakim is a reporter on the lifestyle team. She joined the AJC as an intern in 2023 after graduating from the University of Georgia with a journalism degree. While in school, she reported for The Red & Black, Grady Newsource and the Marietta Daily Journal.
