The line is out the door. It’s 87 degrees, the pavement is doing that wavy heat thing, and everyone in Ann Arbor has the same idea at exactly the same time. The good news is this town has enough ice cream to handle it – from small-batch creameries that change their board weekly to shops that have been scooping the same 50-plus flavors since your parents were students.
Here’s where to go and what to order when the heat wins.
Blank Slate Creamery
This is the one. Blank Slate makes everything in-house from a Michigan dairy, and their flavor board rotates weekly with combinations that sound weird until you taste them and then you’re mad you only got one scoop. Balsamic strawberry. Fresh basil with olive oil. Roasted apple with oatmeal crumble. Carrot cake with Zingerman’s Creamery cream cheese frosting swirled through it.
The shop on West Liberty is small – maybe eight people fit inside comfortably – so expect to wait on a Saturday afternoon. It’s worth it. Get a waffle cone. They make those in-house too, and the smell when you walk in is half the experience.
300 W Liberty St. Blank Slate Creamery
Washtenaw Dairy
If Blank Slate is the new Ann Arbor, Washtenaw Dairy is the Ann Arbor that never left. This place has been on South Ashley since 1934, scooping more than 50 flavors behind a glass case in a room that hasn’t been remodeled in a way that matters. Michigan Pothole – chocolate ice cream with peanut butter cups and fudge – is the local order. Mackinac Island Fudge is the tourist order. Both are correct.
They also do donuts in the morning, which is a whole separate conversation, but worth knowing about if you’re the type who eats ice cream for breakfast in the summer. No judgment here.
602 S Ashley St. Washtenaw Dairy
Michigan Creamery
Tucked onto State Street near campus, Michigan Creamery makes gelato from the same Michigan dairy that goes into their cheese program. The texture is denser and silkier than standard ice cream – proper gelato, not just soft-serve with an Italian name.
Toasted coconut is the sleeper. Chocolate Shovel hits hard if you want something rich. The portions are generous and the space is bright and modern, a good stop between the Diag and wherever you’re heading next.
302 S State St. Michigan Creamery
Luca Pastry
You’re walking in for the cannoli and the tiramisu, and then you see the gelato case and your plan changes. Luca Pastry is a family-run Italian bakery with locations across metro Detroit, and their Ann Arbor shop on Washtenaw keeps a rotating lineup of house-made gelato that holds its own against the dedicated creameries.
Pistachio is the test – if a place can do pistachio right, they know what they’re doing. Luca passes. The stracciatella is also excellent, and they’ll pack a pint to go if you’re smart about it.
3354 Washtenaw Ave. Luca Pastry doesn’t have a MIAnnArbor listing yet, but it’s worth the drive to the east side.
El Harissa Market Cafe
You came for the North African food – the shakshuka, the merguez, the spreads – and then someone at the next table is eating gelato and you didn’t know they had gelato. El Harissa makes small-batch gelato in flavors that lean into their spice cabinet: saffron, rose water, cardamom. It’s different from anywhere else on this list, and that’s the point.
The cafe is in Kerrytown Market, which means you can wander the stalls, grab a coffee, and end up with gelato without ever making a formal decision about dessert.
Kilwins
Look, sometimes you want the simple version. Kilwins is a chain, yes, but the Ann Arbor location on East Liberty pulls fudge and dips waffle cones in the window, and the smell alone will stop you mid-sidewalk. Their original recipe ice cream comes in about 30 flavors, and the chocolate-dipped cone is the right call every time.
It’s a solid plan-B when the line at Blank Slate wraps around the building, and the location puts you right in the middle of downtown foot traffic.
Kilwins does not currently have a MIAnnArbor listing.
Sweetwaters Coffee & Tea
Not an ice cream shop. But their affogato – a shot of espresso poured over vanilla gelato – is one of the best ways to cool down and caffeinate at the same time. Multiple locations around town mean there’s usually one within walking distance, and the patio seating at the downtown spots makes it a proper summer moment.
Order it to stay. The pour-over-gelato thing doesn’t travel well.
The Scoop on Scoops
Most of these shops stay open until 9 or 10 PM in summer, which means post-dinner ice cream walks are very much on the table. The stretch from Liberty to Ashley to Main covers three of the best spots in about a ten-minute loop, so if you can’t decide, just start walking and let your nose pick.
Parking downtown is free after 6 PM and all day Sunday. The Liberty Square structure off Washington puts you within a block of Blank Slate and a short walk from everything else.
For more places to eat, drink, and spend a summer afternoon in Ann Arbor, explore the full directory at MIAnnArbor.com.
