I Scream, You Scream

Living and going to school in LA means that there are a lot of exciting things to see around you. You’ve got concerts, great beaches, the best weather, and most importantly: lots of ice cream. In two years at SC, I’ve spent way more than my fair share on ice cream, and tried more ice cream shops than ever before. That said, in no way is this an exhaustive list of the best ice cream in the city.

Little Damage – This is that ice cream place you saw all over social media. Black cones with black, gray, and blue ice cream. This is the kind of place you go right after you go to your super Instagrammable brunch. Sure, the line might be 45 minutes long (only 5-10 if you go during off hours), but it’s by far going to be the prettiest ice cream you ever ate.
McConnell’s – McConnell’s Ice Cream is located in the middle of Grand Central Market. If you’ve never been, the entire experience of going to GCM is amazing – it’s like a giant indoor farmer’s market, plus restaurants with every kind of food you’ve ever wanted. After you eat your entire body weight in food, you’re definitely going to have space for more ice cream (right?), and you’re going to want to go here. While you wait in line, you can watch people making the waffle cones right in front of you, and you can strategize on which flavors you want to try.
Sweet Rose Creamery – Sweet Rose Creamery is the place everyone’s told you that you have to go to in LA. It’s pretty unassuming when you see it from the outside, but once you go in, you’ll understand how amazing it is. You’ve got flavors like salted caramel, butternut squash and salty sage brittle – there’s no way you can’t find something you’ll love.
The Bigg Chill – The Bigg Chill. A classic, very cose to my heart. There was a time where I would go here probably once a week. The Bigg Chill is located in West LA, and the coolest thing about this place isn’t that it’s open until 11 (so you can drive over after your late lab or night class), or the fact that the flavors change three times a week. They have edible (& vegan) cookie dough that you can get as a topping or on the side. Does that mean that I stock up on extra cookie dough for the week? You bet. The portions are h u g e here, too, so a small yogurt is plenty for dinner and dessert, if that’s your thing. They have flavors like Dole Whip, Cold Brew, and my favorite – Salted Caramel Pretzel, with the birthday cake cookie dough on the side.
Gresecent – This is probably my all-time favorite place to go – they have literal ice cream bouquets. That’s 10 mini scoops of super rich ice cream in flavors like grilled pineapple and bourbon caramel, sea salt chocolate ganache, and my favorites: earl gray, and salted caramel buttercake. You can share it with one, two, five people – or dont share, honestly. I wouldn’t blame you. It’s definitely my favorite.

And if that’s not enough, check out places like Jeni’s, Salt & Straw, Somi-Somi, and Grom.