RALEIGH, N.C. — It’s hard to find bad ice cream — but when it’s good, it’s so good! We’ve been taste-testing to find the best locally made ice cream in the area.
The best ice cream in North Carolina
These shops are taking ice cream to a new level of tastiness. Many of these have also been finalists and winners in the WRAL Voters’ Choice Awards.
Andia’s Homemade Ice Cream
Andia’s, which has shops in Cary and Raleigh and a food truck location in Durham, has taken home national honors for its French vanilla ice cream. The shop is also known for its unique ice cream flavors (like lemon basil sorbet and baklava) and sundaes (like the warm doughnut ice cream sundae). They have also won the WRAL Voters’ Choice Award for best ice cream.
Where to find Andia’s:
10120 Green Level Church Rd, #208, Cary
1008 Ryan Road, Cary
Raleigh Iron Works: 2201 Iron Works Drive, Suite 129, Raleigh
The Can Opener Food Truck Park: 205 S Gregson Street, Durham, NC 27701
Two Roosters Ice Cream
Two Roosters is also known for creative ice cream flavors like margarita, blackberry hibiscus and butterscotch haystack. Of course, their classic flavors are amazing too! They have three Raleigh locations, plus locations in Durham, Wake Forest and Cary. This shop is a multiple WRAL Voters’ Choice Award winner for best local ice cream.
Where to find Two Roosters:
At a game: The Lenovo Center and Durham Bulls games
Greystone Village: 7713 Lead Mine Road, Raleigh
Person Street Plaza: 215 E. Franklin St., Raleigh
Lake Boone Trail: 4025 Lake Boone Trail, Raleigh
Golden Belt Campus: 800 Taylor St., Durham
The Factory: 1839 S. Main St., Wake Forest
Waverly Place: 302 Colonades Way, Cary
Lumpy’s Ice Cream
Lumpy’s features ice cream made with locally-sourced ingredients. It is known for its waffle cones and amazing gingerbread sundae. Lumpy’s has been a finalist for the WRAL Voters’ Choice Award for best local ice cream.
Where to find Lumpy’s:
306 E Wait Ave, Wake Forest
Mama Bird’s Ice Cream
Mama Bird’s Cookies + Cream has its flagship location in Holly Springs. An Apex location is also in the works.
The shop features custard-style ice cream with a rotating selection of flavors featuring scratch-made ingredients. You can also find cookies, cobbler, chocolate-covered bananas, ice cream cookie sandwiches and brownies. Yum!
Where to find Mama Bird’s Ice cream:
304 North Main St., Holly Springs
Sunni Sky’s
Sunni Sky’s features more than 100 homemade flavors. The cash-only shop is known for its tasty flavors like banana pudding and Rice Krispy Treat as well as one of the spiciest ice creams around. Cold Sweat features some of the hottest peppers in the world — visitors even need to sign a liability waiver to try it!
Where to find Sunni Sky’s:
8617 NC-55 in Angier
The Parlour
We love this Bull City ice cream shop with its unique flavors like Honey Ricotta and Summer Corn with Blueberry Swirl.
Where to find The Parlour:
117 Market St., Durham
Sisters II Ice Cream
Sisters II Ice Cream scoops up happiness with a delightful selection of flavors! They churn out all their ice cream in-house, ensuring fresh taste and quality. While they don’t have a constantly rotating selection by the pint like some shops, they do feature seasonal specialties alongside their classic favorites.
Sisters II Ice Cream started with a dream. Deborah Davis longed for a mobile ice cream business. When Kay Wood, co-owner of Sister’s Cake “N Cream” trailer, sadly passed away, Rose Allen, the other co-owner, decided to sell. Deborah, wanting to honor Kay’s memory and the “Sisters” legacy, bought the trailer. Sisters II Ice Cream was born, symbolizing a new chapter that keeps the spirit of the original business alive.
Where to find Sisters II Ice Cream:
108 S Market St., Benson
Celtic Creamery
Celtic Creamery is a fusion of an Irish and American desire to bring this truly unique ice cream across the Atlantic from Ireland to the USA. They use fresh cream and all-natural ingredients to craft a daily selection of 14 rotating ice cream flavors. Craving something more? Pair your scoop with a hot, made-to-order donut, a decadent sundae, or a classic banana split. They also offer refreshing Celtic blend coffee, milkshakes, and pints to go, so you can enjoy our deliciousness at home.
Where to find Celtic Creamery:
257 N.C. Highway 210, Smithfield
Squigley’s Ice Cream & Treats
Located at Carolina Beach, this ice cream shop serves more than 4,000 flavors of homemade ice cream. They can create so many flavors by using their trademark method known as “The Squigley.” It is a real vanilla ice cream base that includes two to three items mixed together into a custom flavor.
Where to find Squigley’s:
208 Lake Park Blvd., Carolina Beach
Howling Cow ice cream
This ice cream has been made on campus for more than 75 years using milk from the university’s cows at the N.C. State Dairy Farm on Lake Wheeler Road.
Where to find Howling Cow:
Many area Harris Teeter locations have it in the frozen ice cream section
Howling Cow Dairy Education Center and Creamery, 100 Dairy Lane, Raleigh
NC State Fair every year
More ice cream to check out
FRESH. Local Ice Cream on 6033 Glenwood Ave, Raleigh, is an independent shop scooping housemade ice cream in many flavors.
Dairy Depot in Wake Forest serves up soft serve ice cream in many flavors. They are known for their Trainwrecks, which are similar to a Dairy Queen Blizzard with many flavors and toppings mixed together.
Raleigh Rolls is located in Morgan Street Food Hall. It is fun to watch them make the ice cream right before your eyes by rolling it.
Amorino Gelato on 137 E Davie St., Raleigh, serves gelato. Gelato is denser than ice cream and has a richer flavor because it has less air whipped into it.
The Yard Milkshake Bar opened its first North Carolina location in 2024 in Raleigh’s Seaboard Station. With gourmet shakes featuring cookies, cheesecake and other delectable toppings, the shop earned a strong following that helped propel it to victory for best new restaurant in the 2024 WRAL Voters’ Choice Awards.
Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams on 2014 Cameron St, Raleigh, is a chain scooping creative flavors of ice cream and frozen yogurt made from local ingredients.
