best soft serve ice cream toronto

The Best Soft Serve Ice Cream in Toronto

The best soft serve ice cream in Toronto is a nostalgic dessert that's as straightforward and (nearly as) affordable as the good ol' days themselves. Opt for vanilla, chocolate, or a jaunty swirl of both, and stroll dreamily down memory lane. Or, live in the now, with new-fangled flavours the ice cream trucks don't have.

Here's the best soft serve ice cream in Toronto.


Tom's Dairy Freeze
1

Tom's Dairy Freeze

It's impossible to pass this seasonal Etobicoke take-out spot without noticing the line snaking down the block. Join the throngs if corkscrew servings of multi-hued soft serve, in cones, banana splits or sundaes, float your boat.

Bar Ape
2

Bar Ape

At this St. Clair West go-to, gelato morphs into soft serve by way of carefully calibrated machines (and, perhaps, a dash of culinary wizardry). Flavours veer traditional, with seasonal fruit, chocolate, nut butters, green tea, and more finding their way into cascades of tempting swirls.


Eva's Original Chimneys
3

Eva's Original Chimneys

In the Annex, customers convene for fresh-baked, cinnamon-scented chimney cones fat with dairy or vegan vanilla soft serve. Purists will want the O.G., though there are also plenty of options for those who like their creamy, cool treats gaudily accented with a surfeit of toppings.

Super Serve
4

Super Serve

This seasonal spot in Kensington Market makes summertime dreams a reality with picture-perfect, classic cones. Placate the kids with sprinkle-coated vanilla, then dive into a world of tempting toppings for your own order — from pineapple compote to toasted coconut and milk crumb. Monthly features and rotating vegan options demand weekly visits.


Bernhardt's
5

Bernhardt's

Though most people visit this Dovercourt restaurant for chicken, there's no shame in beelining directly toward the team's stellar soft serve. Inspired by pure whimsy, flavours look like lovage sour cream with strawberry, blueberry with labneh, fennel with raspberry, and other utterly unexpected combos.


Vilda's
6

Vilda's

The chilled-dessert-game is strong at this sister spot to Bernhardt's on Dovercourt. Imitate the regulars, and side a stout sandwich with a cup of house-made soft serve in one of the team's delightful flavours, like plum sour cream or sour cherry gilded with graham crumbs.

Butter Baker
7

Butter Baker

You'll have to opt for takeout to sample the impeccable swirls of soft serve churned out at this bakery in Little Tokyo. Still, catch a glimpse of the team's moon mist (banana passionfruit with cotton candy), lemon meringue, mango and other flavours and you won't mind being relegated to the street.


iHalo Krunch
8

iHalo Krunch

The activated charcoal craze of 2017 may have lost traction but this ice cream shop with multiple locations is still buzzing. Beyond tooth-staining, coconut-flavoured black soft serve, the team also dispenses matcha, ube, and vanilla ice cream — alone or in neatly layered kaleidoscopic swirls.

Roselle Desserts
9

Roselle Desserts

The pastry pros at this Corktown bakery also excel at spinning cream, sugar and top-tier ingredients into destination-worthy soft serve ice cream. Earl Grey, complete with white chocolate pearls and a twee shortbread cookie, is an annual spring tradition, with strawberry parfait and buttermilk peach taking over in the deepest days of summer.

Lead photo by

Fareen Karim at Super Serve. Additional photos, Butter Baker, @vildastoronto


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The Best Soft Serve Ice Cream in Toronto

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