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Chocolate Fluff ice cream at Gracie's Ice Cream in Somerville
Chocolate Fluff ice cream at Gracie's Ice Cream in Somerville
Rachel Leah Blumenthal

The Coolest New Boston Ice Cream Shops

Scoops upon scoops upon scoops

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Chocolate Fluff ice cream at Gracie's Ice Cream in Somerville
| Rachel Leah Blumenthal

Eating ice cream is a year-round sport in New England, but when these 90-degree days arrive, it's really ice cream season. While the Boston area boasts a large number of essential ice cream destinations that have been around for many years, here's a round-up of some of the newest spots where you can satisfy that cold, sweet craving.

This map focuses on brick-and-mortar ice cream shops that have opened within the last three years or so. In this update, we say hello to three shops that specialize in Thai-style rolled ice cream: Frollz, Juicy Spot Cafe, and NextDoor Cafe. (Hi B3ar, which was already on the map, also serves this type of ice cream.) Also new: Monkey King Tea and Ice Age (puffle cones!), C Fruit Life (shave ice "snowdaes"), and Honey Honey Dessert Cafe.

An honorable mention goes to Parlor Ice Cream Co., which doesn't have a brick-and-mortar space but is popping up at more and more events around town.

Did we miss your favorite new(ish) ice cream shop? Leave a comment below or hit up the tipline to put it on our radar. This map is updated periodically.

Note: Map points are listed alphabetically, not ranked.

See also: The Boston Boozy Milkshake Guide; Get Ice Cream Delivered Because It's Too Hot to Walk to the Store

This map was originally published on August 12, 2015. Date of the most recent update appears above.

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Blackbird Doughnuts

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In summer 2015, The Gallows' little sister Blackbird Doughnuts did something really smart — added soft-serve ice cream (and longer hours) to its offerings. There's chocolate, vanilla, and swirl, and it's also available as an ice cream sandwich. On a doughnut, of course. In May 2017, Blackbird expanded to 20 Kilmarnock St. in Boston's Fenway neighborhood.

C Fruit Life

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Not exactly an ice cream shop, but C Fruit Life serves Hong Kong-style desserts, including shave ice "snowdaes" that come in flavors such as peanut butter, durian, taro, matcha, and more.

Chill On Park

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Chill on Park opened in May 2015 in Fields Corner, with seating for 19 inside and close proximity to a park. The menu includes more than 30 flavors of ice cream, sundaes, ice cream pies, frappes, ice cream cookie sandwiches, ice cream treats for dogs, and lots more. (For the days when you want something that is both hot and cold, there are hot ice cream floats, made with espresso, hot chocolate, or hot cider.) There are also a variety of coffee and tea beverages, snacks, pastries from Haley House, and a couple of daily soups.

Crescent Ridge (Boston Public Market)

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In summer 2015, the Boston Public Market gloriously debuted downtown after about 15 years of effort. Crescent Ridge, a decades-old Sharon dairy and ice cream stand, has a kiosk at BPM, where it serves up giant scoops of classic flavors, from mint chip to moose tracks.

Double Chin

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Ok, it's not exactly an ice cream shop — Double Chin has a full lunch and dinner menu — but it's a necessary stop on any summer ice cream tour because of the insane cube toasts, packed full of ice cream, mochi, Pocky, fruit, and more. There are also ice cream sandwiches made with mantou buns.

The FoMu brand keeps expanding. The South End location, which opened in mid-2016, is the newest permanent spot for FoMu, and there's a long-term pop-up open on Newbury Street from late April 2017 through the end of 2017. FoMu serves up dairy-free ice cream that is vegan-friendly and kosher. There are also many gluten-free and soy-free options available. Also on the menu: vegan baked goods and a range of coffee and tea beverages.

Forge Ice Cream Bar

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Forge Baking Co. busted into the adjacent space to open an old-timey ice cream shop with sundaes, malted milkshakes, and more. Flavors include mint cookies & cream, peanut butter, and lemon sorbet, and there are a variety of toppings. Owners Jennifer Park and Tucker Lewis (who are also behind Diesel Cafe and Bloc 11) met years ago working at the now-defunct Herrell's Ice Cream in Cambridge.

This Square One Mall kiosk was the first business to bring Thai-style ice cream rolls to Massachusetts. It has a sibling kiosk in Lebanon as well. In addition to ice cream, Frollz serves shakes, popcorn, and lemonade.

Frozen Hoagies

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The Frozen Hoagies truck is still on the road, but the brand has a fairly new permanent space in Powder House Circle as well. Frozen Hoagies, as the name suggests, specializes in ice cream sandwiches made with a rotating assortment of cookie and ice cream flavors. Try the Double Decker if you dare — two scoops of ice cream and three cookies. Every day from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m., there are also breakfast sandwiches and smoothies available.

Ghirardelli (Faneuil Hall)

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The San Francisco-based chocolatier opened a shop here in Boston in late 2014. Stock up on chocolate — and indulge in rich shakes and elaborate ice cream sundaes.

Gracie's Ice Cream

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Gracie's debuted in Somerville's Union Square around Thanksgiving 2014. The cozy shop offers an ever-changing array of fun flavors, such as cold brew coffee, malted mint hot cocoa, chocolate Fluff, subtle creamsicle, salted whiskey, and lots more. Make it a sundae or try a frappe or float.

Hi B3ar Ice Cream Roll

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The first of its kind in Boston proper, Hi B3ar serves Thai-style ice cream rolls, where ice cream is flattened on a cold plate and shaped into pretty rolls. Flavors include Cookie Monster (with Oreos), Matcha Lady (matcha and red beans), and more. The owner is also behind Mala Restaurant a few doors down.

Honey Honey Dessert Cafe

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In addition to salads, sandwiches, snacks, and smoothies, Honey Honey serves scoops of ice cream (green tea, red bean, ginger, and a few other flavors) as well as sundaes, such as the Hawaii Beach: vanilla ice cream with strawberries, mango, pineapple, whipped cream, and strawberry sauce.

Honeycomb Creamery

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Three words: ice cream flights. Get a scoop each of four flavors, served with waffle cone "chips." You may have already seen Honeycomb around at events, farmers markets, and select stores; the company was founded in 2015, and this is its first brick-and-mortar. The doors opened in September 2016. Flavors include white chocolate lemon cake with rose jam; cold brew coffee chip; burnt vanilla bean; a vegan horchata ice cream with a coconut cream and house-made brown rice milk base; and more.

Ice Age

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This mid-2017 addition to Chinatown — located on the second floor of Tea Do — serves up puffle cones (Hong Kong-style egg waffles) stuffed full of ice cream with a variety of toppings.

Juicy Spot Cafe

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New York's Juicy Spot Cafe, which specializes in Thai-style rolled ice cream, expanded to Boston's Chinatown in March 2016. Flavors include cookies 'n cream (original base with Oreo, topped with chocolate wafer rolls, Oreo, whipped cream, sprinkles, and chocolate drizzle), Ferre-Roll Rocher (original base with Nutella, topped with crushed wafers, chopped hazelnuts, and Nutella drizzle), Good Crazy Matcha (green tea base with lychee, topped with mochi, grass jelly, and condensed milk drizzle), and more. You can also build your own from a variety of bases, flavors, toppings, and drizzles.

The Salem Screamery space is now home to a new ice cream shop, Melt, which opened in late March 2016. Owner Christiana Kroondyk loves to play around with locally sourced ingredients and interesting flavors, from potato chip toffee to Taza chip cookie dough, anise with candied fennel to minty blueberry. Customers who don't eat dairy will find a daily sorbet as well as vegan specials, such as a dairy-free vanilla coconut.

Molly Moo's

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This Southie reincarnation of a shuttered Quincy shop serves 36 flavors of Christina's ice cream, ice cream sandwiches, and light breakfast items, along with cakes, coffee, and espresso.

Monkey King Tea

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This Malden bubble tea shop and cafe was the first to start serving puffle cones — ice cream with a Hong Kong-style egg waffle — in the Boston area. The shop is always debuting fun new flavors; keep an eye on Instagram for updates.

Puffle cone with churros at Monkey King Tea Provided

Morano Gelato

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Ice cream's Italian cousin, gelato, is easy enough to find around Boston's North End, but head out to Chestnut Hill for the best new gelato shop you'll find on this side of the Atlantic. Located next to Frank Pepe Pizzeria Napoletana at The Shops at Chestnut Hill, Morano serves up a rotating array of flavors, such as dark chocolate with sea salt; jasmine; chocolate and red pepper; marsala and raisin; Italian nougat with honey and almonds; and lots more. (There are 12-16 flavors available on any given day.)

New City Microcreamery

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New City Microcreamery debuted in Hudson in 2015, serving up a wide range of ice cream, as well as coffee and tea, bagels, and pastries. The ice cream is made with milk from Mapleline Farm in Hadley. Look for fun flavors like hibiscus cabernet, chipotle mezcal, popcorn, and more. There are also several vegan options, such as avocado ice cream and black raspberry sorbet. New City also has fun with the toppings — sauce ("gravy") options include blueberry "goop" and strawberry jam, while the "funk" section has toppings like orange olive oil cake crumble, candied walnuts, and "corny flaky junk."

NextDoor Cafe

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Hot and cold bubble tea (served in light bulb-shaped containers), Thai-style rolled ice cream, snacks, and more. NextDoor Cafe opened in March 2017.

Rancatore's

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Joe Rancatore launched his ice cream shop in Belmont in the mid 1980s after working at his brother's ice cream shop, Toscanini's, for a few years. Later, a second Rancatore's opened — this one in Lexington — followed by the newest one, Newtonville, late in 2014. The shop offers ice cream, frozen yogurt, sorbet, frappes, cakes, and more. A few ice cream flavors are always available, including vanilla, sweet cream, and bittersweet chocolate, while others are available on a rotating basis, like khulfi, hot and spicy dulce de leche, and pineapple. There are also sundaes, frappes, and more.

SoCo Oasis

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Great Barrington's SoCo Creamery got a new sibling last year — SoCo Oasis (formerly SoCo Too) is now open right around the corner, serving up soft-serve, frozen yogurt, sorbet, and juice. (The original location focuses on hard ice cream and coffee.) SoCo Too flavors include salted caramel frozen yogurt, mango sorbet, and chocolate soft-serve.

Tealosophy

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It's not exactly ice cream, but Tealosophy's specialty is Taiwanese shaved snow, a dessert the shop describes as being "more refreshing than ice cream yet has more flavor than frozen yogurt." The rest of the menu is an array of bubble teas and other drinks.

The Scoop N Scootery

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If you live within a three-mile radius of this Arlington shop, you can get an ice cream sundae delivered until 2 a.m. any night except Monday (closed) and Sunday (open until midnight). The life-saving delivery service has been around for a while, but the Arlington storefront opened up last year for walk-ins. The Scootery offers a large menu of signature sundaes, and you can customize your own as well.

Tipping Cow

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Founded in 2013 and sold at farmers markets and in some shops, Tipping Cow got a permanent home of its own in May 2016. The little Winter Hill shop offers up cones, pints, coffee, and more. Flavors include sweet corn, dark chocolate & sea salt, strawberry basil, and more.

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Blackbird Doughnuts

In summer 2015, The Gallows' little sister Blackbird Doughnuts did something really smart — added soft-serve ice cream (and longer hours) to its offerings. There's chocolate, vanilla, and swirl, and it's also available as an ice cream sandwich. On a doughnut, of course. In May 2017, Blackbird expanded to 20 Kilmarnock St. in Boston's Fenway neighborhood.

C Fruit Life

Not exactly an ice cream shop, but C Fruit Life serves Hong Kong-style desserts, including shave ice "snowdaes" that come in flavors such as peanut butter, durian, taro, matcha, and more.

Chill On Park

Chill on Park opened in May 2015 in Fields Corner, with seating for 19 inside and close proximity to a park. The menu includes more than 30 flavors of ice cream, sundaes, ice cream pies, frappes, ice cream cookie sandwiches, ice cream treats for dogs, and lots more. (For the days when you want something that is both hot and cold, there are hot ice cream floats, made with espresso, hot chocolate, or hot cider.) There are also a variety of coffee and tea beverages, snacks, pastries from Haley House, and a couple of daily soups.

Crescent Ridge (Boston Public Market)

In summer 2015, the Boston Public Market gloriously debuted downtown after about 15 years of effort. Crescent Ridge, a decades-old Sharon dairy and ice cream stand, has a kiosk at BPM, where it serves up giant scoops of classic flavors, from mint chip to moose tracks.

Double Chin

Ok, it's not exactly an ice cream shop — Double Chin has a full lunch and dinner menu — but it's a necessary stop on any summer ice cream tour because of the insane cube toasts, packed full of ice cream, mochi, Pocky, fruit, and more. There are also ice cream sandwiches made with mantou buns.

FoMu

The FoMu brand keeps expanding. The South End location, which opened in mid-2016, is the newest permanent spot for FoMu, and there's a long-term pop-up open on Newbury Street from late April 2017 through the end of 2017. FoMu serves up dairy-free ice cream that is vegan-friendly and kosher. There are also many gluten-free and soy-free options available. Also on the menu: vegan baked goods and a range of coffee and tea beverages.

Forge Ice Cream Bar

Forge Baking Co. busted into the adjacent space to open an old-timey ice cream shop with sundaes, malted milkshakes, and more. Flavors include mint cookies & cream, peanut butter, and lemon sorbet, and there are a variety of toppings. Owners Jennifer Park and Tucker Lewis (who are also behind Diesel Cafe and Bloc 11) met years ago working at the now-defunct Herrell's Ice Cream in Cambridge.

Frollz

This Square One Mall kiosk was the first business to bring Thai-style ice cream rolls to Massachusetts. It has a sibling kiosk in Lebanon as well. In addition to ice cream, Frollz serves shakes, popcorn, and lemonade.

Frozen Hoagies

The Frozen Hoagies truck is still on the road, but the brand has a fairly new permanent space in Powder House Circle as well. Frozen Hoagies, as the name suggests, specializes in ice cream sandwiches made with a rotating assortment of cookie and ice cream flavors. Try the Double Decker if you dare — two scoops of ice cream and three cookies. Every day from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m., there are also breakfast sandwiches and smoothies available.

Ghirardelli (Faneuil Hall)

The San Francisco-based chocolatier opened a shop here in Boston in late 2014. Stock up on chocolate — and indulge in rich shakes and elaborate ice cream sundaes.