By Brendan Fitzgibbons
Dogs can pant to cool themselves down, but humans? All we’ve got is ice cream. Lucky for us, New York offers no shortage of chilly treats, from handcrafted scoops and smooth sorbets to fruity popsicles and milky, refreshing floats. Sit back, lower that body temperature, and enjoy these five spots for sweet treats.
Ample Hills Creamery
Prospect Heights | 623 Vanderbilt Ave., Brooklyn
One lick of Ample Hills’ ice cream, and you might wish you were on a hill of it. This Prospect Heights shop makes their sweet treats by hand using local and all-natural ingredients. Their menu of more than 20 ever-changing flavors includes options like The Munchies—stuffed with Ritz crackers, mini M&Ms, potato chips, and pretzels—or Salted Crack Caramel, which mingles saltine-based “crack cookies” with salted butter-caramel ice cream. The eclectic selection means that Ample Hills is that rare ice-cream shop where the adults are often just as excited as the kids. The ice-cream maestros recently opened a second location in Brooklyn Bridge Park’s Pier 5, as well as mobile carts that rove around Pier 1 and the Carousel.
Brooklyn Farmacy & Soda Fountain
Carroll Gardens | 513 Henry St., Brooklyn
The employees at Brooklyn Farmacy & Soda Fountain are jerks—but that’s only true in the sense that they wear the word on their T-shirts. The store has a vibe that’s as friendly and welcoming as any establishment in Brooklyn, with delectable treats and floats to boot. The jerks’ signature drink, the Brooklyn egg cream, tastes like a chocolate water fountain of fizzy hope. If you’re really tired or need to be revived from cardiac arrest, you can also try the Wake Up Call, a coffee soda with coffee and a hearty glob of ice cream.
Get a sneak peak of Brooklyn Farmacy’s new cookbook, The Soda Fountain, on The Groupon Guide.
Cones
West Village | 272 Bleecker St., NYC
The multicolored scoops on the sign of this tasty West Village shop could be mistaken for a double rainbow. But the façade is only a taste of the wide range of Argentine gelato flavors available inside. Spread out in a massive cold case, they all look like they’re on trial for their sugary goodness. Try the coffee mocha chip, ginger, or tiramisu, and don’t forget the silky sorbets in flavors like cantaloupe, mango, and even chocolate. This is gelato that’s so good, it can even stand in for a trip to the bar: the whiskey-flavored gelato is so strong that customers have to show their ID.
People’s Pops
Multiple locations in Manhattan and Brooklyn
Remember the popsicles you used to make as a kid? People’s Pops are not those popsicles. The menu reads more like a list of a sorcerer’s potions than a list of frozen-treat flavors: blackberry and lemon verbena, organic lemon and mint, rhubarb and star anise. Each People’s Pop is packed with the freshest local fruits, so enjoying one is like licking a deliciously cool farmer’s market. The artisanal shop began as a one-day experiment, but has since blossomed into four permanent locations in Manhattan and Brooklyn, with pop-up stands at Smorgasburg and the Brooklyn Flea on the weekends.
Van Leeuwen Artisan Ice Cream
Multiple locations in Manhattan and Brooklyn
Everything about Van Leeuwen ice cream is classy. Just saying the name “Van Leeuwen” feels like you’re floating on a superior ice-cream cloud. At three locations in Brooklyn and Manhattan, employees scoop out flavors made with hormone- and antibiotic-free milk. Van Leeuwen also has a traveling truck that would make any normal ice-cream truck want to go back to ice-cream-truck school. Try the espresso and earl grey flavors, or ceylon cinnamon, which has a spicy, dusty kick. Van Leeuwen also keeps special flavors on rotation, including a sweet, sticky black rice flavor for the adventurous tongue.
Shop Groupon for coffee and treats in New York City.
People's Pops photo by Bethany Bandera. Brooklyn Farmacy photo reprinted with permission from The Soda Fountain by Brooklyn Farmacy and Soda Fountain, Inc. copyright (c) 2014. Published by Ten Speed Press, an imprint of Random House LLC. Photography (c) 2014 by Michael Harlan Turkell.
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Coffee & Treats in Edgewater
Select Local Merchants
No need to search out a rabbit hole, this Alice In Wonderland-inspired tearoom boasts three whimsical locations where kids enjoy tea, sandwiches, and scones beneath butterfly-strewn ceilings. Baby brothers and sisters need not miss out either, as the menu includes a daily-changing selection of homemade pureed baby food.
102 West 73rd Street
New York,
NY
US
If you were to trace the origin of one of Jamba Juice’s freshly squeezed juices, it wouldn’t take long before you ended up face to face with its most important supplier: Mother Nature. Whole fruits and vegetables from her gardens, groves, and orchards fill Jamba Juice's stores: kale, apples, pineapple, carrots, beets, and other produce. Although it’s serious about filling cups with wholesome, natural ingredients, the company is a little more playful when it comes to the palate.
Sure, there are classic juices on the juice menu. Purely Carrot, for instance, which is as elemental and straightforward as it sounds. But there’s also the Tropical Greens, which combines apple juice and pineapple with super greens and chia seeds. And there’s Kale Orange Power, loaded with kale, bananas, and orange juice—all of which are packed with a serious helping of vitamins and manganese. Regardless of which flavor you choose, each 12-ounce juice packs in at least 1.5 servings of fruits and veggies, making it a convenient way to restore energy and get nutrition on the go. The same commitment to simplifying healthy eating can be found throughout the Jamba Juice menu, from its Fruit and Veggie smoothies to its Artisan Flatbreads.
In addition to providing healthy options to customers, Jamba Juice sponsors Team Up for a Healthy America. The initiative is focused on improving childhood nutrition and fitness by encouraging fans to join the Team Up community of celebrities, athletes and other leaders committed to helping the nation stay fit—which you can do by visiting the main Jamba Juice website.
With over 500 stores serving the full freshly squeezed juice menu, Jamba Juice is the perfect way to blend in the good.
905 River Rd
Edgewater,
NJ
US
Now an international brand of premium ice cream, Häagen-Dazs began as a humble, family-owned business in the Bronx. In the 1920's, Reuben Mattus sold his mother's fruit ices and ice-cream pops out of a horse-drawn wagon. For decades, the family business thrived, and around 1960, Reuben officially founded Häagen-Dazs. He chose the name to evoke Old World traditions and quality craftsmanship, the bedrocks of the brand. Originally, the ice cream came in just three flavors—vanilla, chocolate, and coffee—made from fine ingredients gathered from around the world, such as Belgian dark chocolate, hand-picked vanilla beans from Madagascar, and ice shaved from lunar glaciers. The resulting confections so delighted sweet teeth that the brand grew exponentially, leading to the creation of dozens of flavors and forays into sorbets and frozen yogurts.
Though Häagen-Dazs ice cream was immensely popular in grocery shops, their first parlor didn't open until 1976. Not far from the Mattus family's original ice-cream beat, the Brooklyn store sold ice cream as well as treats such as sundaes, shakes, and cakes. Shops eventually dotted the country and globe, wherein friendly ice-cream scoopers fill waffle cones, blend frosty coffee and ice-cream drinks, and wrap ice-cream cakes in bright ribbons.
573 Grand Concourse
Bronx,
NY
US
This shop’s signature dish, the mille crepe, alternates airy crepes with flavored cream to create a 20-layered dessert that is both decadent and light. Available in flavors such as green tea, chocolate banana, and coconut, it’s just as drool-worthy as the bakery's apple gallettes, coffee mousse cakes, and chocolate gateaus.
41 East 78th Street
New York,
NY
US
H&H Midtown Bagels East refuses to deny any bagel craving, even if it's 3 a.m. or you live 1,000 miles away. Those in the neighborhood can pop in 24/7, and the shop will even overnight their bagels, smoked fish, and spreads across the country to give displaced New Yorkers a taste of home.
1551 2nd Ave
New York,
NY
US