10 Best Ice Cream Shops in Denver, CO.

*This article was written and researched in the Summer of 2023*

As a self-proclaimed ice cream connoisseur, I decided to make it my mission this summer to try as many ice cream shops in Denver, Colorado, as possible, in order to discover the best one.

After trying over 20 ice cream shops, I narrowed it down to a top ten.
If you ever find yourself in or around the Mile High City, check out these spots for a sweet treat. 

10. Liks Ice Cream

Liks Ice Cream is a family-owned creamery based in the heart of Denver's Capitol Hill District since 1976.

The shop offers a wide variety of flavors, ranging from Samoan Cookie to Banana Foster. However, never fret, they make excellent basic flavors as well, such as Rocky Road and Cookie Dough. 

A single scoop in a cup is around $4.25, with an additional charge of $1.50 for a waffle cone.

The scoops are well worth the price in size as an overflowing portion. 

The waffle cone was by far the best waffle cone I tried out of all 20 ice cream. The crispy golden brown cone crumbled perfectly with each bite.

Here are a few flavor highlights:

Colorado Mud (which is usually a mocha and chocolate-flavored ice cream) is a good coffee-flavored option. The chocolate is not too rich but not bland by any means. 

Banana Foster tastes exactly like banana bread batter, which, in my opinion, was amazing. 

Cherry Chocolate Chip gives the vibes of Queen Anne’s chocolate-covered cherries that are consumed in mass amounts during Christmas time.

Overall, the ice cream had an exceptional texture; however, they could stand to add a bit more mix-ins to the ice cream. I found a lot of bites had little to no mix-ins, and in my personal opinion, that is key to a great ice cream scoop. 

All of the flavors are pretty spot on to their advertised name, whether that be for better or for worse. 

A big downside to Liks is the location. Although the outside seating area is cute and there are plenty of tables to house the long line of customers, the area itself is not great. It is in a bit of a sketchy area, which makes the usually therapeutic act of eating ice cream on a Colorado summer night a little less fun.

 9. Van Leeuwen

Van Leeuwen is a nationwide known ice cream shop that is available in grocery stores and has shops in select locations throughout the country. Denver happens to be one of those places. 

Their range in flavors was one of the widest I saw while sampling flavors. Flavors such as Honeycomb, Praline Butter cake, and Earl Grey Tea are fan favorites in their stores. However, once again, they have the basics, such as Vanilla and Chocolate, as well. 

The texture of the ice cream was a 10/10. By far the best texture of any of the ice creams I tried. 

The Honeycomb flavor lacked any mix-ins at all, which brought its rating down, however, the flavor overall was still very good. 

The Brown Sugar Cookie Dough was amazing and full of flavor and mix-ins. 

The shop sits in Larimer Square in downtown Denver, which, on a warm summer night, is a great place to be. They have lights strung across the street, and often bands will play live music. 

Van Leeuwen has a great outdoor seating area that allows you to absorb all of the great vibes happening out in the square.

However, there is a reason Van Leeuwen's falls so low in the ranking, and that is the price. 

Two scoops in a cup cost $8.35. To put that in perspective, that is more than I paid at any other place where I also got a waffle cone. Although the serving sizes were good, they weren't nearly generous enough to justify $8.00 ice cream. 

As good as the flavors and texture are, it has its flaws, and I speak for the common man, and the common man can't afford to buy $8.00 ice cream. 

8. Heaven Creamery

Heaven Creamery was a surprising front-runner. With several locations throughout Colorado, Heaven Creamery's goal is to show customers that frozen desserts can be delicious and healthy at the same time.

They don't use any processed sugars, artificial flavors or colors, additives, or ice cream fillers. The flavors are entirely homemade and are all made with 70% less sugar than traditional ice cream. 

They have over 500 rotating flavors, but usually have about 50 flavors available at a time, between ice cream and gelato. 

In my own opinion, for a healthy alternative, it is quite good. 

The Mascarpone with Peaches and Pistachio was very good, and the flavors were spot on. 

Vanilla-Brownie & Dulce De Leche was good, but the stevia added a slight twang to the aftertaste. However, this was the only flavor that I tried where I could taste the stevia. 

The gelato and ice cream textures were exactly the same, and the texture overall was pretty soft. 

The biggest complaint I had was the waffle cones because of their cardboard-like texture and taste. So, I recommend just sticking to a cup. 

The pricing was on the expensive side at about $5.35 for a single scoop. However, the scoop sizes are quite large for what you get.

Overall, for a healthy alternative, Heaven Creamery stood out.

7. Sweet Cooie's Ice Cream & Chocolate

Taken by Adam Larkey at Eater

Sweet Cooie's Ice Cream is an old-timey shop located in Congress Park that serves a variety of ice cream flavors, chocolates, and other frozen treats as well.

Their flavors were limited, but the handful that they do have are rotating and almost always very good. 

The S'mores, which was a summer special, was incredibly good, with the perfect amount of mix-ins. 

Salted Carmel Peanut Butter Cup was a great salted flavor but could have stood a bit more peanut butter. Still very enticing, however. 

The classic Cookie Dough was one of the better Cookie Dough ice creams I have had in my days and was complete with the perfect amount of mix-ins. 

The texture is average, nothing special, but nothing to complain about for sure. 

The shop is tucked into the Congress Park neighborhood, and the environment is super cute. There was even a little band playing outside, which gave the shop extra points for the atmosphere. 

However, much like Van Leeuwen, Sweet Cooie's was very expensive. One regular scoop in a cup is $5.99, and a waffle cone would add on another $1.75. 

Although the ice cream was very good, the price dropped the rating quite a bit for me. The serving sizes were on the smaller side of average and could definitely be a little bigger for the price.

However, the ice cream itself is definitely worth it every once in a while.  

6. Little Man Ice Cream 

PLEASE HEAR ME OUT!

Little Man Ice Cream is an iconic spot in the heart of downtown. Known for its milk-jug-shaped shop and unique flavors, you can find a line wrapped around the street almost every night of summer. 

I think it would actually be a crime not to include Little Man on the list. HOWEVER, I will make a controversial statement and say that I don't believe it is the absolute best ice cream in Denver, and it was honestly a big reason I began this search in the first place; to see what else Denver had to offer, rather than the iconic spot. 

With that said, Little Man is always a classic. They are known for their Slated Oreo flavor that never fails to amaze me. 

The other flavors are quite unique such as Oatmeal Cookie (which has always been a personal favorite), Horchata, and Mexican Chocolate. 

Another great thing about Little Man is their rotating flavors that come seasonally. Some of the stand-out flavors I have had over the years are French Toast, Pumpkin Chai, and Tres Leches. 

The texture is super creamy and really good. 

The line can loop around the block, so be prepared for a wait. 

However, the atmosphere makes up a massive majority of the points for this shop. The vibes are unbeatable anywhere else in Denver.

5. Nuggs Ice Cream

Nuggs Ice Cream was the first location I went to, and it set the bar high. Named Denver's Best Ice Cream and Gelato Shop in 2019, Nuggs is family-owned, with over 38 flavors in rotation. 

Some of the flavors were super unique, like Strawberry Blonde and Mountain Squeeze Key Lime. However, they weren't afraid to perfect the basics either. 

The Chocolatey Fudge Brownie was incredibly good, with a chocolate that wasn't too rich and thick brownie chunks in every bite. 

However, the standout flavor was the Queen Bee. A honeycomb flavored ice cream with chunks of crystallized honeycombs. The perfect ratio of ice cream to mix-ins, and truly the best honeycomb ice cream I have ever had. 

If every single one of their flavors were as amazing as the honeycomb flavor, Nuggs would be number one. 

The other flavors were excellent, but simply didn't hold up to the Queen Bee. 

The texture of the ice cream was not consistent across all flavors. Some were pretty close to perfect, while others were a bit too soft.

The waffle cone was a little light in color, but nothing to complain about in terms of texture or flavor. 

The prices were on the lower side of average at about $3.99 for a single scoop in a cup, with an additional charge of $1.00 for a waffle cone. With this said, the portion sizes are quite large, especially for the price.

You definitely get your money’s worth. 

4. Sweet Cow Ice Cream

Sweet Cow is another Colorado classic. With a wide variety of flavors, both distinct options and perfected classics, you can't go wrong at Sweet Cow.

The mix-ins at Sweet Cow are unbeatable. Truly, nowhere else does mix-ins like they do.

The texture can be a bit tough sometimes, but flavors like the chocolate chip cookie dough are perfectly creamy.

A single scoop costs $4.75, and the serving sizes are decent.

No matter which location you choose, all of them have great atmospheres, and the staff is always super friendly.

In my opinion, Sweet Cow is the best chain in Denver. 

Here are the flavor highlights:

Their Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough is probably the best one you can get in Colorado. 

Chocolate Peanut Butter Pretzel is absolutely unmatched. It is filled with peanut butter-stuffed pretzels and chocolate chunks. 

Reese's Peanut Butter Cup is filled to the brim with chunks of Reese's Cups, and the texture it creates is amazing. 

Irish Bailey's Cream (which does contain a tiny amount of alcohol) was a surprise favorite.

A special mention for the ice cream cakes that they sell. With a layer of ice cream on top, a soft vanilla cake on the bottom, and a cookie crumble to separate the two, all slathered with whipped cream frosting, this is by far the best ice cream cake in all of Denver. 

3. Pints Peak

Pints Peak is not your usual ice cream store. In fact, currently, it's not even a store. Pints Peak runs out of a food truck changing between its usual set location on South Pearl St. and two farmers markets on the weekends (City Park Farmers Market on Saturdays and South Pearl Street Farmers Market on Sundays). You can find their schedule here.

They currently rotate around 50 flavors seasonally. They have some super unique flavors from Ube Cookies and Cream and Hot Honey Fried Chicken. Although they are limited flavors offered at once, they are all pretty close to perfection. 

The Honeycomb Vanilla is sublime, and the mix-ins were perfect.

Peach Cardamom Crisp was one of the most unique flavors I have ever had and blew me away with how good it was. 

The Brownie Bomb and Smoked S’mores were complete opposites, as the Brownie Bomb was overflowing with mix-ins and the Smoked S’mores had none.

All of the flavors blew me away, though.

Considering it was 95 degrees outside when I tried this ice cream, the texture was about as perfect as it could get. 

The food truck is a little expensive ($6.00 for a single scoop), however, they are a small business, so it makes it easier to want to pay that much. And trust me, the ice cream is worth it. 

2. Glacier Ice Cream and Gelato 

Glacier Ice Cream and Gelato creates hand-mixed ice cream and was voted Boulder’s Best Ice Cream. However, there are locations across Denver, Castle Rock, and Boulder.

They have created over 1,000 flavors and have dozens of options to choose from daily. Since 2001, when the first Glacier shop opened its doors, they have showcased at least 70 flavors in-store every day. 

They usually make a new flavor every two weeks.

Their range is beyond belief. They offer ice cream, gelato, dairy-free options, and gluten-free options.

Currently, their flavors range anywhere from Raspberry Chocolate Melt to Coffee Carmel Crunch. Although they aren't afraid to go out of their comfort zone with flavors, they have also perfected the basics in both ice cream and gelato. 

The Cookie Butter gelato was phenomenal, with a smooth and creamy Cookie Butter-flavored base and cookie mix-ins that brought it to another level. 

Carmel Brownie was an ice cream that I would consider S-tier as well. It had the perfect amount of brownie chunks mixed in and caramel swirled throughout it. 

In a group of around five people and probably ten flavors tried, not one person didn't absolutely love their ice cream. 

Another aspect that makes Glacier a top-three store in all of Denver is the texture. 

The texture of the gelato was almost spot on with many European gelatos I have had. I would declare that it is the closest texture to Italian gelato that I have had in the States. 

The best part of Glacier is that a single scoop in a cup costs $3.75 with an additional price of $1.25 for a waffle cone. This price is around the average price in Denver right now, but the portion sizes are overflowing. 

Glacier was a surprising frontrunner that absolutely blew the competition away. 

1. High Point Creamery 

High Point Creamery absolutely took the crown as the best ice cream in Denver. From the moment we tasted the ice cream, everyone knew it was going to be the winner. From that point on, I compared every shop to High Point, and nothing held up to the creation made with "the mind of a chef and the spirits of giddy children," (Westword). 

High Point Creamery has three locations in Denver, Hilltop, Rino, and Berkeley. 

With only a handful of selected flavors, the shop has perfected each and every one of them. 

Some flavor highlights at High Point are: 

The Earl Grey & Shortbread was the perfect balance of bitter Earl Grey tea and the sweet, creamy flavor of the ice cream. It tastes almost exactly like a London Fog. The shortbread chunks add a quintessential amount of texture to the dreamy base. 

Brown Butter Pecan takes a basic like Butter Pecan and adds a little bit of spice. The nutty flavor from the browned butter complements the crunchy pecans faultlessly. 

The Tin Cup Whiskey & Pistachio Brittle takes the title of the best flavor of ice cream I have ever had. There was no beating it. The local Tin Cup Whiskey flavor contrasts with the chunks of pistachio brittle and creates an indescribable flavor. 

The texture of the ice cream is creamy with a little bit of stretch, which in my opinion is exactly how every ice cream should be. 

The Rino location is inside The Denver Central Market, and the surrounding atmosphere creates a vibrant, Indie environment, complete with a flea market outside and a variety of food options inside. 

A single scoop costs $4.25 in a cup, with an additional charge of $1.00 for a waffle cone, which, speaking of, are close to perfection with a golden brown color and an exquisite crunch.  

The portion sizes are definitely on the larger side, and the price is worth every cent. 

There is nothing quite as perfect as the experience of eating a spoonful of cold, creamy ice cream on a hot summer day, and you can't go wrong with any of the shops on this list. If you find yourself in the Denver area and craving a sweet treat after a day of hiking the Rocky Mountains or exploring the bustling neighborhood of LoDo, make your way to any of these shops and enjoy the blissful experience.