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We know that we are preaching to the choir here, but it bears repeating: it is hot AF outside. Sure, only a few months ago we collectively threw our hands up to the gray skies, wishing for warmer days. But this? Two showers a day, hot? A transportation system that doubles as a sauna, hot? Tying a 140-year-old heat record, hot? It’s a no for me dawg.
But seeing as how complaining alone can’t lower the temp in the air (or else, there would be a winter freeze by now), New York City is offering ways to keep cool, activating citywide cooling centers and reopening 60 plus outdoor public pools come this Friday. But the best way we know how to cool off? Ice cream. Yes, the combo of dairy, cream and sugar by the scoop, sundae and the pint is just the cure even the hottest of heads. Just in time for this heatwave, we recently updated our list of best ice cream shops in NYC. And this year, an Italian-inspired spot was crowned the number one spot.
Caffè Panna made our number one top spot for all things swirled and scooped in 2025. Hallie Meyer is the owner behind the shop, powered by a lifelong love for all things ice cream. And we aren't just saying that—Meyer's love for cream and sugar goes deep, like a five-month residency working in gelaterias across Rome, deep. Cleary inspired by the silky scoops she found abroad, she returned stateside, scooping ice cream in the South Bronx before opening a brick-and-mortar in Gramercy in 2019.
Last year, she took her custardy creations over to Greenpoint, opening a second location with roomy enough digs for a production facility and enough space to finally enjoy your scoops inside. While the shop's standard scoops are enough to make us brave the line (which there always is one), it's Meyer’s rotating cast of specials (think pie crust and Sungold tomatoes and olive oil) that keep us coming back. Plus, the introduction of shaved Italian granitas topped with the signature Panna imported straight from the motherland, helps too.
Right behind it, a Portland import made its debut nabbing the number two spot: Salt & Straw. Chain it may be, Salt & Straw’s buttermilk-heavy scoops know how to keep things interesting, and we aren’t just saying that because there are unlimited samples. Incorporating itself into the fold of the city, both Upper West Side and Chelsea locations (they opened both within a few months of each other) have exclusive scoops only found in NYC, including a babka version and a semi-savory smoked pastrami option sourced from famed Carnegie Deli.
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Dubbed “Harlem's Finest Ice Cream Shop,” Sugar Hill Creamery is also one of our favorite local parlors, coming in at number three. While Nicholas and Petrushka Bazin Larsen’s seasonal scoops of handmade carrot cake in the winter and strawberry basil lemon in the summer are enough to top the list, this ice cream shop receives close-to-top honors because of its ties to the community. (Inside, the walls feature rotating portraits of those who live in the neighborhood.) The flavors follow suit, as the Asap Rocky Road nods to the famous rapper who grew up in Harlem and their current flavor, Sonia’s Pound Cake made with rosemary, apricot and chunks of pound cake, was made in collaboration with local Harlem-based influencer Dominek Tubbs of @domnthecity.
The list rounds out with black sesame and pandan scoops in Chinatown and egg creams and sundaes from an ice cream OG in Carroll Gardens. Looking to cool off? Check out the full list of our best ice cream shops in the city.