I still remember riding my bike to Thrifty’s on 2nd Street as a kid, plunking down my allowance, and walking out with a sugar cone of peppermint stick stacked with those famous cylinder scoops. Back in the ’80s, a single scoop ran you somewhere around a dime to fifteen cents — an actual highway robbery by today’s standards, but a fortune when you’re twelve. That drugstore counter is long gone, but the instinct it planted in me never left: the second it gets stupid hot in this city, I am hunting down something cold.
And it has been stupid hot. So let’s just say it: nobody wants hot pumpkin spice lattes right now. Consider this your emergency cooling-off map — the best ice cream in Long Beach, plus every paleta and shave ice spot worth melting for.
Best Ice Cream in Long Beach
Long Beach Creamery (222 E Broadway, plus Bixby Knolls at 4141 Long Beach Blvd) is the staple, and it earned that title the hard way. Founder Dina Amadril started experimenting with ice cream in her own kitchen back in 2013 after tasting a neighbor’s homemade peanut ice cream at a backyard party — she held tastings at a local urban farm to build buzz, ran a Kickstarter, sold her condo, and took out a HELOC on her house to open the Bixby Knolls shop in 2015. A decade later, it’s the flavor everyone in this city measures other ice cream against. I’m partial to the Whiskey Vanilla — holy cow, yes and yes. Other standouts: Boysenberry Crumble, Honey Lavender, Black Ring Coffee, and a Sweet Summer Corn the menu calls “summer in a spoon.”
Seaside Creamery is also one to get excited about if you haven’t tried it yet. This is frozen custard, not standard ice cream — made with real egg yolks and premium dairy for a noticeably richer, denser texture, handcrafted in small batches by owner Ismael Bermudez, who spent nearly 20 years with King’s Seafood Company before starting this as a family business with his wife. I’m a creamy ice cream girlie through and through, and their Corn Miso Caramel flavor is exactly the kind of sweet-salty chaos I’m here for. The original shop is near CSULB (1785 Palo Verde Ave), a second location just opened on Retro Row (2707 E. 4th St., next to CoffeeDrunk — try the Instagator flavor, a collab between the two), and you can also grab a scoop inside Anna’s Pizza Joint in Belmont Shore, since Anna’s serves Seaside Creamery in-house alongside their pizza.
Sorry Not Sorry Creamery just opened in Belmont Shore (4612-A 2nd St., in the former Sweetfin space), and it’s already a neighborhood obsession. This Las Vegas-born brand made its name on flavors you won’t find anywhere else in the city — their Ube Honeycomb is the one everyone talks about, sweet and floral with crunchy honeycomb candy folded into a creamy ube base. It’s their sixth location in four years and their second in SoCal after Cerritos, and based on the lines already forming on 2nd Street, Long Beach has fully embraced it.
Ice Cream & Frozen Yogurt on the Boardwalk (429 Shoreline Village Dr.) is your move if you’re feeling a little touristy and strolling Shoreline Village — waffle cones, smoothies, soft-serve flurries, and the Banana Royale, which is basically a portable banana split built for walking and eating at the same time.
Handel’s Homemade Ice Cream (4201 McGowen St., inside LBX) is a chain, yes, but it’s an earned one — Handel’s has been making ice cream fresh in-store since 1945, and the four-scoop sampler is the correct order if you can’t commit. A solid stop if you’re already at LBX running errands and need a reward.
The Funnel House (425 Shoreline Village Dr.) goes all-out for anyone who thinks plain ice cream isn’t extra enough — scoops served sundae-style over fresh funnel cake or a deep-fried churro, plus ice cream sandwiches stacked between two huge chocolate chip cookies. Grab an outdoor table and let the ocean breeze do some of the cooling for you.
Paletas & Mexican-Style Ice Cream
La Michoacana Plus (22 Aquarium Way) is a few steps from the Downtown waterfront and serves up a genuinely huge menu of paletas de agua and paletas de leche, plus Mexican street snacks, helado flotante (ice cream floats), and the Canasta Tres Marias — three scoops in a waffle basket.
La Michoacana Monarca (246 E 10th St.) is the cozier, corridos-and-cumbias version — grab a popsicle to go or settle into a booth for a Raspanieve, a traditional Mexican shaved-ice dessert layered with a scoop of ice cream, fresh fruit syrups, and condensed milk. This is the one to know if you want the full sit-down experience instead of a quick grab-and-go.
Shave Ice & Kakigori
My partner Daniel is an island boy — spent many summers on the North Shore of Oahu at his grandma’s, and shave ice isn’t nostalgia for him, it’s basically a food group. He’s picky about it too, which is exactly why I trust his opinion here (though he’ll also happily throw down for a good scoop of pistachio ice cream, so he’s not a total purist).
KoaKai Shave Ice (1544 E Wardlow Rd.) brings Hawaiian-inspired shave ice with real fruit-based syrups — lilikoi, li hing, and coconut among the signatures. It’s walk-up window service with a little outdoor seating, and it’s become one of the go-to spots for anyone chasing that authentic islands flavor without leaving Long Beach. Current hours run Monday through Thursday evenings, so plan around that if you’re making a special trip.
Yamanaka Kakigori is the story you didn’t know you needed: a Japanese-style shaved ice pop-up trailer started by Logan Wong, who fell in love with kakigori while studying abroad in Japan and built the whole operation from his family’s restaurant, LV Seafood, off Carson and Lakewood. The ice is imported from Japan, shaved into famously soft, delicate flakes, and layered with condensed milk and made-to-order syrups — it’s less a dessert and more a tiny art project. It’s a pop-up, so hours and locations shift around (they’ve popped up everywhere from the Promenade to local street fairs) — following their Instagram @yamanaka.kakigori is the only reliable way to catch them.
Where is your favorite ice cream in Long Beach?
Whether you want the best ice cream in Long Beach, a paleta on the walk home, or a kakigori that looks too pretty to eat, this city isn’t short on ways to cool down. Save this list for the next heat wave — and there will be a next one.
FAQs
What’s the best ice cream shop in Long Beach? Long Beach Creamery is the local staple and the one most people measure everything else against, but Seaside Creamery (frozen custard) and Sorry Not Sorry Creamery (bold flavors like Ube Honeycomb) are both newer favorites worth trying. The Funnel House is the move if you want something over-the-top, or the Boardwalk spot if you’re already out at Shoreline Village.
Where can I get paletas in Long Beach? La Michoacana Plus near the Downtown waterfront and La Michoacana Monarca on 10th Street both have extensive paleta menus, plus other Mexican-style frozen treats like raspanieve and helado flotante.
Is there real Hawaiian shave ice in Long Beach? Yes — KoaKai Shave Ice on Wardlow Road specializes in Hawaiian-inspired shave ice with fruit-based syrups like lilikoi and coconut.
What is kakigori and where can I find it in Long Beach? Kakigori is Japanese-style shaved ice, made from imported ice blocks shaved into ultra-fine flakes and topped with condensed milk and fresh syrups. Yamanaka Kakigori is a local pop-up trailer serving it around the city — check their Instagram @yamanaka.kakigori for current locations and hours since it moves around.
