People are passionate about ice cream. I’m among them. Yet, when the question of where to find the dessert (or breakfast) in Hartford gets asked, and responses almost exclusively point to West Hartford Center, I get a little irritated. Not that there’s anything wrong with that other town, but if I’m here and want to make an easy walk to get my frozen dairy fix, why should I hear about what’s at least an hour walk from home?

Besides the treats you can get from just about any convenience store/bodega, supermarket, ice cream truck, or cart, there are more than a few options, so long as you don’t require that it be scooped into a cone, though that can be had within city limits too. Quality varies, as does price. I’ve included items that are technically not ice cream, but can fill in for it as needed. Descriptions are frequently straight from the menu except when the restaurant’s version seemed confusing.

Agave Grill

fried Mexicali ice cream; crepas with vanilla ice cream

Bear’s

UConn Dairy Bar ice cream

Bin228

gelato and sorbet

Black-Eyed Sally’s

warm Granny Smith apple pie (served with French vanilla ice cream); Bourbon Street pecan pie (served with vanilla ice cream); Mississippi Mud Pie; chocolate brownie sundae

Burger King

vanilla soft serve in a cone; soft serve sundaes

Carbone’s

bocce ball (chocolate covered vanilla ice cream flambéed table side with orange liqueur sauce); banana foster; gelato

Charcoal Grill

acai sundae

Chet’s Italian Ice (at West End Farmers’ Market on Tuesdays, Billings Forge Farmers’ Market on Thursdays, Old State House Farmers’ Market on Fridays)

Italian ice

City Steam Brewery

Ice cream; sundaes; ice cream pie; pie a la mode

Coyote Flaco

sopapillas (served with vanilla ice cream); churros (served with vanilla ice cream); fried ice cream

Firebox

Beckett’s berry shortcake (served with strawberry ice cream); ice cream

Fire-n-Spice

vegan ice cream

First & Last Tavern

hot fudge sundae; ice cream puff; bread pudding served with vanilla ice cream; seasonal fruit crisp served with ice cream

Friendly’s

ice cream cones; dishes; sundaes; floats; and Fribbles

Froyo World

frozen yogurt

Harlan Brasserie

cones and sundaes

Ichiban

ice cream

La Fonda

brownie de chocolate con helado

Max Downtown

chocolate chip ice cream cake

M&M Bistro

English sticky toffee pudding (served with butter-pecan toffee gelato)

McDonald’s

soft serve cone; sundaes



Monte Alban

apple pie burrito (served with vanilla ice cream); ice cream

Mozzicato’s

gelato; granita

ON20

various

Peppercorn’s

gelati; sorbetto

Pond House Cafe

ice cream; sorbet; soft serve ice cream

Republic at the Linden

J. Foster’s sorbet or ice cream; Belgian waffle with ice cream. Also, Maple Bourbon milkshake.

Salute

gelato

Siam Hartford

ice cream; banana fritter with vanilla or coconut ice cream; sticky rice a la mode; fried ice cream

Sutra

ice cream; fried banana with vanilla ice cream; date pancakes with ice cream; darshan with ice cream

Ted’s Montana Grill

strawberry shortcake (served with Häagen-Dazs vanilla ice cream); Kahlúa fudge brownie (served with Häagen-Dazs vanilla ice cream); cookie and ice cream; ice cream.

Thai Farms Restaurant

ice cream

THE BOSS Grill

ice cream

The Flying Monkey

nonstop brownie (served with vanilla ice cream); de-icer sundae

The Place 2 Be

milkshakes that might as well be ice cream sundaes

The Sweet Shop

ice cream

Tisane

warm chocolate bownie (served with vanilla bean ice cream); chocolate lava cake (served with hazelnut gelato); sorbet; gelato

Trumbull Kitchen

cookie sandwich

Vaughn’s

Guinness brownie (served with ice cream)

Wendy’s

Frosty

Wood-N-Tap

Madagascar fudge nut brownie (served with vanilla ice cream); apple cobbler (served with French vanilla ice cream)

BONUS: Capital Ice Cream (coming soon)

Did I miss anything?

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