7 Historic Ice Cream Parlors in the US

Bassetts Ice Cream is the oldest operating ice cream company in the United States. Lewis Dubois Bassett began making ice cream in his New Jersey backyard in 1861 using a mule-powered churn. He later sold his ice cream at local farmers’ markets then at a shop at 5th and Market Street in Philadelphia. In 1892, he became the first merchant to sign a lease at the city’s Reading Terminal Market, where the shop—still owned and operated by the Bassett family—remains today. Early flavors like green tomato are no longer on the menu, but favorites like vanilla and chocolate are made with original family recipes. Like any true Philadelphia-style ice cream, no eggs are involved.

In 1870, Louis Charles Graeter began selling ice cream from a cart in Cincinnati. More than a century and a half later, the company bearing his name still makes its ice cream in small-batch French pots. Louis and his wife Regina opened a storefront in 1900, which she took over after Louis’ death. Regina successfully expanded the business through the Great Depression and World War II, changing little more than the location. Graeter’s has stuck to the old-world French pot method, which uses a small‑batch, vertical spinning freezer to produce a creamy, high-butterfat ice cream. The chocolate chips, in signature flavors like black raspberry chip and Buckeye Blitz chocolate chip, are made by pouring melted chocolate directly into the spinning French pots. It freezes instantly and is broken into oversized chocolate chunks—a hallmark of Graeter’s ice cream.

Fentons has been part of the Oakland landscape since the 19th century and is one of the oldest ice cream parlors in the United States. E.S. Fenton opened the family creamery in 1894 after his grandson Melvin persuaded him to start making ice cream. Now owned by the Widden family, Fentons still makes ice cream in 10-gallon batches. Just about everything in Fentons screams old-fashioned ice cream parlor, but its flavors are iconic. Melvin Fenton is credited with created one of the most famous ice cream flavors out there: rocky road. Fentons’ signature item is the Black & Tan Sundae, which has toasted almond and vanilla ice creams, caramel sauce, chocolate fudge, toasted almonds, whipped cream and a cherry.

Abe Doumar opened his first ice cream stand in 1905 after he says he came up with a brilliant idea at the 1904 World’s Fair in St. Louis: the waffle cone. In 1907, Doumar and his brother opened a stand at the Ocean View Amusement Park in Norfolk, Virginia. It was so popular, they sold almost 23,000 cones in one day. Doumar’s has been in the same Norfolk location since 1934 and still makes its cones to order with the same waffle machine from 1905. They also have legendary milkshakes, and if you ask for yours “Reggie” style, they’ll put pieces of waffle cone in it.

Angelo Brocato has been a beloved New Orleans institution since 1905. It’s known for its traditional Sicilian gelato made with a custard base and less fat and air than ice cream, resulting in a super rich and dense treat. The spot is named after original proprietor Angelo Brocato Sr., who apprenticed in Palermo, Sicily, where he learned recipes and techniques. Torroncino, a vanilla gelato flecked with cinnamon and ground almonds, is the first flavor he created, and it’s still on the menu. The family business stayed in the French Quarter for almost 80 years until it moved to a larger location in the Mid-City neighborhood in 1979. Two months after a major renovation in 2005, Hurricane Katrina hit, and the shop was flooded by more than 5 feet of water. It wasn’t until September 2006 that Angelo Brocato’s reopened. Today, they have 20 flavors of gelato as well as other baked and frozen treats.

For more than a century, Fair Oaks Pharmacy and Soda Fountain (originally South Pasadena Pharmacy) has stood at the corner of Mission Street and Fair Oaks Avenue in South Pasadena, California, just off Route 66. Business owner Gertrude Ozmun started the pharmacy in 1915. In the 1920s or ’30s, the newly added soda fountain offered traditional soda jerk treats like ice cream sodas and malts to Route 66 travelers. The pharmacy still operates today, and the young locals working the soda fountain can make you a phosphate, rickey or a malted milkshake as you sit at the vintage marble counter on a chrome stool. If you want a real ice cream challenge, try finishing The Kitchen Sink: eight scoops of ice cream, eight toppings, diced bananas and chunks of brownies.

This famous spot got its start on the Coney Island boardwalk in 1919 after three brothers—Archie, Elton and Lester—got their hands on a Meisenhelter ice cream freezer that made soft serve. Their customers weren’t impressed; the ice cream melted too fast and had an unusual consistency. So, after much trial and error, the brothers tweaked their recipe and added eggs. They landed on a much smoother, creamier dessert they called frozen custard.

In 1923, Elton decided to strike out on his own, opening the Kohr’s Frozen Custard chain in New Jersey. The original Seaside Heights location offers 11 flavors of its famous custard, including bubblegum and cotton candy. Elton’s brothers continued on, too—Kohr Bros. Frozen Custard has locations in four East Coast states.