Compared to more coastal towns, Austin isn't exactly a haven for soft serve ice cream. Although we have plenty of desserts around town, a nice swirled cone has not always been easy to find — but that's starting to change.
As we sift through the city's overwhelming piles of food news every day, we've started to notice more and more soft serve popping up. It's not just happening in Austin, although this city really needed some new options. In fact, Restaurant Business Magazine named this past season the Summer of Soft Serve, and the Fork CPAs even analyzed the financial benefits and risks of the "craze."
Whatever the business boons or busts, this is good news for Austinites who find eating ice cream with a spoon sort of offensive.
Austinites tend to have quite a flexible definition of what "soft serve" entails; some count the famous scooped ice cream joint Amy's and the frozen custard chain Culvers — since they are both softer than perhaps something like Blue Bell — while others stick to the more standard image of something piped out of a machine. We'll take this opportunity to engage in stereotype and say this list will only include the latter variety.
This is a non-exhaustive list that prioritizes new, highly regarded, and local options. From new to old, here are 10 places to take advantage of the growing soft serve trend.
Bill's Dips
Opens in November 2024
Just yesterday, the Bill's Oyster team joined Other Racquet Social Club in an announcement that when the pickleball venue reopens on November 1, it'll be home to Bill's Dips, a brand new food truck specializing in a short comfort foods menu. One of the promised items is soft serve. Right now, it just looks like options are vanilla and a seasonal dip. 2717 Manor Rd.
Abby Jane Bakeshop recently added soft serve to its menu.Photo by Dave Wilson
Abby Jane Bakeshop
Added soft serve in September 2024
This summer the popular bakery Abby Jane Bakeshop — mostly known for bread — branched out into soft serve and slushies. Right now the flavors are vanilla and passionfruit, and they're served in a cone. However, enterprising visitors might want to take advantage of the setting and try scooping it into a halved croissant. 16604 Fitzhugh Rd Unit C, Dripping Springs
Redbud Ice House
Opened in May 2024
Thanks to Redbud Ice House's retro vibes and nods to the restaurant that came before it, Contigo, it doesn't fully feel new. The soft serve here is bare bones, but that seems to be the idea at this super casual hangout spot. The ice cream is on the kids menu, but no one will fault adults for wanting a taste. 2027 Anchor Ln.
Bambino
Opened in March 2024
After years in the works, Bambino, the pizza-focused sister restaurant to L'Oca d'Oro, debuted in 2024 with a surprisingly long menu including creative antipasti. One of the unexpected non-pizza items was vanilla soft serve, which can also be served as an affogato or with orange "slush." 979 Springdale Rd. Ste. 153.
Zoé Tong
Opened in November 2023
Having started with the classics, let's go somewhere entirely unexpected: a Chinese restaurant that opened in 2023. Zoé Tong also only has one flavor, the black sesame soft serve, served with miso caramel and strawberry sauce. Since it's made with oat milk, this masterpiece of layered flavors is dairy-free, and the subtle oat flavor pairs beautifully with the rest of the ensemble. 1530 Barton Springs Rd.
Allday Pizza offers a soft serve affogato.Allday Pizza/Instagram
Allday Pizza
Opened in March 2023
This new-ish pizzeria is well-known for its no-fuss service and New York-style slices, but the soft serve does get a little fancy. Since it's served in a cup, it's easy to add toppings like rainbow sprinkles, chocolate sauce, and crushed pretzels, but the star of the show is cold brew concentrate by La Colombe Coffee Roasters. 3111 W. 35th St.
Zeds Real Fruit Ice Cream
Opened in 2021
This East Austin shop makes its soft serve ice cream New Zealand-style, meaning with fruit blended in. Flavors include banana, blackberry, blueberry, pineapple, strawberry, and raspberry, and these can be added to a regular vanilla base or a dairy-free one. Diverse toppings like rainbow sprinkles, honey, and chamoy, are also available for some really unique combinations.
The swirls are always immaculate at OMG Squee.OMG Squee/Instagram
OMG Squee
Added soft serve in 2019
More Asian goodness comes by way of OMG Squee, the cuteness-focused dessert shop known for its swirled soft serves, artsy macarons, and mochi donuts. The shop makes four adventurous flavors at a time, and posts them on Instagram so customers can keep up with the current offerings. Things get really dressed up when adding Nutella, custard, macarons, toasted marshmallow fluff, and other treats. 4607 Bolm Rd. Suite A.
Connor's Creamery
Opened in 2016
Former East Coasters and Midwesterners can get a bite of nostalgia at Connor's Creamery, the ice cream truck at Garbo's Lobster that serves Flavor Burst ice cream — a vanilla base with colorful ribbons of gel flavoring around the edges. According to the semi-reliable Flavor Burst map, there are a few other places to find these around town, but at Connor's you can pop over for a lobster roll and pretend you're at the beach. 12709 N. Mopac Expy.
Never leave Sandy's off an Austin ice cream list.Sandy's/sandysaustin.com
Sandy’s
Opened in 1946
This one's more a reminder than anything — there is no more classic place in Austin to get a soft serve cone than Sandy's. The old-fashioned hamburger stand is a reliable favorite for swirled chocolate-and-vanilla cones, but customers can also get a chocolate dip shell or toppings like butterscotch or hot fudge. 603 Barton Springs Rd.