Swirled Peace

10 places to enjoy the growing soft serve ice cream trend in Austin

Zeds Real Fruit Ice Cream Austin soft serve

Zeds Real Fruit Ice Cream is doing something really unique for Austin, with a technique borrowed from New Zealand.

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 Austin soft serve 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 Austin soft serve 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.

OMG Squee Austin soft serve 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.

Sandy's Austin soft serve 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.

ice cream desserts trends openings

Grocery news haul

Grocery service Farmhouse Delivery returns to Austin with fun surprise

Courtesy photo

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After suddenly halting its operations in May, grocery service Farmhouse Delivery is on its way back, with an extra surprise for Austin: a new storefront.

Known for offering locally prepared foods and produce from small Central Texas farms, the subscription-based service emailed its loyal customers on Monday, November 18, to share the relaunch news and outline its plans for the future.

“We’ve missed you and are beyond grateful for your patience as we’ve been hard at work planning the next chapter of Farmhouse Delivery,” the newsletter reads. “Soon, you’ll once again have fresh, local food delivered straight to your doorstep[.]”

Farmhouse Delivery is aiming for a December date to resume deliveries, they say. They've used the intervening six months to not only revamp their existing business model, but to expand their offerings.

The biggest surprise in the newsletter was a revelation of plans for a new storefront in Austin, blending a cozy farmer’s market vibe with what they call “the best parts of your favorite grocer — where you can discover fresh foods, refill on essentials, connect with other members on sustainable living, and, of course, [shop] our best local products — all in innovative, reusable packaging.”

The email did not divulge details for the location or timing of the storefront project.

The company also plans to introduce a new membership model with exclusive benefits such as sneak peeks of new products and promotions.

Underscoring its commitment to sustainability, Farmhouse also announced that it’s working toward a completely plastic-free delivery:

“Expect to see your favorite items in sustainable packaging, with rewards for returning and reusing Farmhouse materials. Together, let’s reduce waste and make sustainable choices the coolest thing to do.”

The newsletter invited customers to complete a survey to help shape the ongoing Farmhouse experience. There, customers can indicate their desired delivery day (or days) and the factors that influence that preference (meal planning, work schedule, etc.), as well as specific products they would like to see in future deliveries.

Survey participants can also designate their preferred price point for memberships and the most appealing benefits from a long list, including free deliveries, additional delivery days, free products, members-only cooking classes, exclusive content, and more.

Neither the newsletter nor the Farmhouse website announced a specific date for relaunching, but returning and new customers can keep an eye on the website and social media for further details.

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