The Best Ice Cream and Gelato Shops in Toronto, Compared

Toronto is in the middle of a frozen-dessert boom. Summer 2026 brought an unusually large class of new shops serving ice cream, gelato and dairy-free alternatives — enough that blogTO flagged it as an outright influx rather than the usual seasonal churn. That is good news for eaters and mildly confusing for anyone standing on a sidewalk trying to decide where to walk. Here is how the city's options actually differ.

Ice cream or gelato? They are not the same purchase

Worth settling first, because it determines which shops are even in the running. Gelato is churned more slowly and served slightly warmer and denser, which pushes flavour forward — pistachio, stracciatella, fruit sorbets. North American-style ice cream carries more air and more fat, which makes it better at rich, sweet, texture-heavy flavours — cookie dough, salted caramel, anything with chunks in it.

If you want a two-scoop cone that tastes intensely of one ingredient, look for gelato. If you want dessert as an event, ice cream shops are built for that.

Ed's Real Scoop: the reliable all-rounder

Ed's Real Scoop has been a Toronto favourite for over two decades, and it is the rare shop that makes ice cream, gelato and frozen yogurt in-house rather than specialising. The ice cream is rich and flavourful and the gelato is genuinely competitive with the dedicated gelaterias — which is unusual, since shops that do both typically do one well and one adequately.

It is the safe recommendation for a mixed group, precisely because nobody has to compromise.

The gelato specialists

For gelato proper, the consistently top-rated names in the city include Mizzica Gelateria & Cafe, 00 Gelato, Nani's Gelato, Gemma Gelataria and Punto Gelato. These are the shops to seek out when the gelato itself is the point rather than an accompaniment to a walk.

A useful signal when you are choosing between unfamiliar gelaterias: look at the pistachio. It should be a dull, greyish green rather than a bright one, and it should taste of nuts rather than of sugar. Shops that get pistachio right rarely get anything else wrong.

The category is still growing — Cono Gelato was slated to open in Little Italy over summer 2026, continuing a run of new arrivals that has made the west end considerably better served than it was two years ago.

Bang Bang: the one people queue for

Bang Bang is best known for its ice cream cookie combos — the scoop is only half the product, and the cookie is chosen as deliberately as the flavour. Beloved options include London Fog, chocolate hazelnut and cinnamon toast.

Set expectations accordingly. This is a destination purchase with a line attached, not a spontaneous stop. If you are in a hurry or with impatient kids, pick almost anything else on this list.

How to choose

Mixed group with different tastes, or you want one dependable answer? Ed's Real Scoop. Want the best version of the thing itself, and willing to travel for it? One of the gelato specialists — Mizzica, 00 Gelato, Nani's, Gemma or Punto. Treating dessert as the outing rather than an add-on, and time is not a constraint? Bang Bang.

Two practical notes. Frozen-dessert shops keep seasonal hours and the new arrivals in particular change them often, so check before crossing the city on a weeknight. And peak demand is far more predictable than most people assume — the worst lines fall between roughly 7 p.m. and 9 p.m. on warm weekend evenings. Go mid-afternoon, or go late, and the same shop becomes a completely different experience.