The Ultimate Kingston Ice Cream Bucket List

By Kate Farrell

Ice cream. The quintessential summer food. As a true ice cream connoisseur once said, “ice cream season is any season.” (Yes, that connoisseur may have been me, stubbornly holding my mint chip cone in the middle of winter, but let’s carry on.) While this may be true; there’s nothing better than a cool, sweet ice cream cone while the sun continues to shine past 8 pm.

Lucky for us, Kingston has been gifted with some of the hottest ice cream joints making the summer sweeter than ever. Here’s where to go to find the best frozen treats that the city has to offer. Enjoy!

Mile and a Quarter Ice Cream

772 Blackburn Mews

Tucked behind the back of Coffee Trends, this is truly the hidden gem of Kingston’s ice cream scene. Not just your typical soft serve joint; Mile And A Quarter Ice Cream offer 55 flavours ranging from the adventurous rum and eggnog to classic vanilla. Our favourite part? You can mix and match any of these soft serve flavours to create your own summer treat. We love the delicious chocolate peanut butter milkshake — but we’re always open to testing more to sway our opinion!

White Mountain Homemade Ice Cream

176 Ontario Street

A true ice cream connoisseur knows that this is the spot to be in Kingston in the summer. Even with their huge variety of flavours, White Mountain still found a way to make every single one as delicious as the next. Maybe it’s the fact they make all their ice cream themselves, but you’d better head down there and test it out for yourself.

General Brock’s Commissary

55 Brock St

Bringing the taste of Upper Canada to Kingston, General Brock’s Commissary serves up some of the best locally produced specialty foods just steps from the original War of 1812 commissary. And best of all, that includes crowd-favourite Kawartha Dairy ice cream like Maple Sugar Shack. Classic flavours keep in line with the shop’s historical theme. Grab a cone and walk the two blocks east to enjoy it lakeside at Confederation Park. 

Mio Gelato

178 Ontario Street

It wouldn’t be a true Kingston ice cream list without including the crowd favourite — Mio Gelato! Ever since it opened its doors in 2010, Mio Gelato has been the go-to place for authentic Italian Gelato, sorbetto, ice cream, and frozen yogurt. With a chef mixing all the beautiful flavours in-house, this homemade treat is guaranteed to be a highlight of any summer night!

Churn Small Batch Ice Cream

Looking for new ice cream flavours to try? Check out Churn Small Batch Ice Cream for traditional flavours with a twist! Churn makes all their ice cream in house for the freshest taste available. Grab a specialty cone like white chocolate strawberry or dark chocolate coconut. Churn even develops special astrological ice cream flavours for each sign as they come into season!  

Cook. E’S 

Visit this family-owned ice cream and cookie shop located at 27 Princess St. Whether you are looking for ice cream, ice cream sandwiches, edible cookie dough, cookies, or other dessert treats, they have it all. Try some of their new ice cream flavours like lemon cookie and strawberry cheesecake 

Fruit Festival 

Head over to Fruit Festival on Princess St. and grab a sundae, a milkshake, or try one of their awesome Ice Cream Waffle Bubbles with flavours like Strawberry Field, Marshmallow Wonder, and Rainbow Chocolate. Students, seniors, and military receive a 15% discount every Tuesday and Wednesday.