Cold dessert
Where to get ice cream on the East End. Old soda fountains, roadside soft-serve, seasonal scoop shops. Honest about which have the line and which are quiet enough to walk up to.
Breakfast: coffee + early morning countersBeaches: the canonical post-beach moveSunset: pair a late scoop with golden hour
7 spots
Self-serve frozen yogurt and sorbet, with smoothies, bubble tea and coffee at the same counter
The Southampton branch of a small East End group.
Hours · Daily 12 PM – 10 PM
Homemade ice cream made on the premises since 1958
The Parash family opened the soda fountain in 1958 and still owns it — the East Hampton Star, writing up…
Hours · Breakfast 7:30 AM – 12 PM, lunch 12 PM – close (site posts winter…
On-premises hard pack from a kitchen running since 1925
Opened on Main Street on May 2, 1925 and passed down three times since: the Parash family — who still…
Hours · Diner hours, breakfast through mid-afternoon (no hours published anywhere; call ahead)
Handcrafted hard pack from a nut-free, sesame-free, egg-free kitchen
The rare Hamptons scoop shop where an allergy kid can actually order: handcrafted, small-batch hard pack out of a kitchen…
Hours · Sun–Thu 10 AM – 9 PM, Fri–Sat 10 AM – 10 PM
Hard-pack scoop counter and a fudge kitchen off the Montauk Circle
On Carl Fisher Plaza off the Circle — a scoop counter and fudge kitchen a minute from the Montauk traffic…
Hours · Daily into the evening in season (the operator publishes nothing; call ahead)
Homemade hard pack and soft serve next to a burger and fried clam line
Since 1967, a roadside walk-up on Montauk Highway that presses its own burgers, fries its own fish, and, in its…
Hours · Open year-round; the operator publishes no daily hours and asks you to call
Frozen yogurt, made-to-order crepes and bubble tea, open late
Not technically ice cream, but the closest thing to a walk-up cold dessert on Sag Harbor Main Street that is…
Hours · Sun–Thu 12 PM – 10 PM, Fri–Sat 12 PM – 11 PM
1 spot
The Mashomack S'mores Sundae, hand-made ice cream cakes, and pints and quarts to take home
The island's scoop shop, halfway along Menantic Road, and the one place on Shelter Island still handing out cones after…
Hours · Daily 11 AM – 11 PM in season
2 spots
The Carnival Cone cotton-candy cone, twenty-five years on Main Street
The shop is "celebrating 25 years in the Hamptons" and bills itself as home of the InstaFamous Carnival Cone…
Hours · Afternoon into the evening (the operator publishes no hours; call ahead)
Gelato made on site, plus a gelato cart the owners take to events across Long Island
A gelateria rather than an ice cream counter, on the Montauk Highway stretch through Hampton Bays.
Hours · Daily 1 PM – 9:30 PM
5 spots
Homemade ice cream from 1953 recipes, rotating flavor of the week
Opened by Herb and Joan Kunitz in 1953 on West Main Street in Riverhead, and the current owners — who…
Hours · Daily 10 AM – 11 PM
Custom homemade flavors in sampler trays, chipwiches, novelties
"Crafting delight since 1966" is the shop's own line, and it is the canonical North Fork ice cream stop…
Hours · Thu–Mon, closed Tue and Wed; the operator's own contact page posts both a 10…
A rotating flavor of the week, plus a coffee counter pouring an exclusive blend roasted at Hampton Coffee Company
A Front Street scoop shop in Greenport village, a short walk from the ferry dock, with a full coffee counter…
Hours · Sun–Thu 1 PM – 10 PM, Fri–Sat 12 PM – 11 PM
Homemade ice cream, gelato, sorbet and Greek frozen yogurt, dairy and not
"Over 48 years making the best homemade ice cream" is the claim, and the range backs it up: ice cream…
Hours · Seasonal; 2026 season opens May 15.
Over 100 flavors of Italian ice and ice cream, a block off the harbor
The Greenport outpost of the canonical Staten Island Italian ice shop, on Front Street rather than Main — worth knowing…
Hours · Mon–Thu 2 – 8 PM, Fri–Sat to 10 PM, Sun 11 AM – 8…