Best Gelato and Soft Serve and Ice Cream in Bristol
This is guide to the best spot for ice cream, gelato, decadent ice cream deserts, cream and sorbet cocktails and other delicious delicacies in the desert scene in Bristol.
In this guide we go through the best ice cream and gelato, and then the best ice cream dessert spots in Bristol. We also present the two best spots for vegan gelatao and delicious gluten-free waffles.
The two best gelato spots in Bristol come from Swoon Cafe in college green, and Olivers Ice Cream in swapping wharf. Swoon is an Italian Ice cream cafe with a delicious takeaway ice cream bar that’s an absolute hit, especially in the summer months with queues right down the street!
Swoon also has a great vegan selection with specialised vegan sorbetto ices.
Olivers Ice cream is a family take-away ice cream business located in one of the container ships of whapping wharf. It started as a wild idea by a couple who dreamt of making ice cream for a living. Well, after a few years of training in London and Milan, and learning the craft of perfect Italian Gelato, this is the result!
| Ice Cream Place | Ice cream offer | Cafes? Takeaways? |
| Swoon | An Italian Ice cream cafe, coffees, a grand storefront and delicious gelato ice cream. They offer a huge range of flavours, and sorbet and vegan ‘sorbettos’ | Lovely cafe with real Italian coffees. Right opposite college green the cafe often has a queue, in summer customers take their gelato out into the sunshine. |
| Tarr’s | A famous local ice cream producer and wholesaler. Biggest ice cream manufacturer in the south west that came out of general store in 1920. | Shop sells on the spot take away ice creams and tubs for the freezer. They also do fabulous ice cream cakes. Link here. |
| Olivers ice cream | Gelatos Sorbets and vegan flavours. This is a true family-run business born out of a crazy idea years ago that became their reality. They trained in London and Milan in the craft of true, artisanal gelato. | Cargo 2 in the container ships boutique shopping and dining village of swapping wharf. Take Away Ice Cream’s Instagram here. Website here. |
| Vee double Moo | Award winning soft serve with fabulous homemade sauces and toppings. An ice cream van pitched in Brandon hill for the summer months. Check their whereabouts on their instagram here. | Take away soft serves in Brandon hill, with stunning views over bristol! |
| Brozen | Delicious ice creams. They tailor each recipe to the science of the soft ice and flavour of the ingredients- very proudly creative and perfected. | Ice cream take aways from the glass arcade at st. Nicks. Menu here. |
Ice cream and deserts of Bristol
Not only does Bristol do great ice cream but there are plenty of ice-creamy deserts on offer too!
Whether you’re looking for an ice cream parlour, family-friendly waffle house, evening frozen cocktail, Bao bun Asian Ice cream dessert or Ice cream party cake- this list of Bristol’s best dessert spots will help you out.
| Venue | Signature option | Description |
| Kaspas desert house | Waffles, Ice cream sundaes, puddings | Desert house chain with extreme decadent waffles and a flashy hot pink on black interior. Website here. |
| Wokyko | Ice cream bao (coconut or chocolate) | The roof terrace on the cargo-shop collection of boutique shops, restaurants and bars in Bristols harbourside Wapping Wharf. Wokyko rooftop open Thurs-Sat. Website here. |
| Brozen Bar | Ice cream cocktails | Frozen cocktail specialists in a bar. A really cute, stylish cocktail bar in the centre of town with amazing creative drink creations with ice creams, dry ice and exotic flavours. Website here. |
| Cowbee Cafe | Ice cream and waffles (Gluten-free options) | Right opposite college green they do yummy decadent waffles. Decorated in bright bee yellow- it’s a fun, family desert spot and cafe for coffee, hot chocolate and the likes. Website here. |
| Olivers Ice Cream | Ice cream cake (pre-order) | Fabulous customisable Ice cream cakes £25 for 6 people and £40 for bigger cakes to feed around 16. Website here. |
| Sprinkles Gelato | Ice cream sundaes Crepes and cakes | A modern ice cream parlour with luxurious sundaes crepes and cakes. Colourful and homely. Website here. |
I particularly love the gluten-free waffles in Cowbee cafe! This is a cute family-run desert house with ‘cow’ milk and cream and ‘bee’ honey-sweet desserts. It’s a bright, lively space- very upbeat and friendly.
The frozen cocktails at Brozen are also a fantastic, unique ice cream choice! Brozen Bar do event catering and frozen cocktail-at-home options. They also offer frozen ice cream tasting sessions which could be a fun thing to try (check out the details here).
We also have a guide to the best classic cocktail bars and the best gin bars in Bristol on our site.
We also have a post on Outdoor day activities in Bristol, or for a wonderful, simple afternoon, take a stroll by the harbourside and check out Bristol’s best Harbourside bars or best harbourside restaurants.
Best Vegan Ice cream in Bristol
Swoon cafe and Olivers Ice Cream both do delicious vegan ice creams with a mix of sorbet and milky-based gelatos. These are the two best spots in Bristol…
Swoon Gelato have a range of vegan flavours- when I last went they had chocolate, biscoff, almond, mango and raspberry on offer… they do ice creams as well as sorbets. And, they have vegan cones too- so you can get the real gelato experience!
Olivers Ice Cream, as a slightly smaller shop with fewer flavours on offer, have an ever-changing selection but always includes a couple of different vegan options- last time I went I had a delicious berry-mix sorbet.
Double check before you buy that all these are still vegan just as I believe them to be!
We hope you enjoyed this guide.
Check our our posts on food and drink in Bristol, including our posts on great pasta in bristol, the greatest pizzas in bristol, great Bristol Japanese restaurants, the best tapas in bristol and Bristol’s best burgers.