Is San Diego the Ice Cream (and Gelato) Capital of America?

Article by Amber Gibson| Photography Amber Gibson, Elodie Bost, & Aisu Creamery| Published July 10, 2025

San Diego loves ice cream. According to AI-powered consumer insight platform Tastewise, San Diego has the highest concentration of ice cream establishments per capita, and consumer interest in ice cream is 2.3x higher in San Diego than the U.S. average, drawing on data from social media conversations, restaurant menus and recipe behavior. It's not surprising considering the warm, sunny climate all year round means it's always ice cream weather here.

The city is also home to some of the best artisan ice cream makers in the country. Leading the charge is An's Dry Cleaning, a shop that was recently voted the best ice cream/gelato shop in the country by USA Today for the second year in a row. An's operates four distinct locations, each with a different themed menu, with fun flavors like beret (vanilla white chocolate) and straw hat (mango passion fruit) at An's Hatmakers in Del Mar to foulard (coconut cream cheese with tropical jam and butter-soaked graham crackers) and linen (basil pineapple) at An's Dry Cleaning in North Park. Their newest location is the brand new An's Electronics Repair in Ocean Beach, with flavor names like motherboard, walkman and Bluetooth. Guests are invited to try all available flavors before purchasing. after waiting in line for sometimes close to an hour on busy weekends, the tasting journey is part of the experience.

“When we came up with the concept of the flavor tour it really embodied how we want to treat people,” says co-founder Kris Warren. “I never liked the feeling you get when you go to an ice cream shop and want to try more than one or two flavors, but feel bad about asking. Also, the flavors we make at An's are sometimes unusual. So by doing a flavor tour you remove that awkward feeling and we can get people to try some new flavors and, hopefully, find something they love that they would have never thought to try.” Warren acknowledges that the flavor tour does make the line move more slowly, requires more training, and costs more, but he's determined to create a memorable and unique guest experience.  “We're going to stick to that vision no matter what.” Warren and his co-owners wait in line like everyone else when they visit the shop with family and friends.

Stella Jean's Ice Cream is another San Diego juggernaut, with eight locations in San Diego, Carlsbad and Costa Mesa. Popular flavors are a mix of all-American classics like s'mores and milk and cookies along with Asian-inspired mango sticky rice and ube pandesal toffee inspired by co-founder Gan Suebsarakham's Thai heritage. Stella Jean's always has an excellent array of vegan flavors with a rich coconut cream base, inspired partly because Suebsarakham is lactose intolerant. There are always several limited-edition seasonal flavors to try, and they make all of their mix-ins from scratch. 

“Making our mix-ins from scratch is a big part of who we are — it’s definitely a labor of love,” Suebsarakham says. “We care a lot about getting the texture right, so there’s a lot of behind-the-scenes work: baking, breaking things down into just the right size, tossing mix-ins in sauces, or chocolate-coating.” For Stella Jean's milk and cookies flavor, they bake cookies using Valrhona Dutch-process cocoa powder for a deeper true chocolate flavor, instead of taking a shortcut by using standard Oreos. 

Suebsarakham says that sauces, like their housemade guava jam, are the trickiest mix-ins to get right. “It has to stay soft and scoopable, not freeze solid, while still holding its flavor,” he says. “Getting that texture just right takes time and testing. It’s a lot of work behind the scenes, but it’s worth it for the flavor and quality we want to deliver. Being in Southern California, we have access to fresh dairy and incredible produce throughout the year, which really helps with quality.”

Along with having the most ice cream shops per capita, San Diego County also has the most small family-owned farms in the U.S. Farmer and ice cream maker Makoto Chino utilizes fruit picked at peak ripeness from his family's farm to make luscious fruit-flavored ice creams at Aisu Creamery. Chino first started making ice cream during COVID to make use of extra strawberries and raspberries at Chino Farm. “There's a lot of great ice cream in San Diego, but none of them were focusing purely on the fruit,” Chino says. He recalls driving to Antico Nuovo in Los Angeles just to get great fruit gelato, and wondering if he could make it himself. 

“I think I put in three time as much fruit as most ice cream makers,” Chino says. “So much that it's technically a gelato rather than an ice cream, even though I use an ice cream base, because the amount of fruit lowers the milk fat percentage.” 

His super small batch ice cream is only available by the pint from The Vegetable Shop at Chino Farm in Rancho Santa Fe, but well worth the drive. Flavors change weekly depending on what is in season, and are written on a chalkboard menu and posted on Instagram. Along with farm fruit flavors, Chino also makes matcha and hojicha ice cream partnering with Paru Tea. If you can't make it to the farm stand, insiders know he makes a special fior di latte ice cream with Strauss whole milk for Rikka Fika coffee shop downtown to serve with affogatos.

“San Diego is such a great place to have a cool treat after a nice day at the beach,” Chino says. “I swear by the fruits and vegetables in San Diego being the best in the world.”

Other worthwhile stops for ice cream connoisseurs include Bobboi Gelato for classic Italian flavors like pistachio, chocolate hazelnut, and stracciatella, served from cylindrical pozzetti containers to maintain the perfect dense and creamy texture. Sunday Ice Cream in San Diego's Convoy District is a favorite for Asian flavors like Thai tea, black sesame, injeolmi and pandan.

Fine dining restaurants in San Diego often have ice cream on the menu too. For example, Paridisea and Callie always have interesting housemade ice cream flavors accompanying plated desserts, like fig-leaf labneh gelato atop a warm chocolate chip tahini cookie.

At Lilo, pastry chef Maddie Biehl serves an orgeat ice cream topped with ossetra caviar, grated smoked celery root bushi and freshly pressed almond oil as a palate cleanser midway through the meal transitioning between seafood and meat courses. It's the best rendition I've tasted in the United States of what has become a bit of a fine dining trope. Whether it's at a scoop shop or Michelin-star restaurant, ice cream is a quintessential part of the San Diego experience.

“I love San Diego,” Warren says. “The weather, beaches, and tourism all make it a strong draw for food and beverage concepts which means there’s stiff competition. I love that. To be successful in San Diego you have to do everything right – you need an incredible product, a cool and attractive brand, to treat your customers well, to treat your staff well, and to have incredible service. I’m really thankful to have started here, in one of the ice cream and gelato capitals of the county, because I think it’s forced us to be better.”