Take a scoop stroll to sample Portland's best ice cream
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There are so many options for ice cream in Portland that your best bet for hitting them all is embarking on a scoop stroll.
Why it matters: Summer is a time for indulgence — and luckily many of the city's main corridors have a high concentration of ice cream shops.
Here are a few of our favorites.
Pro tip: Order a kids' size scoop at each establishment (or just get a sample, but be sure to tip!) so you don't max out after the first stop.
Division St.
The crème de la crème of scoop strolls and apparently the capital of ice cream in Oregon. Start off with a peanut butter magic shell swirl from Eb & Bean, make your favorite cookie into a milkshake at Insomnia, and then grab a boozy Caffe Umbria affogato from Alpenrausch.
- Pinolo Gelato's seasonal favorites — like marionberry mixed with ricotta and rosemary — are also not to be missed. And the six-block walk to Cornet Custard will burn enough calories to make room for a lick of decadent devil's food.
Worth the detour: Ice Queen (2012 SE 11th Ave.) for the vegan paletas and McDonald's-inspired "thiccflurries."
Alberta St.
Ramblin' Rose Ice Cream Truck offers so many flavors in such a small space, this Salt & Straw location is never as packed as the one in NW, and Pronto Gelato's small-batch offerings — like grapefruit-Campari sorbetto and peppermint stracciatella — are notoriously underrated.
- Plus: Restaurants Gumba and Urdaneta have awesome ice cream-based desserts, like a classic banana spilt and poached pear topped with a spruce-tip-flavored scoop.
Worth the detour: Nico's Ice Cream (1615 NE Killingsworth St.) for New Zealand-style swirls, with fresh Willamette Valley fruit blended with rich vanilla ice cream.
Mississippi Ave.
Beloved vegan creamery Kate's Ice Cream's first brick-and-mortar shop calls this block home (our favorite is the blue-hued cookie monster), and booze-infused Tipsy Scoop just opened with a cocktail-inspired menu.
- While known for its inventive pizzas, Lovely's Fifty Fifty also boasts a selection of six or so flavors of ice cream (like salted caramel, malt ball and summer berry) worth lining up for.
Worth the detour: Kulfi (3540 N. Williams Ave.) for floral and tea-flavored popsicles.
Honorable mention: NE 28th Ave.
It's been more than a year since a fire devastated the historic corner building, on Burnside and 28th, that Fifty Licks once occupied.
- If the shop is able to open again here in the future, the block will hold the perfect scoop-stroll trifecta: Pillowy soft-serve sundaes from Cheese & Crack, smooth scoops from Staccato Gelato, and Fifty Licks' legendary matcha-mochi flavor.