7 Hot Spots for Cold Treats in Louisville: Chill Out with Frosty Sweets
We all scream for ice cream in this Louisville heat! Cool down and chill out with this round-up of some of the best places to find cold treats.
Summer has arrived β¦ and so has our craving to stay cool! Louisville is no stranger to delectable offerings of all kinds, including all things frozen. If you are desperate to stay out of the humidity and find a place to chill out, weβve done the hard work so you donβt have to. Here are some of the best places around town to grab a popsicle, ice cream cone or another frosty treat!
Liège & Dairy Ice Cream + Waffles
212A Holiday Manor, Louisville, KY 40222 β’ (502) 791-7991
Hours: Open daily, 11 a.m. to 11 p.m.
These arenβt your average breakfast waffles. And this isnβt your average ice cream shop. LiΓ¨ge & Dairy is Louisvilleβs first and only ice cream and waffle shop. The moment you walk through the door, youβre greeted with super-friendly faces and a trendy vibe. The walls are painted smooth with black paint and accented with rose gold and copper lighting fixtures. The Euro-pop music in the background is a clear sign you are not in your grandmaβs ice cream parlor. The mouthwatering menu includes waffle sundaes, ice cream sundaes, milkshakes, ice cream sandwiches, beverages and good old-fashioned scooped ice cream. And each menu item is uniquely delicious with their inventive ingredients and killer flavor.
It all started with owner and operator, Andrew Llewellen, taking a trip to Europe. While he was there, he repeatedly ran across street vendors pushing Liège waffles, a specific type of Belgian waffle, adorned with treats. So, he thought, why not bring it back to Louisville and top it with ice cream? And now, Liège & Dairy delights the palates of Louisvillians, all because of those sweet waffles and a trip to Europe!
LiΓ¨ge waffles are tiny, chewy waffles filled with crispy sugar that caramelizes as it cooks. And yes, itβs about as sinful as it sounds. All LiΓ¨ge waffles are made to order, warm and gooey. We strongly recommend the Kennyβs Cookie Jar made with a legendary LiΓ¨ge waffle, cookies & cream ice cream, OreoΒ cookie, cookieΒ pieces and a warm Nutella drizzle. It is an epic cookie explosion!
The Comfy Cow
All six locations listed here.
Hours: Sunday through Thursday, noon to 10 p.m.; Friday and Saturday, noon to 11 p.m.
What would Louisville ice cream be without The Comfy Cow? This local ice cream institution was founded in 2009 and has been offering theirΒ blend of classic and inventive flavors ever since, now operating from six locations around the city and one just over the river in Jeffersonville, IN. The Comfy Cow has received mentions and awards from the likes of Saveur Magazine and Southern Living,Β and they continue to delight locals and tourists alike.
Every six to eight weeks, they swap up a few flavors to keep it seasonal, but keep the classics, like strawberry, chocolate and vanilla. In fact, they just revealed the scoop on their newest flavors: watermelon mint, CocoNutty, peanut butter brownie andΒ grapefruitΒ sorbet. SBβs favorite (and CCβs most popular!) is the CocoNutty, made with creamy coconut ice cream with flakes of coconut and roasted almond clusters. Itβs like a tropical oasis for your taste buds!
In addition, The Comfy Cowβs many locations also offer a space to host your best galβs wedding or baby shower or a little oneβs birthday party. They also offer βto-go bagsβ for your private ice cream party by the pool.
Steel City Pops
1021 Bardstown Road, Louisville, KY 40204 β’ (502) 324-1008
Hours: Sunday through Thursday, 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.; Friday and Saturday, 11 a.m. to 11 p.m.
Steel City Pops unofficially kicked off the artisan popsicle craze. Owner Jim WatkinsΒ began the business out of his home in Homewood, a neighborhood in the heart of Birmingham, AL, which is known as the Steel City. Since 2012, business has boomed, and now, Steel City Pops has locations across the South, including Alabama, Texas, Kentucky and Georgia.
Steel City Pops places their pops into three categories: fruity, creamy and cookie. If you are more of a Plain Jane, hereβs where you grab your pop and go. But if you like a walk on the wild side, dip, dredge, drizzle and dust your favorite flavor with some of the many toppings, including chocolate, nuts, crumbs and even cayenne pepper or espresso.
All of their delicious treats feature fresh fruit and organic cane sugar, and they are all gluten-free β even the cookie pops. And the fruity pops are vegan. Each month, the store releases a flavor of the month. July features the perfect peach cobbler a la mode β tastes like summer to us!
Boudreauxβs New Orleans Style Sno-Balls
11816 Shelbyville Road, Middletown, KY 40243
Hours: Open seasonally from April through September; Monday through Saturday, 2 p.m. to 9 p.m.
Boudreauxβs New Orleans Style Sno-Balls is located in Middletown. Owners JJ and Connie Boudreaux have been serving up sno-balls from a garage, sandwiched between Dairy Queen and Tassels, for four seasons now and have no intention of stopping anytime soon.
After traveling back and forth from New Orleans to Louisville, the Boudreaux family wanted to bring a taste of the Big Easy back to Louisville, so Boudreauxβs New Orleans Style Sno-Balls was born. Sno-balls are a little different from shaved ice or snow cones, as the sno-balls are created with ultra-thin shavings of ice. βNo chewing required,β JJ says. βI always like to tease customers when they ask for a snow cone. I always say, βNo snow cones sold here, but we do have sno-balls!'β
Coincidentally, their current garage-style location is reminiscent of the sno-ball shops back home in New Orleans. βMany sno-ball places are just a carved-out window or are operated out of their garage back home,β says Connie. These icy treats have been sold on the streets of New Orleans for more than 50 years. The Boudreauxβs are ecstatic about theΒ attention the shop is receiving from the community. βWe are just so grateful to everyone who calls us up and asks us to come out to their events,β Connie says of their food truck, which caters to corporate and market events.
The storefront also sells a Cajun gumbo mix, complete with the roux. With every ingredient needed for a true Cajun gumbo, all you need to do is add the meat. With all the classic Cajun flavors and the authentic sno-balls made in New Orleans, this is about as close to the Big Easy as you can get in Louisville.
Homemade Ice Cream & Pie Kitchen
All locations listed here.
Hours: Monday through Thursday, 7:30 a.m to 9 p.m.; Friday and Saturday, 7:30 a.m to 11 p.m.; and Sunday, noon to 9 p.m.
What began as a Chevy dealership-turned-restaurant in 1982 is now a booming cafe and dessert joint with locations across Louisville and Shelbyville, KY, and Southern Indiana. If itβs sold in the store, itβs made in the store!
Homemade Ice Cream & Pie Kitchen churns and bakes more than 100 desserts, including ice cream, pies, cookies and cakes, to name a few. Beginning at 4 a.m. every day, the bakery bakes their famous treats. Many locations also offer a cafΓ© with full sit-down service and carry out. The kitchen serves up hot-pressed panini sandwiches, soups, salads and chili for lunch and dinner.
For dessert, try fresh churned ice cream flavors like coconut, banana, chocolate or one of their many other flavors. To celebrate National Ice Cream Month, the βLeaning Tower of Pleasβaβ is Julyβs special flavor. It is vanilla ice cream sandwiched between brownie slices and freshly-baked chocolate chip cookies, all drizzled in fudge β we are sure you will be βpleasβadβ!
Louisville Cream
632 E. Market St., Ste. 101, Louisville, KY 40202 β’ (502) 882-1516
Hours: Wednesday and Thursday, 1 p.m. to 9 p.m.; Friday and Saturday, noon to 10 p.m.; Sunday, 1 p.m. to 6 p.m.
Louisville Cream certainly takes the cake for inventive flavors. As Louisvilleβs small-batch gourmet ice cream shop, they serve up homemade ice cream with local ingredients, produce, milk and homemade mix-ins and baked goods β¦ even custom flavors!Β The shop creates about 70 gallons weekly of craft ice cream using locally sourced ingredients. Darryl Goodner, owner and operator of Louisville Cream, won first place for goat cheese ice cream infused with roasted green garlic scapes and balsamic fig jam at the Slow Food Bluegrass Garlic Harvest Festival. Itβs haute cuisine meets good olβ fashioned ice cream.
Located in the up-and-coming NuLu neighborhood, itβs the perfect spot to grab a scoop, window shop and check out the art galleries in the area. Louisville Cream opened in April, after catering to events like The Flea Off Market. Now, you can also find Louisville Creamβs pints at Rainbow Blossom Natural Food Markets and Old Town Wine & Spirits.
Now, get out there and try the cityβs best and coldest treats around!
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