Summer and ice cream go together like the ocean and the sand. In the Hamptons, there’s no need to scream for ice cream. The South Fork is full of spots with delectable frozen treats. Think sundaes made with homemade ice cream and fun contemporary fruity flavors like vegan mango and stalwarts like chocolate and vanilla (or both on the same cone). You’ll find soft serve and hard, gelato and ice cream, fruity and rich offerings, sprinkles and syrup — you name it, a local Hamptons ice cream store probably has it.
If your tastebuds are calling for something cold, head to one (or more) of these 11 ice cream stores on the South Fork.
Tuck Shop
75 N. Menantic Road, Shelter Island, 631-749-5939
This quintessential Shelter Island summertime stop has been around for more than four decades. Though it changed hands in 2019 when local businessman John Sieni bought it from Bill and Pat Sulahian, who opened Tuck Shop in 1980, islanders and vacationers alike still flock to Tuck Shop for a sweet retreat from a hot day. Under the new ownership, the shop underwent a facelift, expanding its frozen yogurt menu to include vegan flavors like mango and strawberry and freezer space for takeaway offerings. But you’ll still find classics. Soft-serve, swirly chocolate in a cone or cup? Yours. Other potential delicacies include a Reese’s Pieces Cookie Sandwich and a vast assortment of cakes topped with cookies and candies.
Sip ‘n Soda
40 NY-27A, Southampton, 631-283-9752
Sip ‘n Soda hasn’t strayed from its recipe since opening in 1958, even as its popularity has grown: Homemade ice cream served in a retro-style luncheonette by staffers as sweet as the frozen treats. The family-owned luncheonette has unveiled seasonal flavors, including a refreshing peach and cantaloupe. The coconut feels like a tropical adventure for tastebuds.
A La Mode Shoppe
35 Newtown Lane, East Hampton, 631-604-6930
Nearly all can indulge at A La Mode’s Hamptons outpost. The shop, a hit in NYC, handcrafts its small-batch ice cream in a nut-free facility and offers gluten and dairy-free frozen ice creams. Indulge in vanilla or chocolate. You’ll also find creative twists on classics like Wired (coffee ice cream with chocolate chips) and a pink sprinkle flavor made with vanilla ice cream and rainbow sprinkles that tastes as happy as it sounds.
BuddhaBerry
125 Main St, Sag Harbor, 631-808-3888
BuddhaBerry is like the Whole Foods and Trader Joe’s of FroYo. Toppings aren’t your standard fare — expect chia seeds, hemp hearts, fiber-packed flax seeds, roasted red quinoa, goji berries and raw cacao nips made with 70 percent real cocoa. Unsurprisingly, BuddhaBerry currently has two vegan flavors available: A savory dark chocolate sorbetto and a fruity Valencia orange sorbetto. Other flavors include a berry creamsicle swirl, peanut butter and jelly and strawberry.
Sundaes on Main
2414 Main St, Bridgehampton, 631-488-7692
Hamptons natives and high school friends-turned-husband-wife duo Tom and Jeanie Strong set up shop on Main Street in 2022 and have become a sweet sensation. A sign inside serves as a memorable life lesson: “Life is short. Make it sweet.” And Sundaes on Main offers ways to do just that with FroYo flavors like Dole Whip Pineapple. The shop recently introduced a chocolate cherry ice cream — a swirly soft-serve offering that blends a fushia-colored cherry ice cream with traditional chocolate.
Tate’s Bake Shop
43 N. Sea Road, Southampton, 631-283-9830
Tate’s Southampton shop may not be considered a national landmark, but it should be. The local shop that went national with its thin, crispy chocolate chip cookies so good you’ll eat them like chips also makes swoon-worthy ice creams. You’ll find it inside the bake shop’s humble cottage that keeps the spot true to its local roots that began in Southampton when then-21-year-old Kathleen King opened her first bakeshop in 1980. The Tatewich sandwiches offer a heaping helping of vanilla ice cream between a pair of the shop’s cookies. It proves dessert choices like cookies and ice cream don’t have to be either/or decisions.
Moo Moo’s East Hampton Ice Cream Shop
69 N. Main St., East Hampton, 631-604-2382
Moo Moo’s serves up hand-dipped Hershey’s ice creams. The mouthwatering Moose Tracks combines some of life’s greatest pleasures: Peanut butter cups, fudge and vanilla ice cream. There’s also milk and cookies, also known as cookies and cream. Whichever you call it, it’s a best-seller for the obvious reasons. The topics are traditional parlor offerings like chocolate or rainbow sprinkles, Oreo cookies and gummy bears — because sometimes, reinventing the wheel is unnecessary.
Yummylicious!
2 Main St., Sag Harbor, 631-223-8119
You’ll find frozen yogurts, ice cream, milkshakes and even bubble tea inside this Sag Harbor Main Street shop. Yummylicious! is celebrating 12 years in business this summer with a menu that includes 24 ice cream flavors, eight frozen yogurts and more ice cream toppings than one can list. Dairy and no-sugar-added options are also on the menu, making it a place for all. A sampling of flavors includes a cappuccino that tastes like a frozen jolt, cotton candy for true sweet tooths and chocolate junk made with vegan oat milk.
Shock Ice Cream
99 Main St., Westhampton Beach, 631-553-0155
Every week is carnival week at Shock Ice Cream. The shop has developed a cult following for its Carnival Cone, which turns ice cream into a topping for cotton candy. But you can add more whatever other toppings your tastebuds desire, too. New flavors for 2023 include the shop’s riff on breakfast-for-dessert in the Fruti Cereal Swirl and Sugar Cookie made with pink icing and rainbow sprinkles.
Big Olaf
8 Wharf St., Sag Harbor, 631-725-7505
Another major player in the crowded Sag Harbor ice cream scene, Big Olaf, is known for drawing crowds of its own. The wrap-around lines are worth waiting in if only for its crispy waffle cones made in-house. The lines also give you time to mull your options – there are more than 20, including cookies and cream, butter pecan and blueberry oat.
The Sweet Spot
106 Newtown Lane, East Hampton, 631-604-6500
Brand new this summer, ninth-generation East Hamptoner, Tom Cooper, is all about bringing a little family fun to tiny East Hampton, and not a lick too soon. This soft-serve-centric spot, with its ice cream cone hanging lights and abundance of packaged candies, toppings and house-made “spots” (delicious donut holes!) and super friendly atmosphere are already a hit this summer.
