Cool off at Victoria’s craft ice cream shops (2024)

It is officially ice cream season.

The sun has begun to pour through the clouds and the beaches are becoming increasingly packed with people lounging on picnic blankets. What better way to cool off than with a waffle cone stacked high with locally-made craft ice cream.

We have compiled a selection of some of the best ice cream spots to grab a cone on the way back from the beach or to pick up a pint to enjoy at home. From scoops and bars to ice cream sandwiches and milkshakes, these delicious and consciously-made ice creams are available in many forms and flavours.

Parachute

Parachute makes its ice cream in-store using local ingredients, including hand making ingredients like brownies, crumble, and compote. It also makes its waffle cones from scratch. The ice cream shop has many gluten-free and vegan options, as well as sorbets and frozen yogurts. Parachute offers classics like chocolate truffle and its bestselling lemon cream, as well limited-time flavours—with notable recent scoops including tiramisu, carrot cake, and strawberry passionfruit. The shop also makes its ice creams into cakes and milkshakes. Parachute’s ice cream is available in scoops as well as in pints that can be found at retailers across the city.

Address: 105-2626 Bridge St.; 735 Goldstream Ave. #129
Hours: Monday-Sunday, noon-8pm

Cold Comfort

Located in North Park, Cold Comfort has been creating small batch ice cream since 2010. The ice cream shop utilizes seasonal ingredients, locally-made spirits and beers, fair trade chocolate, and organic sugar cane. Cold Comfort’s ice cream is available in scoops and pints as well as in its famed ice cream sandwiches. Among its sandwich flavours are raspberry swirl, horchata, and an ice cream take on Hoyne Brewing’s Dark Matter. Sundaes are available on Sundays, complete with all the toppings. Cold Comfort also makes baked Alaska available whole or by the slice. The ice cream shop makes delicious plant-based ice cream—also called Nicecream—using a coconut milk base. Its Nicecream products can be found at select retailers across the city.

Address: 1115 N Park St. #2, Victoria
Hours: Monday, 1-6pm; Tuesday-Thursday and Sunday, noon-7pm; Saturday and Sunday, noon–9pm

49 Below

49 Below makes small-batch ice cream that prioritizes seasonal and fresh ingredients. Available in scoops and pints, the ice cream shop has classics like mint chocolate chip and vanilla bean as well as limited-time unique flavours like earl grey rose and black sesame. 49 Below also partners with The Root Cellar to make batches of upcycled ice cream utilizing imperfect and ripe fruit and veggies, with a recent batch turning rainbow carrots into carrot cake scoops. Its ice cream is also available in cakes with a cookie crumble base, and pints are available at locations across the city.

49 Below also recently launched KulaPops, its own line of popsicles, that feature flavours like Vietnamese coffee and strawberries and cream. The popsicles are going mobile with KulaPops’ cart, which was recently spotted at Esquimalt Farmers Market and will be making an appearance at The Village Block Party on June 9.

Address: 2575 Cadboro Bay Rd., Victoria
Hours: Tuesday-Friday, noon-6pm; Saturday and Sunday, noon-8pm

The Hidden Gem

Nestled away in Cook Street Village, The Hidden Gem makes up plant-based ice cream using coconut milk, sea salt, and organic cane sugar. The cafe and ice cream shop typically has classics like chocolate, vanilla, and strawberry available as well as rotating flavours—with past standouts including mango, lemon meringue, and blackberry orange. Many of The Hidden Gem’s ice creams are also gluten-free. Its ice cream is available in scoops, pints, and half-pints as well as delicious milkshakes. The shop also offers its ice cream in sandwiches served between two of its freshly baked cookies.

Address: 337 Cook St. B, Victoria
Hours: Monday-Thursday, 8am-4pm; Friday-Sunday, 8am-5pm

Hazel’s

Hazel's is a family-owned ice cream bar shop that makes its bars at its location downtown. All of its bars are handmade with artisanal standards in mind and are usually peanut free. Many of Hazel’s ice cream bars are gluten-free and there are dairy-free options as well. The shop has a selection of core bars like its cookies and cream, bubblegum, and coffee toffee that are available widely as well a few that are unique only to the Island, like its matcha, raspberry dark chocolate, and orange float. It also has limited-time flavours, like its current cinnamon bun bar, which is exclusive to The Ice Cream Truck. Aside from its shop, Hazel’s ice cream bars can often be found in a mobile cart along Dallas Road as well as at select locations across the city.

Address: 1029 View St. #103, Victoria
Hours: Thursday, noon-5pm; Friday and Saturday, noon-6pm

Virtuous Pie

Beyond its famed vegan pizzas, Virtuous Pie also makes small-batch dairy-free ice cream. Its ice cream is available in scoops at the restaurant as well as in pints to take home. The flavours rotate frequently but often include its Ballpark Popcorn, raspberry cheesecake, and caramel macchiato. Past rotators have also included black forest, Vietnamese coffee, and a scoop inspired by Jammie Dodger cookies. Virtuous Pie’s ice cream is also available in flights of three flavours, as well as in sandwich form served between two of the restaurant’s house-made chocolate chip cookies.

Address: 530 Pandora Ave., Victoria
Hours: Sunday-Thursday, 11:30am-9pm; Friday and Saturday, 11:30am-10pm