Bay Area boasts a dizzying array of flavors

Ice cream is a yearround sport in the Bay Area considering the weather, but summer’s still a prime time to get a cone. Our proximity to luscious dairy means ice creams celebrating the best of milk fat, and our proclivity for seasonality means rotating sorbets and gelatos that highlight peak produce.

Though it’s hard to go wrong with ice cream here, some producers have risen above the rest — whether it’s with inventive flavors or the simplicity of sweet, fatty cream. Mainstays like Mitchell’s and Bi Rite are still slinging ice cream that will make you close your eyes and sigh on a hot sunny day, while newcomers such as Randy’s are finding new ways to twist nostalgic flavors into ice cream, such as with a popcorn salted caramel creation. Those who can’t eat cow milk have plenty of standout options, too. Many of these shops excel at inventive cashew or coconut ice creams, including Indiainspired Koolfi Creamery’s jaggery churned with coconut milk.

Visit these shops for a scoop, or look out for their names in the grocery aisle. There are enough to try a new, delectable flavor every day this summer.

1 Bi Rite Creamery Bi Rite, which opened in 1998, is one of the best known names in artisanal food in San Francisco, and its ice cream still holds up even as it has expanded to freezer aisles in grocery stores. Favorites like the honey lavender or cookies and cream are usually available yearround in the Mission District creamery or at the Ferry Building Saturday food truck, but in line with Bi Rite’s celebration of the seasons, there’s always a selection of changing flavors, too. In the summer, go for the creamy yet balanced balsamic strawberry, either in a cone to take to nearby Mission Dolores Park or in a pint for home. All accoutrements — brownies for sundaes, cookies for ice cream sandwiches — are made inhouse, and they’re all as pristine as the ice cream. — Serena Dai 3692 18th St., San Francisco. biritemarket.com/locations/

2 Curbside Creamery It’s hard to ignore the buttery smell of freshly made waffle cones coming out of Curbside Creamery, a tiny spot located in Oakland’s trendy Temescal Alley. It’s also the rare scoop shop that does conventional ice cream, vegan ice cream, soft serve and ice cream sandwiches extremely well. Truly, it’s hard to go wrong. Classic flavors sing, from the tart and creamy lemon to the bold coffee featuring beans from Oakland’s Bicycle Coffee Co. About half of the rotating options are cashewbased vegan ice creams, making Curbside a strong choice for groups with mixed diets. — Janelle Bitker 482 48th St., Oakland. www.curbsideoakland.com

3 Koolfi Creamery Jaggery caramel, gheeroasted almonds and mango lassi: Koolfi Creamery’s ice cream is a celebration of flavors from India. Priti Narayanan’s inventive ice cream is creamy and thoughtprovoking, like her take on salted caramel, amped up with crumbles of Mysore pak, a South Indian chickpea ghee fudge, or Kamala Blossom, a lotus seed and rose flavor Narayanan created in honor of the country’s first female vice president, Kamala Harris. Koolfi also makes several vegan ice creams, including toasted black sesame and jaggery churned with coconut milk. Find Koolfi pints at stores in San Francisco, the East Bay and Peninsula, or order online for delivery (four pint minimum). — Elena Kadvany San Leandro. koolficreamery.com

4 Lush Gelato Always anticipate that Lush Gelato will offer some unique flavor combinations — though always executed with rich, saturated intent. Options have included cardamom with a housemade lemon bar, brown butter and chocolate honeycomb, and mango and pepper. Owner Federico Murtagh, who’s been in the business since 2006, often calls out local producers in flavors, such as Cowgirl Creamery cheese or McEvoy Ranch olive oil. A scoop from its North Beach storefront goes well in a waffle cone while strolling the neighborhood, but there are more elaborate options too, such as a chocolate bonbon filled with peanut butter gelato and toffee. Check its Instagram for flavor updates. — S.D.

520 Columbus Ave., San Francisco. www.lushgelato.com

5 Milkbomb Ice Cream Milkbomb’s Instagramready ice cream doughnut sandwiches look like a lot: They’re loaded with colorful, quirky flavors like Lucky Charms and matcha avocado, then showered with sprinkles, cereal and bruleedtoorder marshmallow cream. But even ice cream purists shouldn’t miss Milkbomb. Out of its small shops in San Francisco’s Potrero Hill and Berkeley, the creamery sells plenty of unadorned scoops that draw loyal fans for their dense, chewy texture. Asian flavors particularly shine here, such as ube and Manila Mango — both use produce sourced from the Philippines. Check Yelp for the most uptodate hours as the stores slowly reopen. — J.B.

1717 17th St., San Francisco. 2079 University Ave., Berkeley. www.instagram.com/milkbombicecream

6 Mitchell’s Ice Cream The line regularly extends down the block for a scoop at Mitchell’s, the Mission District icon that’s been in business since 1953. Mitchell’s doesn’t miss with its ultralong menu of smooth and airy ice creams and sorbets, whether it’s for a classic like strawberries and cream or a less ubiquitous flavor like lucuma, the caramelly South American fruit. The original Mitchell family still runs the shop, and though it’s an oldschool operation, its range of flavors speaks to its dedication to evolving. Since its debut, options such as mango, ube, horchata and halohalo have been added. — S.D.

688 San Jose Ave., San Francisco. mitchellsicecream.com

7 Mr. Dewie’s In business since 2011, Mr. Dewie’s has been making smooth, rich vegan ice creams long before every local shop started adding dairyfree options to its lineups. The outfit’s secrets are fatty cashew milk and organic ingredients — resulting in scoops popular enough for Mr. Dewie’s to expand to three locations in Oakland, Albany and Emeryville. Unlike some higher tech dairy replacements to recently hit the market, cashew milk still tastes like cashews, so the best flavors complement the nutty backdrop. Think caramel almond crunch, turmeric spice and, of course, roasted cashew. — J.B. 1116 Solano Ave., Albany. 5959 Shellmound St., Emeryville. 4184 Piedmont Ave., Oakland. www.mrdewies.com

8 Mr. & Mrs. Miscellaneous It can feel a little bit agonizing trying to get a scoop of Mr. & Mrs. Miscellaneous if you’re not paying close attention to this Dogpatch shop’s elusive schedule — noon to 4 p.m. WednesdayFriday and noon to 6 p.m. Saturday — especially since its pints aren’t sold in other stores. Seeking out these organic, gently sweet, airy ice creams is worth it, though. The chocolate chip flavor is pure nostalgic joy, with tiny shards of bittersweet chips punctuating the smooth ice cream base. Even creative options like Hawaiian Punch and Dark ‘n’ Stormy are subtle, allowing the creamy textures to outshine any bold flavors. Try the macapuno, a type of young coconut popular in the Philippines, with its chewy bites of coconut flesh and justbarelysweet tropical richness. — Esther Mobley 699 22nd St., San Francisco.

9 Noble Folk Sonoma County natives Ozzy Jimenez and Christian Sullberg translated the success of their Healdsburg bakery Mustache Baked Goods to open this ice cream and pie destination in 2014. Noble Folk’s nottoosweet ice creams rely on seasonal ingredients with the flavors changing regularly, but fan favorites like the black sesame coconut stay on for good reason. The most recent set of flavors includes a fruity roundup with options like passion fruit, blood orange raspberry and triple berry pie. Grab a slice of one of Noble Folks’s many pies to pair with the ice cream if you’re not planning to get it in a cone.

In addition to the Healdsburg outpost, Noble Folk has a location in downtown Santa Rosa. — Tanay Warerkar 116 Matheson St., Healdsburg. 539 Fourth St., Santa Rosa. www.thenoblefolk.com

10 Posie Posie’s signature blueberry magnolia ice cream is a revelation, even for those of us who usually shy away from fruity flavors. It’s slightly floral from the essence of magnolia flower but tastes overwhelmingly of freshpicked blueberries and sunny summer days. At the inventive Larkspur ice cream shop, one of the few in the area that’s licensed to pasteurize ice cream onsite, ingredients like bay leaf, lemongrass, miso and corn make their way into seasonal scoops — a reflection of the time owner Kyle Caporicci spent as a pastry chef at restaurants like Commis in Oakland. Scoops only on weekdays; pints, as well as fresh pies, are available on weekends for now. Here’s hoping he brings back the ice cream kouign amann sandwiches soon. — E.K.

250 Magnolia Ave, Larkspur. posiecreamery.square.site ! Randy’s Best Ice Cream Like any good chef, Brandon Nguyen is hyperattuned to the texture, sweetness and aroma of his ice creams. It’s what makes them distinct: a banana milk flavor that tastes intensely of the Korean drink but without any artificial aftertaste, or saltysweet popcorn salted caramel made from popcorn popped in clarified butter. Nguyen (whose nickname is Randy) recently started his own Albany shop and popup with flavors like Meyer lemon lavender, roasted Genmaicha tea and brownie batter meant to evoke that secret bowllick of Duncan Hines batter. Due to health department restrictions, his ice cream comes in prepackaged 5ounce cups. You can find Nguyen wearing a retro soda jerk hat and his nostalgic ice cream cart outside the Albany Twin theater on weekends; check Instagram for updates on whether he’s sold out. — E.K.

1115 Solano Ave., Albany. randysbesticecream.com/

12 Uji Time Uji Time burst onto the Bay Area ice cream scene with silky soft serve placed atop its freshly baked taiyaki — the Japanese fishshape cakes that are usually filled with red bean paste — in Berkeley in 2016. That combination is just as good as ever, even after the shop’s expansion to five locations in the Bay Area. Soft serve flavors including ube, matcha and black sesame are still the way to go here, but those looking to take some ice cream home can grab a pint of Uji Time’s yuzu passion fruit, red velvet or Hong Kong milk tea, among other flavors. If you do opt for the soft serve, be sure to ask for some of the extra, playful fixings like pocky sticks and sprinkles. — T.W. San Mateo, San Francisco and multiple locations in the East Bay.