30 Best Ice Cream Shops near Chapel Hill

“We walked in to Ben & Jerry’s UNC with 14 worn out volleyball players and 3 tired coaches. John and Haddie (I hope I got the names right!) showed no fear and gave us the much-needed scoops with smiles! Thanks for reviving our troops with sweet treats and sweet greetings! #gcavolleyball #uncchapelhillvolleyballcamp“

“Yum! We've tried several of the non-dairy GF flavors and none have disappointed. Currently, I'm trying not to polish off a pint of non-dairy Golden Milk by myself in one sitting.“

“Im not sure you’ve ever had amazing ice cream if you haven’t had Jenis!
Also thank you to the workers here for being super accommodating to my peanut allergy. They offered to open new containers for me which means a lot ❤❤❤ Love Jenis.“

“Best bubble tea place in town :) Milk tea, thai tea and mango-peach smoothie is my favourite! Love it“

“The best thing here is the gelato. It’s super high end. Smoothies >$7 latte >$7. Served in to go cups. Not a ton of natural lighting, but some seating decent for working. The gelato is really nice actually, esp spicy mango.

Some outdoor seating.

I have had their smoothies and one of their lattes, Rocky Mountain latte. I asked for less sweet and it was still too sweet to finish.“

“Nice old gritty yogurt shop, a Chapel Hill staple. Yogurt/cones are great. The sloping, hand rail-less, sharp-edged brick steps are a death trap, no idea how this passes any city standards. But the yogurt is good and you get to watch people trip on the steps as they try to get in and out.“

“The behavioral patterns of the workers at literally every ice cream shop in downtown Chapel Hill should be studied. I’m leaving this review for this shop because there’s truly no discrepancies between the service here and any ice cream shop in this town so there’s no need for multiple reviews. I get excited whenever I decide to go for a scoop of ice cream now, primarily because of the delightfully foul mood of every single ice cream shop worker in Orange County. The jarring dichotomy present as someone serves me my non-dairy ice cream with sprinkles while they glare at me never ceases to tickle me. I would dare to say it’s almost camp. I am not exaggerating when I say that every time I go for ice cream, anywhere on Franklin St, specifically, I receive some variation of eye-rolling, mumbling, annoyed stares, no eye contact, sass, 0 response to simple questions, etc. Once at this particular location I asked to pay in cash and the cashier looked at me like I had spat in her face. Fabulous. The hypnotic vibe of being treated like a hardened criminal while getting a sweet treat is hilarious and always makes my day. I would venture to say all ice cream shop employees in this town need to start a support group for their community but I wouldn’t want to risk there being any alterations to whatever delicate ecosystem created and sustains this phenomenon. I always tip because I need whatever this is to stay afloat financially. 10/10, no notes. Also the ice cream is good.“

“Mouth watering 🤤I really recommend“

“Thank the Carolina Blue heavens for getting a Shake Shack in CH!!!! I used to frequent the original in NYC (hat tip to Danny Meyers) and now it’s a 10 minute drive vs a plane trip. And yay for the onion rings sneaking on the permanent menu. I actually did a little jig!

The manager is AMAZING! I can’t say enough good things about her! So kind, generous and compassionate. I even got a hug on an especially bad day. I came in crying, no, sobbing and left with a smile. I applaud her and her staff!“

“Absolutely love this place - staff is friendly, decor is super cute and inviting. I tried cucumber ice cream for the first time and fell in love. Highly recommend you stop by - you won't regret it - they also have a great outdoor space to hang out in!“

“We love this place! Come here every time we pick up or bring back our NCSSM student. Today, she graduated and we made sure to visit one more time before we head home to NE NC for the summer (don’t worry, we’ll be back - go Tar Heels)!!! Look what the sweet owners did for her?! Thank you ❤️“

“We had strawberry lemonade vegan popsicle. It was the best 👌🏾 highly recommended!!!“

“Excellent Cuszomer Service“

“The atmosphere was so nice and calm the workers there are sooo nice and friendly this place is also kid friendly so many activities like playing board games , coloring, and the best part eating snacks and yummy ice cream and so many different varieties of desserts!!! Loved it here definitely will come next time“

“I have not had a snow cone in years so Pelicans surprised me! My memory of them were semi-dense small ice chunks, syrups with the artificial aftertaste, and either pure syrup or pure ice at the bottom. Pelicans was none of that! The ice was really surprisingly fluffy and they have tons of great flavor options. I ordered tigers blood (mostly coconutty) and mango and it was perfect for summer.“

“A nice variety to choose from“

“this is great ice cream plus has magnificent view“

“Ice cream! Anything made with Lavender is my favorite!“

“We love Napoli - the food, staff, atmosphere, but the noise level is nearly intolerable. I know, I know, I know you have installed some noise-dampening panels and there's little you can do about this other than installing shag carpet... I do wish, however, that the patrons would take it upon themselves to talk a bit more quietly.“

“love the mangonadas :).. I recommend this place:)“

“Amazing frozen yogurt and amazing people that work there!“

“This ice cream is very good! Affordable and delicious! It’s a perfect place to run out for an ice cream in your PJs or sweats since they have a drive thru! We usually sit in the parking lot and enjoy the ice cream and watch traffic on Guess Rd…“

“Came here today for a smoothie, the employees were very nice and friendly there was one girl with red hair that was helping me she was extremely friendly and professional! They had everything down looked like a lot of teenagers were running the store while waiting for my smoothie I witnessed a difficult customer get loud and rude with an employee I was impressed by the way this young lady handled the customer! Not only that but her coworkers had her back as well. I know service working can be hard and I am sending best wishes to the team working today.“

“Bella and Maddie are probably the best employees at crumbl. I’ve been in there a few times but it always seems to be the best when Bella and Maddie are on the shift, they greet all costumers and explain the flavors of the week perfectly! They definitely make the experience worth the trip!“

“Ordered a drink that came out wrong, explained it so I could order something different as it wasn't tasting right at all. Still get charged for the old drink, infact my drink points I redeemed didn't even get accounted for. Terrible service. They won't remake your drink either, even if it's clearly wrong. don't recommend cary location its only gotten worse.“

“My husband and I absolutely love Aidan's Pizza! We love that it is a small family business with great prices, excellent customer service, and high quality food. We have ordered many times and are always thoroughly satisfied with our meal. The Cheese Steak is delicious: perfectly cooked meat, toasty bread, cheesy, and well seasoned! We have tried the cheese sticks (the small is very generous!), the Kickin Tarheel Pizza, the Sweet Carolina Pizza, the Greek Goddess pizza (pictured), and the Caprese pizza. The pizzas are always fresh with generous toppings and delicious crust. Give Aidan's a try - you're missing out otherwise!“

“I loveeee this place, I’ve been a returning customer since 2020. my favorite drinks on the menu would be the Thai milk tea and the matcha milk tea. Most of the times I’ve gone there’s been the same worker there, she appears to be a young girl in her twenty’s who is always running the shop alone, however she is such a hard worker and makes the yummiest tea! The environment is very peaceful and the overall service is great,Definitely recommend!“

“This place delivers exactly what you’d expect from Hwy 55, however has someone special setting it above. That person is Chloe! She was very polite, kind, attentive and seemed to be the driving force and glue keeping this whole place running on the front end! Food was great and service was top notch! Wishing Chloe the best in life, tenure here and her endeavors!“