Ice Cream in Knoxville

Let’s start with straight up ice cream – soft serve, hand dip, and sundaes:

Cruze Farm
Cruze Farm has a long history of milking jersey cows to make freshly churned ice cream. They bottle their own milk, chocolate milk, buttermilk, coffee milk, and seasonal flavored milk. Their red-and-white gingham-clad employees are just as sweet as their ice cream. Find them downtown on Gay Street or at their Asbury location in East Knoxville (where they also sell pizza). Keep it classic with a chocolate and sweet cream twist, a shake, or get a churn (a thicker treat with ice cream blended with toppings). Try their iconic confections and see why they serve with the motto of ‘Work Hard, Love Harder’!

Phoenix Pharmacy
The Phoenix Pharmacy and Fountain is a dream borne out of the desire to give back and serve this great community. The Pharmacy is comprised of a working pharmacy that would have been common in the United States around the turn of the century – complete with antique medicine bottles some original furnishings. The fountain looks like something out of a movie – complete with incredible shakes and enormous sundaes. Many of their ingredients are made in-house, from the ice cream itself to syrups and even their marshmallow fluff. Take yourself back in time with a visit to this downtown gem on Gay Street.

The Original Freezo
Located in North Knoxville, Freezo has frozen time to take a trip back into your childhood years. This is the type of place that most people think of when they think of the neighborhood soft serve.  They technically have a menu that includes hamburgers, hot dogs, and even chili on occasion, but their soft serve is where it’s at.  Get an original chocolate/vanilla swirl and be sure to bring cash.

Knox Dough
Rolled ice cream can still be hard to find, but we’ve tracked it down – it’s in west Knoxville/Farragut at Knox Dough! In addition to rolled ice cream, their namesake ‘dough’ is an edible cookie dough – no raw eggs. They have over 30 flavors of cookie dough, and a wide variety of shakes and toppings to choose from.

Sugar Queen Creamery
This spot in South Knoxville offers 28 original, homemade ice cream flavors each day. They rotate flavors seasonally from over a hundred different flavor options, while always keeping a few classics all year, so you're sure to find something to savor. Make it a meal and add on a beef pretzel dog!

Pelican's SnoBalls
Cool off with over 100 flavors of sugar-free New Orleans-style shaved ice at this spot in Bearden. Try signature flavors like “Rainbow”, “Butterfly Kiss”, or “Shark Attack” or create your own combination. Add cream to make a float!

La Michoacana
Mexican street food and paletas (Paletas are a Mexican frozen treat made from fresh natural fruits such as strawberry and mango or made from rich creamy ingredients such as Chocolate and Sicilian pistachio). Their west Knoxville location has lots of ethnic restaurants nearby, so an international meal is at your fingertips!

Ready for an adventure? Track down a food truck (music may or may not be included):

Gelato Brother Brew Bros Coffee
With its authentic gelato and organic brewed coffee, Gelato Brothers brings a unique dessert experience to Knoxville.  If you’re in northeast Tennessee (Talbott), you’ll be able to stop at their flagship store, but otherwise you can track their food truck in Knoxville.  Their signature item is the Brogato®, a decaf or regular espresso pour over of their milky authentic Italian Gelato. Called a contradiction in a cup, enjoy the contrast of cold milky sweet gelato with a hot strong espresso that glazes the sides of the gelato and melting it just a bit.

A La Mode
Serving a whole range of baked goods and ice cream to residents across Knoxville just made sense for Cecelia Fuller. What makes her sweets so unique is that she uses a seasonal menu to ensure each sweet treat has a rich, fitting, fresh flavor. A must-try from their menu is the ‘Ice Cream Croissant’. This treat is a buttery croissant stuffed with chocolate chip ice cream, topped with a dollop of whipped cream, and then drizzled to perfect with chocolate syrup.

Happy Times Ice Cream
Looking to reminisce on your younger years? Happy Times Ice Cream brings pure joy with their old-fashioned ice cream truck. Kids and adults will enjoy their iconic novelty ice cream sandwiches, snow cones, and soft-serve gluten and dairy-free options.

Sof-T-ee Serve Ice Cream
Sof-T-ee Serve is a soft and sweet spin to a mobile ice cream shop! Delivering favorites including shakes, sundaes, gluten- and lactose-free options, and seasonal flavors! They bring the joy to offices, parties, neighborhoods, churches, schools, or anywhere else in Knoxville. A must-try from their menu is their Peanut Butter Shake – a rich and creamy milkshake packed with an irresistible salty-and-sweet peanut butter flavor.

There are some restaurants around that are known not only for their delicious food but for their shakes as well:

Inskip Grill/The Shakery
The Inskip Grill in Fountain City is known for their massive burgers and larger-than-life sandwiches named after Knoxville neighborhoods and local legends. Although the portions are huge, be sure to save room for one of their famous Grilla shakes made with Blue Bell ice cream. The food, staff, and atmosphere are filled with character and great stories. Feel free to play some of the retro games in the shop and check out the notable Knoxville posters hung throughout the grill!

Bit Burger
Bit Burger in west Knoxville takes you back to the 80s and offers craft burgers, unique appetizers, amazing sandwiches, and fried Oreos. Item names are sure to make you smile, like “Mega Man”, “Cabbage Patch”, and the namesake “8-bit Burger”. Enjoy video games and a serving of nostalgia as you order a milkshake as large as your love for the 80s! The atmosphere is a blast from the past, filling the restaurant with LED lights, posters, and vintage characters. Try a basic chocolate, strawberry, or vanilla, or upgrade to the salted caramel, the cookie monster, or the unicorn shake!

Twisters Shakes and Sundaes and Diner
A Corryton staple in northeast Knox County, this diner takes care of breakfast, lunch, and dinner.  They also have a location on Washington Pike in northeast Knoxville and another on Central in North Knoxville. They serve Mayfield Diary soft serve (you can visit their creamery in nearby Athens, Tennessee). Get a simple cone or share a sundae with someone special!

Originally Written By Sarah Nagy, 2021 Marketing Intern

Edits made June 2024