BEST ICE CREAM SHOPS IN SEVIERVILLE, TN
Cold treats so scrumptious they’re worth screaming about from atop the Smoky Mountains!
Ready your taste buds: We’ve got the scoop on the best ice cream shops in Sevierville, Tennessee. From childhood favorites to gourmet creations that please even the most sophisticated palates, there’s a flavor to make you smile. Three shops even showcase local ingredients in their handcrafted ice creams and ice cream treats for a truly indulgent taste of the Smoky Mountains.
Cruze Farm Dairy makes its fresh-churned ice cream using milk from the family dairy farm. “All our milk is from a herd of about 100 jersey cows,” says Britney Candel, general manager of Sevierville’s newest ice cream shop. All of the hand-mixed ice cream served at this family-owned business is soft serve. Featured flavors vary daily, with a total of eight to twelve available that reflect the season. Summer favorites like lavender honey, blackberry, and iced lemon cookie move aside to make way for fall flavors like pumpkin and sweet potato. Perennial favorites like espresso and cookies and cream plus dietary versions like dairy-free pineapple sorbet and sugar-free vanilla also make the rounds. Recipes are concocted by the farmers as well as staff members. Sweet cream (Cruze Farm’s version of vanilla) and chocolate are always available, as is strawberry—as long as it doesn’t sell out before you can get there. “One of our business values is to ‘work hard, love harder,’” says Candel. No surprise, then, that orders can be individualized to suit specific tastes: choose a cake or waffle cone or a cup, add toppings or churn them in, get a dip, try a sundae, float, or shake.
The Apple Valley Creamery & Bake Shop is a local legend: “We were the first in the Smoky Mountains to make our own ice cream and started 30 years ago,” says owner David Frangella. “We still make it all by hand, using locally-sourced ingredients whenever we can.” Milk arrives from multiple dairy farms, including one in nearby New Market that pasteurizes its own milk right at the farm. This scoopable ice cream is flavored over 100 different ways, all sublimely lickable. “We make way more flavors than anybody!” says Frangella. “We keep 38 at a time in the dipping cabinet, yet actually have 50 flavors on hand most of the time.” The flavor lineup changes throughout the year with options like cotton candy and key lime pie in the summer, pumpkin in the fall, and cranberry walnut in the winter. Perennial favorites include butter pecan, praline pecan, and Smoky Mountain Fudge (a triple dark chocolate concoction). Since The Creamery is located at a working apple farm, four different flavors of apple ice cream are produced: deep dish apple pie, apple cinnamon, caramel apple, and apple walnut fudge. Kids adore the ‘Superman’ flavor, which is vanilla ice cream with swirls of blue, red, and yellow coloring. Everything is made from scratch here, from the ice cream to the baked goods and even the waffle cones that are available plain, dipped in chocolate, and dipped plus rolled in nuts or sprinkles. Beyond cones, enjoy sundaes, splits, frappes, smoothies, frozen coffee, frozen lemonade, and so much more.
Red’s Soda Fountain and Ice Cream is a blast from the past yet new to Sevierville’s dessert scene serving up craft sodas, ice cream, and more in historic Downtown Sevierville. This charming 1940s-inspired soda fountain pays homage to Red’s Cafe, which previously operated in the building across the street from the current establishment in what is now law offices. For the ice cream connoisseur and Dolly Parton fan alike, Red’s Cafe is often connected with Dolly Parton, who frequented the cafe as a small child. Today, Red’s Soda Fountain and Ice Cream offers delicious hand-dipped scoops in 14 different flavors of locally made ice cream. Find everything from classic flavors like vanilla, chocolate, and strawberry, or try Red’s specialty renditions including cinnamon bun, cotton candy, or amaretto chip. Dips are served in either homemade cones or traditional glass dishes, which suit the 20th-century aesthetic perfectly. For a truly unique treat, try their ice cream in a float with one of their non-traditional house-made soda flavors like nectar (strawberry pineapple), blackberry, ginger ale, coconut, vanilla, orange, and many others, or in other items like milkshakes, sundaes, floats, banana splits, and old school desserts like egg creams, malts, Boston shakes, or rootbeer shakes.
More Cool Finds
Sweet Frog serves premium frozen yogurt in multiple flavors like coffee, raspberry, Irish cream, chocolate, vanilla, and cake batter plus sugar-free, low-fat, nonfat, and dairy-free versions. Top your pick with a mind-blowing array of options that include fresh fruit, candy, nuts, cereals, sauces, cookie crumbles, and other treats.
Andy’s Frozen Custard Andy’s Frozen Custard brings a retro-cool vibe to sweet treats. Creamier than regular ice cream, their custard is made fresh hourly behind a large picture window in the front of the shop. Order up a decadent favorite from the walk up window - like the Stolen Brownie Sundae, a Boot Daddy Concrete or a classic banana split – and hang out to eat with fellow custard fans in the outdoor seating area.
