8 Favorite Ice Cream Flavors In San Francisco | Tasting Table SF

By Tasting Table Staff/June 4, 2014 12:00 pm EST

Summer months mean ice cream season, and there is an overwhelming amount of great scoops for the licking in our fair city.

Where to start? Here are our eight favorite ice cream picks in SF, in no particular order.

Bi-Rite Creamery in the Mission
Salted caramel may be the de rigueur flavor, but we love the spicy, cinnamon-rich ricanelas ($3 for a single) studded with snickerdoodles.

Humphry Slocombe in the Mission
Celebrate Pride Month in sweet style with a scoop of rich, sweet Harvey Milk and Honey ($3.25 for a scoop). The strong honey flavor is accented with crunchy homemade graham crackers.

Smitten Ice Cream in Hayes Valley
Smitten's evil genius ice cream is made to order using liquid nitrogen, meaning their wonderfully fresh ingredients can shine. Try the mint chip ($4.75 for a small)–it'll change the way you think about mint-flavored ice cream forever.

Three Twins in the Lower Haight
We're obsessed with the playful shop's classic Lemon Cookie ($2.75 for a single). Creamy-sweet lemon ice cream has just the right amount of tang, with lemon sandwich cookies in every bite.

Mr. and Mrs. Miscellaneous in Dogpatch
Flavors change daily at this Dogpatch destination, but they can always be counted on to be creative, surprising and delicious. Get the rosemary maple ($2.75 for a single) when it's available–the herbaceous scoop has just the right amount of maple-y goodness.

Mitchell's Ice Cream in Bernal Heights
Celebrate summer with a scoop of peach ice cream ($3.20 for a single) made from fresh stone fruit from Clovis, California.

Swensen's in Russian Hill
The sticky, chewy chocolate ($2.95 for a small) at this neighborhood classic (open since 1948); it's a tongue-coating, stretchy scoop of pure chocolate heaven.

Twirl and Dip in Golden Gate Park
Relive the ice cream trucks of yore with a soft-serve cone. A vanilla-chocolate swirl ($4), dipped in a Tcho chocolate hard shell and sprinkled with Maldon sea salt ($1.25), satisfies your inner child while appealing to grown-up taste buds.