Food & Drink
The Best Ice Cream in Seattle
In a city with so much great food, we wanted to know: What really takes the prize? Our critics tasted dozens of the very best ice creams to find out
By Naomi Tomky August 18, 2018
This article originally appeared in the September 2018 issue of Seattle magazine.
This article appears in print as the cover story of the September 2018 issue. Read more from the Best of the Best Restaurants feature story here. Click here to subscribe.
Best of the Best: Sweet Bumpas
The ice cream that Matt Bumpas (a former psychologist, law student and one-time pastry chef at Poppy) serves from his farmers’ market cart and seasonal Georgetown kitchen ($4.50 for a single scoop) brings together his canny creativity and chef training in fantastical flavors like garden mint with cocoa cookie, cinnamon caramel and hokeypokey—made with sweet cream and his own honeycomb toffee.
Fresh, often local ingredients (such as dairy products from Smith Brothers) bolster the flavors, as does making the ice cream base from scratch, rather than the easier, far more common method of using a premade pasteurized base. The result is smoother texture and cleaner taste, making it the best in a city that’s deep into a serious love affair with ice cream, and made all the more endearing by Bumpas’ childlike enthusiasm behind the scoop station.
Sweet Bumpas ice cream. Photo by Alex Crook
Georgetown, 6564 Fifth Ave. S; 206.719.0625; and mobile cart; sweetbumpas.com
OTHER FAVORITES
Sweet Lo’s
Wholesale only; sweetlosicecream.com
TIP: True ice cream addicts in Seattle should sign up for Sweet Lo’s subscription ice cream club and get three pints each month, in flavors exclusive to the club, such as Maple ’n’ French Toast, Grasshopper Fluff and roasted apricot honey.
Kurt Farm Shop
Capitol Hill, 1424 11th Ave.; kurtwoodfarms.com
Salt and Straw
Capitol Hill and Ballard; saltandstraw.com
Follow Us
‘The Lunchbox’
Luke Kolpin brings a sense of experimentation and whimsy to his work at Cedar + Elm
Would you try salted caramel ice cream with hints of mushroom? How about pumpkin with a drizzle of seaweed oil? Chef Luke Kolpin, head chef at Cedar + Elm, located within The Lodge at St. Edward State Park in Kenmore, hopes you’ll give some unexpected flavor combos a try. Photo courtesy of The Lodge at
Seattle Restaurant Week Starts Sunday
Get some great deals while supporting favorite establishments
For two weeks, you can eat your heart out in Seattle and surrounding neighborhoods during Seattle Restaurant Week. From April 14-27, prepare for exclusive, budget-friendly menus at over 200 restaurants throughout the city.
The Region’s Best Mexican Food is in a Snohomish County Parking Lot
Hidden Gems Weekend Market is again open for business
Among the 20 aisles of some 300 vendors selling everything from Native American beadwork to the classic flea market assortments of knickknacks and hardware, sits the Northwest's biggest and best assortment of regional Mexican cuisine, street foods, and snacks.
