Downtown Phoenix Ice Cream Shop Ranked No. 1 on Yelp

Ice Cream Shop

Photo courtesy of Maria Orlova.

Desserts in the Desert

Novel Ice Cream in Downtown Phoenix has claimed the top spot on Yelp’s 2025 list of the best ice cream shops in the United States. The popular dessert destination earned an impressive 4.9-star rating from over 1,200 Yelp reviewers, highlighting its widespread customer acclaim. Metro Phoenix’s ice cream scene was further recognized with two additional shops ranking in Yelp’s national top 100 –Dessert In Desert in Scottsdale and LIX Uptown Ice Cream in Phoenix. The rankings showcase a growing reputation in the desert for inventive and high-quality frozen creations.

Steve Fishman via KTAR:

The Valley’s own Novel Ice Cream comes in at No. 1 on Yelp’s 2025 list of the nation’s best ice cream shops.

Yelp came out with their list on Tuesday with the Valley shop taking the top spot.

Novel has been a Valley favorite since 2017 focusing on “texture-driven, small-batch hand crafted ice cream and their legendary Dough Melt.” They hand craft their ice creams “two pans at a time” while developing each recipe specifically for each individual flavor.

The Phoenix ice cream shop has received 4.9 stars on Yelp from more than 1,200 reviewers.

Novel has three locations across the valley in downtown Phoenix, downtown Mesa and a food truck in Old Town Peoria.

The artisan ice cream shop offers eight staple ice cream flavors and four rotating flavors at a time. Some of their mainstays are Bourbon Toffee Caramel Crunch, Cookie Monster, PB Wasted and many more.

Other Valley ice cream shops on the list

Two other Valley ice cream shops made Yelp’s top 100 list. Dessert in Desert in Scottsdale is ranked 27th, while Lix Uptown Ice Cream comes in at 52 on this list.