Awesome ice cream food trucks from all around America

“Throughout their years living in New York City,” the website states, “Bryan Petroff and Douglas Quint had always focused on their respective careers - until they got themselves a Big Gay Ice Cream Truck.” Fast forward eight years and Big Gay Ice Cream isn’t just a single truck, it’s an empire that includes two shops in NYC (both East and West Villages), another in Philadelphia, and a fourth that focuses exclusively on shakes and floats. And that doesn’t include all the stores selling pints! Big Gay Ice Cream doesn’t take their flavor selections lightly (or plainly), offering cone-housed varieties like the Salty Pimp (vanilla soft serve mixed with dulce de leche and covered in a chocolate shell) and the Rocky Roadhouse (chocolate soft serve, toasted almonds, chocolate morsels, and mini-marshmallows). For your location needs (and we do mean needs), visit their website.

With a killer name that sounds more like a superhero team than a food truck, Captain Cookie & the Milk Man have been slinging fresh-baked cookies, local creamery milk, and made-to-order ice cream sandwiches for five years and counting. Their chocolate chip cookie recipe, however, actually took 30 long years to perfect. That type of care is typical for CC&MM, who also restored and hand-painted each of their “Cookiemobiles.” Track down one of three trucks (via their website) to get a taste of cookie varieties such as double chocolate, ginger molasses, snickerdoodle, or funfetti paired with ice creams like chocolate or black cherry. The business has been so successful that Captain Cookie & the Milk Man also opened a brick-and-mortar store at The Shops at 2000 Pennsylvania Avenue.

Coolhaus isn’t just cruising the roads of a single city or region, their incredible popularity and success has allowed them to expand to Dallas, Los Angeles, and New York - and that’s all in less than a decade! Wondering about the name? That came about because Coolhaus serves ice cream sandwiches, a.k.a. cute little ice cream houses. You dig? Speaking of digging, Coolhaus scoops some 75 rotating flavors, covering everything from Avocado Sea Salt to Zlicious Salted Caramel Corn. (Thank goodness they have both “A” and “Z” flavors or that joke never would have worked.) The cookies include Confetti Whoopie Pie, S’mores, Reese’s Pieces, and another 15 types, as well as brownies and mini cookie bowls. As of now, Coolhaus has four trucks in Dallas, four in L.A., and two in New York, as well as two SoCal storefronts. For info on those outlets and the 4000+ markets offering pints in all 50 states, Asia, and the Middle East, visit their website, where you can also order ice cream by mail!

One of the very first dessert trucks in Florida, Dolci Peccati Gelato isn’t your typical gelato shop. (And not just because it’s on wheels.) Although they offer some familiar favorites like chocolate and vanilla, most of their 60 rotating flavors are of the Peanut Butter Oreo, Dulce de Leche Coconut, Strawberry Jalapeño, and Sweet Potato with Marshmallow variety. Dolci Peccati also slings sherbert, shakes, floats, pops, gelato sandwiches, and “ShotPops!” - frozen fruit and alcohol pops that seem like the perfect summer solution for beating the heat. Updates on the DPG truck can be found on their Twitter page, and on the event page of their website.

San Francisco’s Frozen Kuhsterd has a motto, “Cheat day, everyday,” and with their enticing selection of dessert options, we have no choice but to agree. After starting at the Underground Market in 2011, FK transitioned into the food truck biz in 2012 in order to bring their “West Coast-style frozen custard” directly to their hungry customers. As for what exactly to order, you’re on your own there. FK rotates between some 50 varieties, which include their exclusive flavors (Cinnamon Toast Crunch, Burnt Caramel, Thai Tea, PB&J, and even Salt & Pepper Potato Chip) and premium flavors (Reposado Tequila, Spiked Cereal Milk, and Banana Rum). With most of the premiums types containing alcohol - including all of the ones we mentioned - it’s a good thing they’re the ones driving! Check their site to track the truck down.

If there’s a more charming-looking ice cream truck on the road, then we don’t know about it. The Michigan-based Hello! Ice Cream sells its treats from a decidedly retro vehicle, but their 40-plus flavors and various dessert creations are anything but traditional. You can choose between everything from strawberry sorbetto and Chocolate Espresso Stout gelato to coated gelato pops, ginger snap bites, and even mini cones! To find them, you can either hire the truck to cater an event, or follow them on Twitter to find out which Farmers Market or special event they’re serving that particular day.

“Rich, smooth and made to order, HipPOPs uses only a handful of high-quality ingredients,” their website proudly proclaims. With a statement like that, you should be sold already. But if not, let’s take a peek at some of the 100 available flavor options, which include gelato flavors like Oreo, Pistachio, and Mexican Chocolate Chipotle; sorbets like Mixed Berry, Blood Orange, and Raspberry Lychee; and a rotating fro-yo. Pick your flavor, dip it in chocolate (milk, dark, or white), and add a topping (Reese’s, pretzels, sprinkles, coconut, and almost every type of nut). Check the website to track them down and experience the “handcrafted awesomeness” for yourself.

With a unique idea, a hip name, and a far-out truck, Longboards Ice Cream is the coolest company on four wheels. The name isn’t just a nod to SoCal’s surfer crowd, however, it’s also a description of their products. Longboards serves extra-long ice cream bars (in a number of flavors) that are dipped in chocolate (either Ghirardelli milk or Ghirardelli dark) and then rolled in one or two of about 10 topping options. Trust us, brah, you gotta try this truck.

If you’re not familiar with Mister Softee, then we’re sorry you didn’t have a childhood. Before gourmet ice cream trucks - and heck, before food trucks in general, as the company recently celebrated its 60th year - Mister Softee owned the roads with a seemingly endless number of trucks across the country that served an equally endless number of options from popsicles and ice cream bars to soft serve and shakes. Although Mister Softee’s trucks can often be seen parked on street corners or setting up shop at beaches and public events, the treats are all the more satisfying from a flagged-down truck. That means hearing the familiar jingle, grabbing a handful of coins, and running like your dessert-loving life depends on it.

Most of the truck action in regard to Palazzolo’s Artisan Gelato & Sorbetto involves the company delivering pints and quarts to wholesalers and markets around the country, but some actually serve their frozen treats (which are all made in small batches) for customers on the go! In fact, it seems like there’s little Palazzolo’s can’t do, as they’ve been in business for more than 30 years and have dreamt up several hundred flavors during that time, including everything from vanilla and chocolate to Turkish Roast Coffee and French Chocolate Caramel Brandy Fudge. In addition to the aforementioned Italian varieties, the company also serves classic ice cream, frozen yogurt, and shakes.

Portland, Oregon’s Scoop truck uses locally sourced, organic, and fair trade ingredients; handmade from scratch processes; and no corn syrup or artificial colors, flavors, and preservatives - and they’re darn proud of it! Oh, and the ice cream tastes phenomenal too. Choose from one of 50 rotating flavors, all of which are decidedly out of the ordinary. This includes everything from Cake Batter, Root Beer Float, and Salted Caramel, to Bourbon Butter Pecan, Maple Hazelnut, and Local Raw Honey Lavender. If you’re vegan, you won’t feel left out at Scoop; they also carry vegan sorbets like Key Lime, Pineapple Basil, and Local Blueberry, Strawberry, Raspberry, and Marionberry. Need help locating the truck? Visit their website, which will also tell you stores where you can pick up pints.

SnoCream Company serves treats that are so unique that they don’t even look like ice cream. That’s because the frozen desserts are actually hybrids of ice cream and shaved ice, which is produced in a “ribbon style” that creates crinkled sheets instead of scoops or swirls. The flavors, however, a bit more recognizable, but still include creative varieties such as Vanilla Latte, Mango, Honeydew, and Thai Tea. These are then finished with toppings like fresh fruit, nuts, cookies, or candy. SnoCream releases a new truck schedule every week, which can be found on their Facebook page.

When Bart Simpson said, “Don’t have a cow, man,” he definitely wasn’t talking about Colorado’s Sweet Cow ice cream, because ay caramba is this stuff ever tasty! It’s handcrafted in small batches from local ingredients in flavors like Cookies and Cream, Dutch Chocolate, Ozo Coffee, Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough, and a rotating seasonal sorbet and featured ice cream. Plus, in addition to single, double, and triple scoops, they also offer sammies and floats. Although the company was founded in 2010, they took a bit of a reverse business approach. Sweet Cow started as a storefront (that has since expanded to six different locations), but didn’t debut a truck until a year later. Although this seems a bit backward, it’s an obvious testament to Sweet Cow’s popularity and demand all around the State of Colorado.

Unlike a lot of other ice cream sandwich purveyors, Boston’s The Cookie Monstah comes locked and loaded with plenty of preselected ice cream and cookie pairings from which to choose. Instead of ending up with clashing combos, customers can choose from options like the Salty Dog (salted caramel cookies with turtle ice cream), the Red Monstah (red velvet cookies with mint Oreo ice cream), or the All Chocolate All The Time (double chocolate cookies with death by chocolate ice cream). Chase down their truck via the website schedule, or simply visit their new brick-and-mortar shop in Danvers.

The Parlour doesn’t have a food truck, they have a food bus! More specifically, it’s a repurposed school bus that regularly makes its way around Durham, N.C. and elsewhere in the Triangle (the area in between Raleigh, Durham, and Chapel Hill). But enough about the bus, let’s get to the ice cream. Hungry customers can dig into handmade flavors like Cookies and Cream, Salted Butter Caramel, Vietnamese Coffee, and Strawberry Cheesecake, as well as vegan varieties like chocolate, coconut, and a sorbet that varies daily. After starting on wheels in 2011, The Parlour eventually opened a brick-and-mortar shop in 2013, which was renovated and expanded in 2014. In addition to cones and cups with various toppings, customers can also order floats, shakes, and sundaes, as well as housemade pastries, coffee, and tea. Want the bus for your next event? Request it here.

Treatbot first hit California’s Bay Area roads back in 2010, churning out ice cream, fresh-baked cookies, and lots of tunes. Seven years later, the “karaoke & ice cream” truck is going strong and still offering outlandish flavors such as Unicorn Mint, Honey Lavender, Mango Chile, and Eastside Horchata. Of course, if you’re a traditionalist, you can always go with a couple scoops of Old School Vanilla in an old school waffle cone. You can find their public market shop in the San Pedro Market Square seven days a week, or locate the truck via their Twitter page.

Using “nothing more than fresh milk and cream, cane sugar, and egg yolks,” Van Leeuwen Artisan Ice Cream makes all its delicious products completely from scratch. What started as a three-person operation out of a shared Brooklyn apartment has since expanded to trucks and shops on both coasts, and pints popping up in grocery stores and markets everywhere in between. They offer some 30 flavors, which range from Salted Caramel and Cookies & Cream to Chocolate Banana Cream Pie, Peanut Butter Marshmallow Crunch, and a number of gluten-free and vegan varieties. It seems like there’s nothing stopping Van Leeuwen now, and we wouldn’t have it any other way. Track them down on Twitter.

Although the Wafels & Dinges name doesn’t immediately make you think of ice cream (what the heck are “dinges”?), we assure you that they have some fantastic frozen goodness. You’ll want to order a waffle, of course, and then top it with one of several ice cream varieties (such as Tahitian Vanilla, Belgian Madness, and Choc-Claude Van Damme), and some toppings (like dulce de leche, Vermont maple syrup, or their special “Spekuloos” spread). No matter what you order, you’re sure to return for more - whether it’s from one of their storefronts, trucks, or carts. Since opening in 2007, Wafels & Dinges has been featured in countless “best of” lists and even on “The Today Show,” so it’s about time you see what all the fuss is about. (Oh, and for the record, “dinges” is a word used in place of a noun or proper noun when you can’t think of it, like “whatchammacallit.”)

Udder Delights has a brick-and-mortar shop, a truck, a tent, and a bike, and all of them serve the same high-quality ice cream made fresh every morning from local milk. Although vanilla, chocolate, and strawberry are of course on the menu, we’d rather opt for a creative creation like Cake Batter, Salted Caramel, Very Cherry Chip, or White Chocolate Raspberry, as well as some seasonal flavors that change each month, like Peeps or Avocado. Check out their website for more info, which is appropriately located at LifeChangingIceCream.com.

Founded in 2010, Zsa’s proudly declares that their ice cream, sorbet, and ice cream sandwiches are made “seriously from scratch” using locally sourced ingredients, house-made inclusions and baked goods, and ingredients produced by small companies. The result is fresh and delicious frozen treats in flavors like the year-round bestseller Salted Caramel, as well as Black Magic, which is coffee ice cream packed with chunks of from-scratch chocolate cake. Find their truck’s next stop via Twitter.