Black pepper ice cream? Try 9 unique flavors at these SLO County scoop shops
As the weather heats up in San Luis Obispo County, you may find yourself craving a frozen treat.
How about a scoop of cereal-flavored ice cream? What about pistachio black pepper gelato?
Local ice cream parlors and gelato shops offer an array of flavors that go far beyond vanilla, chocolate and strawberry.
From fruit-flavored treats to floral delights, these dessert shops are guaranteed to give your taste buds a new palate to discover.
Here’s where to find unique ice cream flavors in SLO County:
Where can I find unique ice cream flavors in SLO?
In San Luis Obispo, options for ice cream and gelato range from kid-friendly to grown up.
Splendor Ice Cream, 1000 Railroad Ave., Suite 100, in San Luis Obispo, serves up several sophisticated flavors, including mango sticky rice, peanut butter honeycomb and lemon tart.
One favorite, Cacti Espresso, might sound like it would leave cactus spines on your tongue. However, the ice cream actually gets its name from decaf espresso provided by local company Cacti Coffee Roasters.
McConnell’s Fine Ice Creams has multiple locations in California, including a scoop shop at 868 Monterey St. in downtown San Luis Obispo.
You can dine in-person, or get your sweet treats delivered when you order a minimum of four pints.
Menu options include matcha ice cream, mango chili lime sorbet and a seasonal flavor featuring sweet corn and blackberry jam.
McConnell’s described its Eureka Lemon and Marionberries flavor as “a Left Coast love child” made with Oregon marionberry jam. It’s gluten free and nut free.
At SLO à la Mode, Exhausted Parent ice cream seems like the ideal option for moms and dads dealing with children on a sugar high. The frozen dessert mixes bourbon-spiked espresso with bittersweet chocolate chunks.
The ice cream parlor at 860 Higuera Street in San Luis Obispo also has a flavor for cereal lovers.
Blue Moon tastes like “the milk in the bottom of a Fruit Loop bowl,” SLO à la Mode said on its website. There’s even a vegan version available.
Find gelato and ice cream near Paso Robles
Nana’s Ice Cream & Coffee opened its doors at 5990 Entrada Ave. in Atascadero in May.
The ice cream shop imports its sweet treats from Marianne’s Ice Cream in Santa Cruz, The Tribune previously reported.
One of Nana’s most popular flavors, Heaven, combines swirls of chocolate, peanut butter and brownies.
Another sweet treat, called Otter 841, mixes cinnamon caramel ice cream with snicker doodle cookie pieces. The flavor is named after an otter that is found near Santa Cruz. Otter 841 is known to cause trouble with surfers and kayakers and even stole a surfboard from an individual in 2023.
Leo Leo Gelato, 1835 Spring St. in Paso Robles, serves up several flavors of gelato and sorbet, including Italian-inspired treats.
The scoop shop’s Olive Oil ice cream features a “perfectly creamy” base with “notes of fruit and pepper from the locally pressed olive oil.”
Its honey lavender gelato “takes the winning flavor combination and makes it even more luxurious with the addition of infused lavender buds,” Leo Leo Gelato said. “Simply put, this flowery treat is dreamy.”
Flavors including Thai tea, strawberry basil and blueberry lavender can be found at Negranti Creamery.
The company, which specializes in sheep’s milk ice cream, has four locations in SLO County, including scoop shops at 6090 El Camino Real in Atascadero and 871 Froom Ranch Way, Suite 120, in San Luis Obispo.
There are two Paso Robles locations, at 1211 Pine St. and 2989 Limestone Way.
Where can I find frozen treats in Arroyo Grande?
In Arroyo Grande, Rori’s Artisanal Creamy serves ice cream in an array of flavors, including brown sugar banana, Cinnamon Toast cereal and Nutella.
However, its Black Pepper Pistachio ice cream stands apart by mixing roasted California pistachios with a hint of black pepper that “makes the flavor pop,” the company said.
Rori’s Artisanal Creamy is at 114 West Branch St. in the Village of Arroyo Grande.
