7 ice cream outings

KEEP ON LICKIN' Australian Homemade serves up a triple dipper.

Photograph by Deborah Donenfeld/Achard & Associates

New Yorkers have many crafty ways to beat the summer heat: Open fire hydrants, water balloons and air-conditioned movie theaters are just a few of our staples. As far as we can tell, though, nothing cools quite so deliciously as ice cream. We've tracked down seven great parlors where kids can order anything from a dainty dish of lavender ice cream to a two-gallon multiflavored concoction for eight. Yes, your kids may end up wearing more than they eat, but hey—that's what fire hydrants and water balloons are for.

Australian Homemade
Half ice-cream parlor, half chocolate shop, Australian Homemade is all good. Owner Evan Giniger keeps the 30 varieties of all-natural ice cream just above freezing, so "the first thing you taste is the flavor." One spoonful of the crunchy macadamia nut with caramel, and you'll know what he means (or you won't care enough to say, "Huh?"). Recently, Giniger began hosting kids' birthday parties, to great success. Children are given hats and aprons and get to make their own ice cream in one of the two machines on the premises. They decorate pint containers and chow down on pizza while it sets, then play waiter and serve it to each other. Not surprisingly, parents have been known to get in on the action too.
115 St. Marks Pl between First Ave and Ave A (212-228-5439). Average price for a small cup: $2.85.

Brooklyn Ice Cream Factory
Lace up your walking shoes, snap the kid in the stroller, and head straight to Brooklyn Ice Cream Factory. The eight flavors merit the walk across the Brooklyn Bridge, if you're a Manhattanite (but a ride on a New York Water Taxi will get you there faster). Mark Thompson, who learned his craft working summers at an ice-cream shop in Pennsylvania, makes his version with cream, milk and turbinado sugar (no eggs). Fresh peaches are the secret behind the dreamy peaches and cream, and bits of Scharffen Berger chocolate stud the vanilla-chocolate chunk. The exceptional hot fudge is made by Ellen Sternau, pastry chef at neighboring River Café. Don't forget to stop at nearby Jacques Torres Chocolate if you're a glutton for...well, if you're a glutton.
Fulton Ferry Landing between Old Fulton and Water Sts, Dumbo, Brooklyn (718-246-3963). Average price for a small cup: $2.50.

Il Laboratorio del Gelato
For chic LES gourmands, Il Laboratorio del Gelato is the place. Owner Jon Snyder (founder and former owner of Ciao Bella ice cream) makes gelato and sorbet for many of the city's finest restaurants, but visitors to his Orchard Street shop are happy to get their scoops fresh from the source. In addition to unusual flavors like black-sesame gelato and dinosaur-plum sorbet, Laboratorio offers a subtle vanilla gelato and tangy passion-fruit sorbet. A small but serviceable seating area at the front of the shop offers kids a front-row seat of the action, inside and out. Get there early; the shop closes at 6pm.
95 Orchard St between Broome and Delancey Sts (212-343-9922). Average price for a small cup: $2.75.

Cones
Two Argentine brothers opened Cones in 1988, and the lines have been out the door ever since. The prices might be steep, but they're well worth it for flavors that cause your mouth to sing. Of the 32, we recommend the dulce-de-leche ice cream and pineapple sorbet. The staff is generous with samples, allowing you to consider as many options as you want before making a decision. The soft consistency is messy for little ones, so make sure you have plenty of napkins on hand.
272 Bleecker St between Jones and Morton Sts (212-414-1795). Average price for a small cup: $3.50.

Ciao Bella Gelato Café
Ciao Bella Gelato Café, located in the heart of the Upper East Side private-school zone, has a few little tables and an outdoor seating area in the summer, with plenty of room to park strollers. Like Il Laboratorio, the bulk of Ciao Bella's business is for restaurants, and sometimes chef-requested creations, like chocolate jalapeño or bourbon–butter pecan, surface at the scoop shop. Standards like hazelnut and zabaglione will make you feel like you're on the streets of Florence instead of a hot New York sidewalk.
• 27 E 92nd St between Fifth and Madison Aves (212-831-5555)
• 285 Mott St between Houston and Prince Sts (212-431-3591)
• 227 Sullivan St between Bleecker and W 3th Sts (212-505-7100)
• 81 Washington St between Front and York Sts, Dumbo, Brooklyn (718-222-9880).
Average price for a small cup: $3.75.

Cold Stone Creamery
It's all bells and whistles (and M&Ms, jimmies and marshmallows) at Cold Stone Creamery, a national chain that's taking the city by storm. Staffers are like exuberant camp counselors, singing for tips and guiding you through the Cold Stone process, whereby a simple scoop of ice cream becomes your own customized flavor. Pick a flavor—sweet cream and cake batter are two of the best. Choose from 40 fruit, nut and candy mix-ins. Then watch your concoction get mashed together on a chilled granite stone. If that's too much to deal with, you can just go for one of the Cold Stone Originals, like Monkey Bites (banana ice cream with pecans, coconut, crunch bar and banana) and Cookie Doughn't You Want Some (French-vanilla ice cream with chocolate chips, cookie dough, fudge and caramel). Cold Stone has also just launched a line of ice-cream cakes that will wow even the most blasé birthday partygoers.
• 253 W 42nd St between Seventh and Eighth Aves (212-398-1882)
• 1651 Second Ave between 85th and 86th Sts (212-249-7085).
• A third location at 740 Broadway at Astor Pl opens in early July.
Average price for a regular cup with one mix-in: $4.60.

Jahn's
Want to show your kids how it was done in the old days? Take 'em to Jahn's. This Richmond Hill, Queens, favorite dates back to 1923 and features two antique marble soda fountains and a working nickelodeon. Dishes on the dineresque menu have quirky names like Brutus Et-Tu (veal parmigiana) and Davy Jones (fried-flounder sandwich), but Jahn's real draw is homemade ice cream. Tummy Tickler sundaes come in a variety of flavors like blueberry, marshmallow and butterscotch. Most famous, of course, is the Kitchen Sink: a $38.95 two-gallon monstrosity that has two scoops of every flavor plus all of the dry toppings. That should keep the kids occupied for a while.
117-03 Hillside Ave between Myrtle Ave and Bessemer St, Richmond Hill, Queens (718-847-2800). Average price for a small cup: $1.95.