North Park Creamery

Anytime that I visit a new city, one type of eatery always near the top of my search is ice cream. Is a city even worth visiting if they don't have great non dairy ice cream options? With that being said, I am happy to report that indeed .. San Diego is now deemed officially worth visiting 🤗 (just in case you were awaiting my official permission before buying that plane ticket ✈️, you're welcome!) :). I have every faith there's multiple great places in the greater San Diego area where to find great non dairy ice cream but there's one, North Park Creamery, that caught my attention above and beyond all, why ... soft serve, Coconut Ube ice cream, that's why .. very ... very intriguing! They are located in the (wait for it...) North Park area (seems logical enough lol) and are dangerously close to an Insomnia Cookies location just across the street lol. They offer a nice variety of flavors, the most unique of which (to me) was easily the Coconut Ube flavor. The environment was a bit dark so I did have to brighten my picture to faithfully capture all of the ice cream cone glory lol. You know the line in Star Wars "that's no space station", well, "that's no ice cream cone" .. it was like a death star of ice cream cones except the only thing this death star was conquering was my cravings (you're welcome, Alderaan). Huge, just huge ice cream cone with a vegan labeled cone (nice touch!), super creamy with a flavor that was out of this world. Sandi opted for the Strawberry Dole Whip and Vanilla twist and, she wasn't wrong in her choice, she just didn't happen to be quite as "right" as I was in mine :). So, what are you waiting for, check them out! Go across the street, grab you an Insomnia cookie (or two...) and together with your ice cream well, remember ... what happens in San Diego stays in San Diego (except if you drip and stain your clothes with ice cream, that might be coming home with you). Sláinte

Really cool spot with a really friendly owner and staff. I really wanted to love it. The milkshake was pretty good but the churro soft serve didn’t have much flavor. You also didn’t get too much; two items this size shouldn’t cost $20

Love having a local place to go get a dip cone. Made me feel like a kid again. It was so delicious and to top it off they had a gluten free waffle cone that was the best! Definitely will come back again and again!

SO GOOD!!!! The man that got our ice cream was so friendly. Great experience and awesome place. Love that it’s organic but yummy!!!

Amazing service and even better ice cream! The vegan coconut ube ice cream was to die for and they had gluten free waffle cone 🥹!! I was very happy customer. They also offered a pup cup for my dog and even added her photo to the wall.

Soft serve only. Decent texture and the flavors are OK. Pineapple dole whip was pretty good, maybe a tad bit better than the Brigham Young social Hall one from last week. Mint churro twist didn't really taste like much.

Great selection of flavors and dip flavors. Wonderful family owned and run business. Milkshake options too. Organic and vegan options. There's seating inside and outside. We'll definitely be back.

Cool spot walking around North Park. We saw a lot of vegan flavors and one of them said coconut Ube so of course we had to stop inside. They don’t get free samples, unfortunately so we ordered a cup of coconut ube . It was alright unfortunately. Didn’t have so much like soft ice cream. It was more watery. Bummer :( maybe they have other better flavors .

Located in North Park - delicious soft serve ice cream! This place offers different flavors of organic soft serve ice cream that you can get in a cup or waffle cone. They have a sign showing the available flavors. The service was great - unfortunately no samples though. They have both outside and inside seating with two TV's. With so many other dessert choices in the area give this place a try when craving soft serve!

We were craving soft serve ice cream after dinner. Husband found this spot on Yelp. I've always seen this from the street passing through but never thought to try it. Parking isn't the best in this area but luckily we found one around the block. The shop is small and it was super toasty in there probably bc of the ice cream machines. I got a small of the vegan coconut ube plus the churro soft serve. It was very good. The ube was my fave bc it wasn't too sweet and the coconut flavor was a nice touch. The churro was nice but light on the flavor and I still liked it. But my husband got the churro soft serve dipped in Reeses, best combo! Service was really friendly and they were quick! It got really busy after we got there around 9pm.

Was craving soft serve and I saw the picture of the dipped cone and I was sold. It's hard to find places that still dip their cones that's not Dairy Queen. So many flavors to choose from both soft serve and dip. I had to get something that you can't get anywhere else, so I went with the medium cone with churro soft serve dipped in Reese's peanut butter. It was hot in here due to the soft serve machines, but there's plenty of seating and huge TVs. The service wasn't bad either. The only thing that sucks is the lack of parking, but that's typical North Park. I'd come back next time I'm in the area.

I'm someone who needs to get ice cream wherever i visit, so when I wandered by the North Park Creamery in beautiful San Diego, ice cream needed to be both ordered and consumed. I'm quite late writing this review so my memories of the actual shop have come and gone, but that's not what matters, what matters is my memory of the actual ice cream and that I still very much remember. One thing you can't get everywhere these days is a dipped cone and that's what I was able to get at North Park Creamery that stood out to me. I was able to get a large waffle style cone, fill it with chocolate ice cream, dip it in chocolate, and make the perfect little cone. The ice cream itself was delicious, though it was a pretty standard soft serve, but a very, very, very good ice cream cone none the less. Overall, North Park Creamery is a wonderful little neighborhood spot that does locals well. It serves basic but high quality ice cream at a reasonable price and for me, that's really all you can ask for.

After a stroll around the block - we took a gander at North Park's abundance of ice cream options - my friend and I decided on North Park Creamery! I didn't realize it was soft serve at first, but was pleasantly surprised. I loved the local feel and inviting, colorful atmosphere too. I loved their vegan coconut ube -- it tasted amazingly creamy, and the flavor was strong. I'm still dreaming of it now... (I also tried a bit of my friend's strawberry-churro twist, and the flavors were a bit on the mild side, but still pleasant (the churro was like a cinnamon-y vanilla -- I preferred the ube.) A small is $5.95. There's some seating inside (and even some board games available), so it's a nice place to chill for a while. As for parking, I parked at the North Park Garage for $5 in the evening. Loved it!

I love supporting small local businesses and told the store owner this when o called to share a disappointing experience. The Reese's peanut butter sauce sundae was only one scoop and about $10 with tax. Plus I left a $2 tip. In retrospect I realized that was way too much money for a small sundae. I called to kindly recommend they consider making their sundaes a little more generously sized. The woman I spoke to said that organic ice cream was expensive and they could make them bigger. The woman got indignant and hung up on me. How inappropriate. I will never go back there again and have shared this story with others who now feel the same. Being a good listener and kind goes a long way. Sad to lose business for something like this. NOTE: this is not common for me. I have never made a complaint like this before. I tend to see the good in service and small businesses and am complementary not critical.

We just happened to notice this establishment as we were driving past, heading to our dinner down the street. We saw SOFT SERVE and immediately knew we had our dessert choice afterwards. - PARKING - North Park parking will be hard, it's mainly street parking, and whether you get lucky finding a spot! - SERVICE/ENVIRONMENT - Super dog friendly - they have so many cute polaroids of their pup customers on the wall! They have a fairly extensive list of flavors to choose from, even dairy-free options which I was ecstatic for as I'm lactose intolerant! Don't get me wrong, I'll take a lactaid for some good dessert, but it's nice when there's an option to not need to! The staff member gave our friends dog a whipped cream cup, and offered us some samples! The inside isn't huge, but there's a variety of tables for you to enjoy your ice cream at. No bathrooms here! - FOOD - Pineapple Dole Whip / Coconut Ube Swirl: I didn't think these two flavors would combine well, but figured I'd give it a shot. They merged amazingly, with the Pineapple Dole Whip being just tart enough to mix well with the creamy sweetness of the ube! - OVERALL - I will absolutely come back to try out more of their flavors, and look forward to new ones in the future!

We decided to come in and try some ice cream while we were walking around waiting for our dinner reservation. I hadn't had soft serve ice cream in years. I decided on vegan coconut ube / strawberry twist. I'd never had ube before. The ube had a pronounced toasted coconut flavor which was really nice. The strawberry was more sweet than tart. It was all pretty tasty. It was also very pretty to look at. The sweetness of the ice cream on an empty stomach did bother my stomach a bit but once I ate dinner it was fine.

Will satisfy a soft serve itch with some unique flavors but overall a little underwhelming and also overpriced. The serve only soft serve with some dairy based options and vegan options. The vegan one is a coconut and potato base apparently. The service was sooo friendly. They offered to let me sample any flavors before ordering. I tried the churro and the Ube coconut and landed on the latter. The churro flavor was very mild to me. The coconut flavor was stronger in the one I got but the Ube was still there. My knock on the cone was that it cost almost $6 for a tiny amount! A little overpriced.

SOFT SERVE CREAMERY (4.5 stars) Every block in North Park is serving ice cream, gelato, or soft serve. First time here and this is not your typical ice cream shop - they serve Soft Serve! I love me a good soft serve. 1) Their menu board is a cluster f*. 3 big chalk boards with hand writing overloaded with everything - it's hard to follow and it's overwhelming to look at. They need to change that because its not good marketing. 2) Their soft serve flavors are limited. Although limited it won't be hard to chose a flavor of crave. BANANA FOSTER AND STRAWBERRY TWIST ($5.45) - I was very happy with my pick. The banana foster had that very subtle and light banana hint, as well as the strawberry, and the soft serve melted like cold butter on the palate. HIGHLY RECOMMEND

Love that there is a very straightforward creamery! It has standard flavors, delicious creamy soft-serve, and overall fun dessert options! I got a cafe mocha & mint chip swirl in small waffle cone and it was delicious especially for a hot day! There is some seating inside, and it's located on a main street in North Park so plan to look for street parking or park in one of the parking garages.

No longer able to have samples because "the machine went out" but they can still serve you full serving sizes? Interesting. Friendly service, but overpriced. Barely any chocolate shell, and would have had to commit $7.50 to a flavor without trying it, so stuck to vanilla. Not bad tasting, but the value just isn't there.

My friend and I came here for dessert on a Sunday evening. It was cold outside but warm inside & perfect for ice cream. We tried the churro soft serve and it was good. My friend ordered that. I ordered the mango & ube vegan swirl. It was really good. The worker behind the counter was friendly and seemed nice. She didn't mind when we asked if we could get a sample of the churro. I'll be sure to come back when I'm in the area again!

North Park has an abundance of ice cream shoppes but North Park Creamery is for sure my favorite. Creative soft serve twists? Yes, please. The employees here are always so warm and engaging, it immediately puts a smile on my face as soon as I walk in! In general this place gives off the best vibe you could ask for!

A lot of great dessert options in North Park and this is right up there with the best! They make their soft serve in house and everything I have tried there has been delicious! Lots of your classics but they also have some fun unique flavors. They even have Dole Whip! They are located on a larger street so you will likely have to walk a bit after parking but it's worth it! Some chairs to sit on inside but also a great place to grab ice cream and walk around North Park after!

There are ALOT of ice cream spots in North Park, including those of the fancy, bougie variety. That said, it was curious to us that the one with the longest lines was North Park Creamery, a family owned place. They specialize in soft serve made from Straus Family Dairy products with a rotating menu of flavors. You can get cones, sundaes, and shakes with their soft serve. I was most impressed with the large variety of homemade dip flavors: chocolate, white chocolate, PB, sea salt caramel, nutella, birthday cake funfetti, butterscotch, and cherry! Most places serve a few so this dip menu is just insane. Suffice it to say, these were some delicious, quality cones. This place rocks.

Northpark creamery is pretty good but I think there are more adventurous flavors and scoop shops in the San Diego area. We came by on a weekday night and had a cone of the churros soft serve dipped in peanut butter sauce. Soft serve was good but it wasn't amazing. I think it's a good stop for friends, but don't expect to be blown away.

This place is a must if you are looking to grab a sweet treat in the heart of North Park! The menu has many different options to choose from with a rotating soft serve menu. I tried the peppermint soft serve and the coconut ube (vegan) soft serve in a waffle cone. Both were creamy and delicious and the flavors were spot on. This was my first time stopping in and the service was 10/10!!!

Mmmm... Echoing another review I saw, the soft serve was fine but nothing spectacular. The vibe is casual and good for kids. Service was friendly. They had 6 flavors + 3 swirl favors = 9 total, plus different dips and toppings. I got the vanilla and chocolate swirl, chocolate dipped, waffle cone. It tasted fine but wasn't super creamy or flavorful. It did taste a little.. watery/bland. I also don't think their waffle cone is homemade - definitely not as crunchy or fragrant as waffle cones from other ice cream shops. Overall, I thought it's a nice little spot to get soft serve if you're nearby but nothing special to rave about!

GUYS!!! THIS. IS. THE. SPOT!!! After trying North Park Creamery, we have officially tried every dessert spot on University Ave and... this is BY FAR the best! My hubs and I were greeted by Erik the owner with the warmest smile and he couldn't have been more kind. We both loved the vegan flavors of the night, coconut/ube and churro so we each got a twist. Erik offered a free pup cup for our doggo and took a pic to put him on the pupparazzi wall The soft serve is insane, soooo dreamy creamy delicious especially for being vegan. Hubs got his in the vegan gluten free cone with vegan choc dip. I got mine in a cup with hot fudge and peanuts. Five stars all around. We already can't wait to bring our friends and fam back! Way better than any other ice cream spot on the block, trust me. NOW GET OFF YELP AND GO GET MIND BLOWING ICE CREAM FROM ERIK + HIS SWEET FAMILY BIZ!!

Good neighborhood organic soft serve spot in North Park. Lots of flavor options and vegan options too. I wish you could customize the swirls more but they have lots of flavors to choose from, churro, fruity pebbles, vanilla latte, etc. Service was friendly and it was a busy night so the line was long but they did a great job moving the line. Lots of tables inside and games with free wifi and a couch in the back too. Cute murals on the wall and my heart the Polaroids of dogs and ice cream! 4 stars instead of 5 because it was rather pricey for soft serve. We got two mini waffle cones, fruity pebbles with fruity pebbles toppings and a vanilla choco swirl. With tip came out to $19 which is a lot for two cones.

Stumbling on this place had to be the highlight of my day. I've been lactose intolerant for most of my life and gave up ever getting to have a soft serve cone because I don't like taking millions of lactase enzyme or dealing with a stomachache and skin issues. Vegan soft serve was amazeballs! Had a coconut ube & vanilla twister.... mind blowing. My only regret was not getting a regular sized waffle cone so I could have more.

visiting SD we stopped by this cute shop. If you are a fan of DIPPED ICE CREAM cmon you must make a stop here. Delicious and a very friendly costumer service :) i wish i took a photo of that chocolate dip!!

Food- the ube soft serve was so good! And vegan too! Would come back just for that Service: the man serving me was so nice and friendly Ambiance- cute north park spot, perfect for quick pick me up or cute date spot

I am 68 years old. I have eaten a lot of ice cream in my life. I had a churro waffle cone. It just was not sweet enough...period. This is the least sweetest ice cream that I've ever had.

If you're a fan of ice cream - especially soft serve with dip - then this spot is a no-brainer. They have various flavors that are so lush and creamy. The store itself smells like what I imagine heaven must smell like. You can grab a table inside to enjoy your treat inside or hang outside on the converted sidewalk seating. Overall a great experience, including service, all the way through.

We LOVE this place !! The vegan and gluten free options are amazing!! vegan / gluten free soft and cones! it can be a bit pricey but portions are generous . A must visit if you are in san diego!! Dare I say, it is better than An's Dry Cleaning!

I came here Superbowl Sunday with my husband because we wanted to try out a new ice cream place. Parking was horrible but what do you expect, it's North Park. Anyways, there was a lot going on with the menu..and I didn't know where to start. I finally decided on the cookie monster shake and my husband got the strawberry/churro swirl pint. It was pretty good and enjoyed my shake and my husband ate the whole pint while we watched the game. I definitely will be back because I want to try the other flavors!

I cannot explain how happy I am to have Northpark creamery in my backyard. We were on the hunt for a cherry dipped ice cream cone this place delivered let me tell you. This is such a cute local spot and a new favorite. Thank you guys

Was craving a classic soft serve twist cone with rainbow sprinkles & it did not disappoint! The gentleman working the front was kind & efficient.

YUMMM. huge menu, creamy and delicious soft serve. Not too long of a line for a friday night, and the workers were super friendly! great local spot. highly recommend the tyler's sundae. and the reese's dip became a perfect shell with so much peanut butter flavor

Just had a small vanilla cone at 6 dollars. It was ice cream, tbh my Mister Softee at the ballpark was way better. Ice cream had a different texture to it, something was in it, unsure what. Employee was nice and friendly. Should have tried a more interesting flavour.

Got the blueberry & churro swirl & it was sooo yummy! Not too sweet which is amazing! Definitely would come back to try their other flavors.

Had this place bookmarked for a long time and finally got a chance to try it. Soft serve is one of my favorite types of ice cream and this place did not disappoint. Love how you can get two unique flavors twisted together which is perfect for someone who likes to taste everything lol. Service was friendly and we loved the wall of doggy polaroids. Ube and pineapple soft serve was vegan and tasted delicious. The mint and churro twist was good too, but next time is probably just get them separate. This place is a little expensive for soft serve but the quality of the ice cream is good.

North Park Creamery is by far the best soft serve in San Diego. I only wish that they had more locations because I am too lazy to make the drive to North Park to hunt for a parking spot. There is a lovely vacant spot (that used to be an ice cream shop!) on the corner of Washington and Albatross in case the owner is looking to expand into Hillcrest/Mission Hills area (wink, wink).

parking: street what we ordered: (1) banana cake frozen yogurt (~$6 for a small): tasted exactly like banana milk. it was really nostalgic! main takeaway: their soft serve is soft & creamy. they use Strauss organic dairy. definitely worth a try if you're in North Park. they even have a huge chess board so you can play while you eat too.

Delicious, standard (but organic!) soft serve. Super friendly service, cozy family/kid friendly vibe in a buzzing location. So excited to finally find a local soft serve spot in the SD neighborhood!

I wanted to try their vegan soft serve and got the coconut ube. It was perfect! The texture was on point (smooth, thick, and not icy or gritty) and the flavor was great as well! It was not too sweet, which I prefer, and the coconut flavor was strong! I do wish they had more vegan options, like chocolate and vanilla. But overall, I think this place is great and love their variety of soft serve flavors and dips. Friendly and quick service, and such a cute atmosphere as well! They also had free stickers which is so cool :)

Amazing service, great atmosphere and I loved the dog wall! The brownies and cream was delicious!

What a great soft serve ice cream shop! The worker (owner?) was super nice and helpful. I got a chocolate/vanilla twist dipped in Ghirardelli's chocolate, my daughter got a chocolate, and my wife got a Maple Creemee/Cake Batter twist. Everything was delicious! On the tv was interstellar (volume was off) which was cool and 80's music playing. This place just has a great vibe, check it out!!

All organic and great toppings. Corky interior with a lot of cool SD momentos. You're greeted with a smile and a great attitude.

Really good ice cream If you live in the area and want ice cream this is the place to go. Monday is the only day that it's not open.

Delicious soft serve. I like the taste and consistency of the Ube vegan soft serve. Strawberry flavor is also good.

We just came back from visiting Santa Rosa and Sonoma County, and were pleased to stumble upon this creamery that has soft served ice cream made from Straus organic dairy. We ordered the Mexican hot chocolate dipped in chocolate, vanilla, and Mexican hot chocolate cones. Everyone was happy with their choices! The small cones were each $5, with $1 extra for the dipped cone. I turned my dad into an ice cream snob and now he's enjoying all the new ice cream experiences. This place is on the top of his favorites list! I had the Mexican hot chocolate cone and loved it. It was creamy and smooth. You don't taste the pepper in the ice cream when you lick it, but it hits the back of your throat the minute you swallow. I has a nice slight kick, nothing too spicy. Spicy ice cream may seem a bit odd, but it's really good! Definitely give it a try! Very friendly staff. They let me try all the various flavors of the day. They were all delicious!

Cute little creamery that was one of the few places open late in North Bank! The owners were so nice in keeping the shop open a little longer for us to get our dessert orders in. The churro ice cream was pretty good, but the real secret was to get the affogato (which comes blended, not poured!). Overall super recommend!

Cute little spot in North Park! The workers were friendly and there was no line at all. We ordered the brownie sundae in a waffle bowl and it was so delicious! It had whipped cream and hot fudge inside and wow it was so good. It also was a good size (not too big and not too small). Overall a nice place we really enjoyed!

After dinner I can always find room for dessert- especially if that dessert is ice cream. North Park has some amazing shops within a few blocks of each other with more coming soon. This soft serve spot opened last summer. They have a few special flavors and then your classics of course. It's creamy and not overly dense/heavy. Soft serve isn't my go to ice cream texture of choice, but when I'm craving it I'll definitely be returning to this cute spot. They have some seating outside and don't get discouraged if you see a line out the door during the summer months- it's worth the wait!

Just what NP needed! A pet-friendly soft serve joint by one of the friendliest families you'll ever meet! They specialize in organic soft serve sundaes, shakes, & cones. I highly recommend getting the waffle cone with a chocolate dip. The chocolate dip slows down the melting ice cream on a sunny day. The shakes are also incredible! Save some room because the portions are generous. Bring your pup for a shot of whipped cream and get their photo on the Pup Creamery Wall of Fame!

This is such a unique sort ice cream shop with very unique flavors and great customer service

The North Parker Sundae: vanilla soft serve ice cream, marshmallow fluff, Ghiradelii caramel sauce, whipped cream, peanuts and a cherry. The texture was smooth and of course, soft. With the plethora of shops that sell hard ice cream in the area, it was great to try something different.