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The plant-based paletas at Ice Queen are a must-try sweet treat.

Ice Cream in Portland And Other Sweet Treats

Sink your sweet tooth into Portland’s locally inspired desserts.

Updated Apr. 23, 2025 5 min read

Amy Lam

Amy Lam is a writer and editor based in Portland. Read More

Calling all chocolate connoisseurs, ice cream aficionados and dessert devotees! Portland is a sweet treat lover’s dream. From artisanal chocolates to locally inspired desserts, sink your sweet tooth into the city’s vibrant confectionery scene.

Ice Cream, Soft Serve and Frozen Treats

Portland’s frozen treats are locally inspired and as innovative as the city itself. Famous for their novel and fun flavors made with locally sourced ingredients, Salt & Straw is one of Portland’s most popular ice cream shops, at the forefront of a crop of scoop shops offering unique options. Check out Fifty Licks, a local favorite for scratch-made ice cream and distinct flavors like French toast or the must-try vegan mango sticky rice. If your tummy troubles you, head to Kate’s Ice Cream for an all-vegan menu with signature flavors like salted peanut butter brittle. Fresh fruit lovers must stop by Nico’s for a swirl of New Zealand-style ice cream mixes that blend fresh fruit from the Willamette Valley with creamy vanilla.

Credit: NASHCO Photo

Led by local culinary maven Mika Paredes, Cornet Custard offers the richest, creamiest custard you’ll ever have, with all-fresh ingredients and 12 egg yolks a pint. Their scoops menu includes standouts like Vietnamese iced coffee and blood orange creamsicle. For a lighter frozen treat, try the frozen yogurt at Eb & Bean or the soft serve at Cheese & Crack – both deploy a fun selection of toppings and seasonal flavors.

Perfect for summer picnics and daytime dates, Ice Queen serves plant-based paletas in flavors like mangonada, an icy take on the classic mango and chamoy dessert. Drop by popular Cafe Maiko, Oregon’s only location in SE Portland for some of the best matcha soft serves, with seasonal flavors like ube and black sesame. For Vietnamese dessert lovers, Bambu has a menu full of chè, a sweet dessert soup often topped with pandan jelly, longan, coconut and shaved ice.

5 to try

Shaved Ice Standouts

When a light, refreshing treat is just what you're looking for.

• Wailua Shave Ice

  This Kauai-based shop opened a Portland location inside downtown’s Union Way, bringing a taste of Hawaii to the Pacific Northwest. Their shave ice is crafted without artificial flavors, dyes or corn syrup.

• Soen — Courier Coffee

  This small cafe inside Courier Coffee offers a seasonal menu of Japanese snacks and comfort food including kakigori (Japanese shaved ice) and house-made pastries.

• Phuket Cafe

  Another restaurant by Akkapong Earl Ninsom, Phuket Cafe offers inventive takes on Thai flavors, including a “Thai paella” and shaved ice desserts.

• Snowy Village

  This buzzy Pacific Northwest Korean dessert chain serves sweet treats including bingsoo, taiyaki, shave ice and ice cream.

• Premium Matcha Cafe Maiko

  This authentic Japanese-style matcha cafe imports all of their matcha from Japan and serves up treats like parfaits, lattes, shave ice and soft-serve ice cream.

Chocolate and Candy

Portland’s chocolate and candy offerings feature gourmet craftsmanship and bold flavor, from single-origin bars to small-batch confections. Creo Chocolate offers a variety of truffles, handcrafted bars, and milk and dark chocolate-covered goodies like crystalized ginger and gummy bears—and don’t miss a true Portland chocolatier experience with the build-a-bar tour where visitors can take a behind-the-scenes look into Creo’s small factory and create their customized a dark chocolate bar. Hailing from Ecuador, chocolatiers at dreamy Cloudforest serve up delectable drinking chocolate and a healthy offering of tea, pastries, and their signature chocolate bars and assorted candies.

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Ranger Chocolate is another shop offering chocolate snacks like granola and caramels, in addition to bars made from ethically sourced, organic ingredients. The bean-to-bar factory and shop at Woodblock Chocolate are a must-visit for a peek at how their single-origin bars are made. Located inside the Heathman Hotel, Azar Indulgence highlights Lebanese influence with truffles infused with pistachio, rosewater and cardamom flavors. Missionary Chocolates handmakes vegan truffles like Meyer lemon explosion or whiskey.

For visitors short on time, The Meadow is a one-stop shop with a selection of Portland-made chocolate bars and confections from many of the shops mentioned above, as well as their house-made bars, gourmet salts and other cooking goodies. I recommend picking up one of my favorite local candies, Tom Bumble, from Oregon Bark. It’s their take on a Butterfinger with flakey, sticky, pressed peanut butter flakes covered in chocolate.

Pies and Pastries

Dig into Portland’s abundance of pastry and pie options that celebrate classic desserts and inventive twists for something filling and robust. Two talented pastry chefs take the helm at JinJu Patisserie, a James Beard-nominated spot with tarts, cakes, and bonbons; their laminated pastries are a must-have — especially the chocolate croissant. Try the miso butterscotch sticky buns at Orange & Blossom or the seasonal Danish at Sweetpea Baking Co. — both shops are fully vegan and offer options for gluten-free travelers.

Ever need a sugar fix in the middle of the night? Try Portland’s only dessert vending machine, the Pix-O-Matic. Serving up sleek French pastries and cakes since 2001, the machine offers 24-hour access to sate your cravings with cake slices, macarons, petit fours and chocolates.  Over on Hawthorne, Farina Bakery attracts hundreds of hungry visitors each day with handmade macarons, Marionberry pop tarts and generous portions of cake by the slice.

While An Xuyên is the perfect neighborhood spot to pick up a banh mi, you can also find a selection of pastries in their cold cases. Anytime I pop into An Xuyên for a banh mi, I also pick up one of their flaky Chinese red bean paste pastries. Stay on the sweet and savory train with Dos Hermanos, whose hearty chopped sandwiches shine alongside classics like conchas and coffee cakes. Don’t miss Portland’s pie shops, chock-full of sweet desserts with golden crusts and fillings that spotlight Pacific Northwest flavors and ingredients. Lauretta Jean’s slices up hearty pieces of pie with classics like heirloom apple or coconut cream. The Pie Spot offers cupcake-sized mini pies with flavors like Oregon’s unofficial berry, the Marionberry, or s’mores topped with toasted marshmallows. If you can’t get enough of s’mores at the Pie Spot, pop into the Toasted S’mores Bar. Co-founded by Nico Vergara of Nico’s Ice Cream, this niche dessert bar brews fireside nostalgia featuring cinnamon graham crackers from Dos Hermanos.

More Sweet Treats

Portland has sweet and tasty options for any mood or craving.

Doughnut Shops in Portland

Find must-try Portland doughnuts all across the city, from zany creations to tried-and-true classics (think crullers and bear claws) to gluten-free options.

Chai in Portland

This guide to Portland chai includes an abundance of house-brewed local brick-and-mortar options and those carrying Portland-made chai blends and concentrates.

Portland’s Best Bakeries

Nibble a Danish or slice of rustic bread with our expert guide to Portland’s best bakeries, including gluten-free and dairy-free options, plus award-winners galore.

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