Blockheads Original Combination (Danielle Tarasiuk / Neon Tommy)

A museum recently opened right outside of  Bologna, Italy that follows the history of ice cream or as it’s called in Italy, gelato. It is, according to Valentina Righi, financier of the museum, “the first museum in the world that describes the complete history, culture and knowledge of gelato.” The museum covers a wider array of history—from an 11the century Arab pomegranate sorbet recipe to the introduction of gelato in Italy nearly 500 years later.

Unfortunately, Italy is quite a long distance away. Thus, in celebration of this delicious treat here is a list of some top ice creams spots in Los Angeles:

Blockheads Shavery Co.
11311 Mississippi Ave.

What makes Blockheads an absolute must is the texture of their ice cream—they combine Hawaiian shaved ice with ice cream, which they top off with classics such as brownie bits or something a little different like red beans. Essentially, Blockheads is a glorified (in a good way) ice cream Sunday and worth every bite.
 

Scoops
712 North Heliotrope Dr.
and 3400 Overland Ave.

Scoops strives to be a perfectionist. They take even the most basic flavors and bring it back to their most classic roots. It’s never too heavy nor too creamy and the flavors never overpower each other; it’s the way ice cream is supposed to be. They also are artisans in creating new flavors and have a chalkboard where customers write suggestions for new flavors. Brown bread is a Scoops specialty and a must try for the first time visitor.

Saffron and Rose
1387 Westwood Blvd.

Saffron and Rose is a Persian ice cream shop situation on Westwood Blvd, right in the middle of what is sometimes referred to as Little Iran. Their flavors are very fragrant in both taste and smell. A staple of theirs is to use rose water and saffron in various different flavors. A personal favorite is the pistachio, which is bright green with generous chunks of pistachios in every scoop.

Mashti Malone's Black Cherry and Pistachio (Danielle Tarasiuk / Neon Tommy)

Mashti Malone’s in Hollywood is another Persian ice cream shop which uses rose water and makes all their flavors in house. Through the years it has become an L.A. staple. They boast their slogan, "a new consciousness of cool," and although it is not certain how new it is, Mashti Malone’s ice cream definitely is a serendipitous treat, maybe even evoking a "consciousness of cool."
 
Diddy Riese
926 Broxton Ave.

Of course a Los Angeles ice cream list isn’t complete without Diddy Riese. Diddy Riese is possibly one of the most simplistic ice cream places on this list (they use Dreyer’s ice cream!), but it boasts the longest lines. It’s also the cheapest place on this list—for $1.75 you can choose from any combination of two cookies and one scoop of ice cream.

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