Paris Ice Cream Shops

Photo by Lauren Close via Flickr.

From the classic Berthillon to Pozzetto and Mary with their glaces italiennes, there are plenty of options for lovers of ice cream in Paris. These are some of my favorite addresses, but many patisseries, candy stores and chocolate shops offer ice cream and sorbet in the warmer months. In other words, you don’t have to go far to cool down.
Le Bac à Glaces
109, rue du Bac, in the 7th Arrondissement.
01 45 48 87 65.
This family-run ice cream shop is where to cool off after shopping at Le Bon Marché. The tropical fruit sorbets are particularly good, as is a boozy prune and Armagnac ice cream.

Berthillon
29–31, rue St.-Louis-en-l’Ile, in the 4th.
01 43 54 31 61.
Berthillon has been a Parisian institution since 1954, and there are plenty of places to buy its ice cream on and around the Ile-St.-Louis. But be sure to visit the original shop at least once, where the full range of flavors is available. The salted caramel alone merits a pilgrimage (and a wait in the long line).
Christian Constant
37, rue d’Assas, in the 6th.
01 53 63 15 15.
Not to be confused with the chef who runs several restaurants in the 7th, this chocolatier/traiteur also makes fabulous ice creams and sorbets for sale outside his shop near the Luxembourg gardens.
Grom
81, rue de Seine, in the 6th.
01 40 46 92 60.
Turin-based Grom uses only the best ingredients—many from its own organic farm—in its world-class ice cream. The pistachio is perfect, the coffee is a great pick-me-up and the yogurt will make you ashamed for ever eating the artificial soft-serve stuff. If you want a little chocolate, try the stracciatella, studded with chips from Colombia. If you want a lot, head straight for the dark-chocolate sorbet.

Mary
1, rue Dupuis, in the 3rd.
No phone.
Mary Quarta has won awards for her ice cream, and it’s easy to see why. The list of flavors changes regularly, but there are a few that never leave: le caprice de Mary and the crema, a plain custard that tastes anything but and is heavenly paired with one of her seasonal sorbets.
Pozzetto
39, rue du Roi de Sicile, in the 4th.
01 42 77 08 64.
The gelati at this Marais shop have a great texture and purity of flavor that I find irresistible if I’m in the neighborhood, or even if I’m not. The fior di latte is a revelation, and the melon sorbet will have you thinking you just bit into a slice of fruit at a roadside farm stand in Sicily.
Related links:
Le Bac à Glaces
Berthillon
Christian Constant
Grom
Pozzetto