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    Novel Ice Cream

    4.9 (1.3k reviews)
    Open 5:00 pm - 12:00 am (Next day)
    Updated 2 weeks ago

    Novel Ice Cream Photos

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    Recommended Reviews - Novel Ice Cream

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    Troy A.

    What a cute little spot. So different and it's brings some cool energy when you're in this little hidden space eating secret ice cream in downtown. The service was good as the ladies offered recommendations and helped with ideas. I got the Honey Lavender with Ceunch Berries and my daughter choose chocolate with sprinkles

    The Leslie Knope Honey Lavender  Fruity Pebbles
    Veronica G.

    I came here Saturday 3/21/26 around 7:30ish pm and despite there being barely any parking and a long line, the staff was still quick with orders. There's cute seating outdoors and it's located next to a cute hot dog shop and a tattoo place. I love the cozy seating and that the shop looks like a little hut. Plenty of opportunities for photos and a place to relax with the company of others. I had to wait about 20 minutes because my waffles were being freshly made which is nice. My waffle came slightly burnt but my sandwich was still so good! There's a reason this place is always poppin. Novel is definitely an ice cream place of it's own. You just need to try it!

    Sara F.

    Very limited tight parking but love the outdoor seating area and looks like a lot of other cute cool shops right there (I went after everything else had already closed). The ice cream was delicious with good flavor options. A bit on the pricier side.

    Dough Melt (Cookie Monster)
    Caroline N.

    I stopped by on a Friday night for a mini sober adventure by myself. There is a miniature parking lot out front but ample residential curbside parking available. I was surprised how packed it was then learned that it's an award winning ice cream shop voted best in Arizona! I walked up to the main deck and waited in line to be served at the window. I was impressed by the breadth of flavors. I opted for the cookie monster in a dough melt since it's my favorite flavor but was also intrigued by the butter pecan and honey lavender. I'll probably go for those next time! I felt like the sweetness of the glazed donut unfortunately overpowered any ability to appreciate the ice cream itself. Next time I'll either opt for the leslie knope (ice cream in a waffle) or simply in a cup to fully appreciate the flavor and texture of the ice cream. There were many groups of young people hanging out, which I appreciated a lot. There is a patio seating area shared with other businesses available to hang out. Overall I wished I could say I enjoyed my ice cream more, but it's currently inconclusive for me. Definitely willing to try this place out again later to give it a proper chance to be fully appreciated!

    Single Scoop
    Helen S.

    Tiny, but mighty. Novel ice cream isn't novel for the community anymore, but has survived through years of people clamoring for their products: simply delicious ice cream and desserts. Summer is obviously peak season, but the love of ice cream knows no seasonality and we found plenty of people enjoying some sweet treats on the patio on a winter evening. As mentioned by others, Novel is awkwardly tucked off the busy Grand Ave and a residential road, so parking can be tricky. You also need to either climb up a ramp or go up a set of stairs to reach the shop, so may not be the most ADA friendly. There's no indoor space to sit so you'll have to decide if you're going to brave the shaded patio or just take your desserts to go. But the environs are definitely unique, with the small colorful shops making this feel more like a movie set than a real set of businesses. There's only one person manning the small takeout window, with other staff milling around inside scooping and churning out doughnuts. Current flavors are pasted next to the window, and you can try a maximum of 3 flavors per person. If you have your eye on a particular flavor - come earlier to make sure they don't scoop out of it before you arrive. Ice cream flavors are unique and delightful, and the added transformation with a puffy donut or creamy float is an option if you really want to get indulgent.

    Sarah G.

    Yum is the perfect word to describe the Dough melt ice cream donut I had with bourbon toffee caramel crunch! Donuts and ice cream are the perfect mix of sweetness! I didn't put any toppings on my ice cream but love that the menu has so many different options to choose from. The ice cream flavors also change so hopefully the flavor I tried is there if you like bourbon caramel toffee crunch! I can't wait to visit again in the summer for the perfect sweet treat to combat the Arizona heat!

    Francheska J.

    Novel is always a good visit. I love this location, as it's a cozy spot to grab a scoop and sit with your friends. Parking can be weird sometimes because it's right next to a neighborhood but it seems like they're fine with you parking in front of their houses. The chocolate ice cream here is a dream, it's perfectly creamy and rich in flavor. The texture is akin to some of the great ice cream spots I've been to out on the East coast, and it's no wonder they are award winning! There can be a line sometimes but they're super fast, and the staff is always so nice. Also, love that they're open late, as I am always craving ice cream after dinner!

    Bourbon Caramel Toffee Crunch & Peppermint Mocha!
    Jon H.

    After going to the First Friday Night Market in the arts District of Downtown Phoenix, we had a hankering for some ice cream, but in a less crowded space. I saw there was a Novel location nearby and decided this was the place! I've been to the location in Mesa and loved it so I was excited to check it out. Pulling up I noticed the charm and character of this spot immediately, which is what I love about the Mesa location. Twinkling lights, old wooden porch and railings, surrounded by a few other shops in similar aesthetics. Both locations are very unique and have their own flare and ambience. Great spot for a date or to sit back and chill with a friend (or more). Service was fast and friendly. The line was long, most likely due to the First Friday crowd, but we didn't wait long. I went with the Bourbon Caramel Toffee Crunch & Peppermint Mocha! It was super creamy and perfect!! Love the ice cream here! On a scale of 1 to 10, yes...I would 100% come here again! Probably my most favorite ice cream out there!

    Madagascar Vanilla Doughnut (top) & Strawberry Doughnut (bottom)
    Kaitlyn P.

    I was really excited to try this place and it did not disappoint! Parking is limited, so you may need to find street parking. I ordered the vanilla and strawberry ice cream in a doughnut. The doughnut was fresh, soft, and warm, and the ice cream was delicious. The service was also very friendly. Overall, I highly recommend!

    Butter Pecan with Golden Grahams...
    Carina F.

    I can definitely tell why Novel Ice Cream has so many five star reviews! Simple, creamy deliciousness! All of their ice cream is small batch and artisan. They have 12 flavors, 8 regular and 4 rotating. You can have your ice cream in a cup, cone, floats, or stuffed in a doughnut, which I plan to try next time! Reasonably priced and a great selection of toppings. I had the butter pecan topped with Golden Grahams! Service was friendly, and the patio was hopping with everybody having a great time, enjoying quality ice cream on a warm night. Parking lot is small, and there's other businesses in the hub, so I definitely recommend going for street parking. Dough Melt, I'm coming for you next time!

    Stuffed donut with Cookie Monster ice cream and Oreos
    Vlad V.

    Well this one had a ton of hype behind it. I read an article published by Yelp of the top ice cream spots in the country. To my surprise, the top spot was held my an ice cream parlor in my own city! That was all the motivation I needed. I stopped by for a sweet treat on a Sunday afternoon with my Yelp friend. Novel Ice Cream is housed in a small colorful house, next to several other small colored houses taken up by other businesses including a tattoo parlor, barber shop, and more. There is a small parking lot that fits six or so spots, and luckily I was able to snag one of them. If there aren't any available, you can park on the side street. Novel is located on the outskirts of downtown Phoenix in a predominantly Latino neighborhood. Ambiance (3/5): Novel Ice Cream does not have an interior where you can sit. The house is small and it's only for the staff and all of the equipment. So, you can grab and go or sit outside on the patio where there is room for 20 people or so. This is great when the weather cooperates but not when it's close to 100 degrees in September. That means your ice cream is going to melt very quickly. Service (3.5/5): Pretty standard service. Not terribly friendly, but did offer some recommendations. The cashier upsold my friend with a nice sales tactic on his part. Drinks (N/A): I brought a water with me, the best drink to have when you're eating ice cream, especially in the sun. Food (4.5/5): Novel has an interesting selection of ice cream flavors. You can go the traditional route and have it served in a cone or a cup. Or, if you're feeling overly ambitious, you can do a flight where you select five different flavors. Or, if you're a fat kid at heart like me, you can get a glazed donut stuffed with the ice cream and topping of your choice. I went with the cookie monster ice cream (essentially blue-colored cookies and cream) with Oreo bits. I will say, surprisingly, I've had a ice cream-stuffed donut at another establishment and the one at Novel was much better. In large part because of the quality of the donut. The ice cream was also delicious. And it looks great visually with the blue ice cream. A satisfied treat for sure. Given that I ate my ice cream outside with the weather what it was, my ice cream started melting at the very end. Some melted ice cream was on the parchment paper I had and as I walked to the trash can to throw it away, it started dripping all over the ground. Including on my sneakers. Blue is not easy to get out of your sneakers. Hooray. First world problem. However, still worth it.

    Rey F.

    I came here after seeing such great reviews, and Novel definitely didn't disappoint! I ordered a scoop of the Cookie Monster ice cream with Reese's Puffs added in and it was delicious. Just a heads up, the Cookie Monster ice cream will turn your mouth and tongue blue but if you're cool with that, it's totally worth trying. The service was great. Although the place looks simple, a red shack connecting with other businesses and some seating in a courtyard, definitely don't judge a book by its cover. I highly recommend checking it out. I'll definitely be back to try their dough melt donut ice cream sandwich next!

    Butter Pecan, Pina Colada, and Honey Lavender
    Christy C.

    Such a tiny and cute ice cream shop HOURS: - Tues to Sat - 12pm-1am - Sun - 12pm-8pm CLOSED MONDAY! Parking was challenging because their parking lot is very small and cramped but there was nearby street parking Service was friendly and welcoming Seating was pretty limited but there were a couple benches Menu had a good variety of flavors and there were 11 flavors to choose from. They have 8 staple flavors - bourbon toffee caramel crunch, cookie monster, Madagascar vanilla, chocolate, straight up strawberry, butter pecan, honey lavender, PB Wasted. They have 2 rotating ice cream and shorbet flavors every month and this month, it was Lunch Break, Penna Cherry, and Pina Colada. Prices were reasonable. Expect to pay $5-7 for the scoops! SCOOPS - SINGLE: $4.80 - DOUBLE: $5.80 - TRIPLE: $6.80 - Dough Melt (ice cream stuffed glazed doughnut) - $6.80 - Leslie Knope (ice cream stuffed waffle) - $7.50 - Ice Cream Float - $6.50 - Indecision (5 flight scoops) - $11 - Pint - $12 - Cone (waffle, cake, sugar) - $0.75 - Topping - $0.75 each - Donut - $3.00 There were soda and glass bottle soda available for $3.50! The Butter Pecan was very creamy and delicious! It wasn't too sweet and had lots of pecan bits. This was 8/10 The Honey Lavender didn't taste like honey at all and the lavender bits were too bitter so it wasn't enjoyable. This was 4/10 The Pina Colada was very refreshing and yummy! It tasted like pineapple and it wasn't too sweet. This was 8/10 Would definitely recommend and return!

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    26 days ago

    Best ice cream in AZ! Great vibe in the area. Try the Cookie Monster then head next door for Shaka dog.

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    Shawn A.

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    Novel Ice Cream Reviews in Other Languages

    Ask the Community - Novel Ice Cream

    Any non dairy options for our milk allergy son?

    They have dairy-free sorbets. Their sorbets are also very refreshing.

    Do they fart in your ice cream?

    No. Staff were extremely friendly and professional.

    Do they have peach, pear, or mango sorbet?

    They rotate flavors every day out of their 200+ flavor catalog. But you can contact them to request a special flavor in advance.

    Are there sugar substitute options? I know maybe it defeats the point, but one can hope.

    I’ve been here more times than I can count and have never seen a sugar substitute option. But, everything is made in small batches so it is possible this is something they would be willing to try. At least one of the owners is there a lot of the… Read more

    Do they have gluten free options.... for cookies or doughnuts possibly?

    Hi Chaila! We don't currently have gluten free donuts or cookies, however we always have at least nine gluten free flavors, two types of gluten free cones (there is never an upcharge for GF cones, they are same price as our regular cones), and four… Read more

    Do they have vegan options?

    Yes! They have vegan sorbet options and occasionally vegan cookies.

    View All 7 Questions

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    Whenever I'm traveling on my own, donuts seem to be the only thing I actually stop and pick up for…read morebreakfast. I was waiting for Zia Records to open in this plaza when I noticed Lucky Donuts in the corner and I just had to come in and get a couple for breakfast. This shop is simple enough where you enter, see a ton of donuts, a case full of drinks, and some other random stuff, but mostly I'm just here for the donuts. The employee working was super freaking friendly and ended up giving me a free donut because I had to wait for literally one minute for her to come up, which is 100% absolutely not a problem at all, but it was super sweet of her anyway. I ended up ordering a glaze crawler and a chocolate frosted donut as well, and I think the free one was maple glazed if I'm not mistaken. All three of the donuts were top notch delicious and I can't think of a single non positive thing to say. Overall, Lucky Donuts might just be a standard donut shop, but top notch service and delicious donuts make this place something special. Hungry? Lucky Donuts got you.

    Decent selection that are reasonably priced and tasty. We came on a Saturday morning, and were…read morehelped immediately. We got a maple bar, a rainbow donut, and a ham and cheese croissant. The donuts tasted fresh, but the ham in the croissant tasted old; ended up tossing most of it.

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    Parlor, you almost had me in a chokehold with that Spinach Pesto Breakfast Sandwich. First time I…read morehad it 5 stars, that pesto is so flavorful I thought there was meat on it (mind you I'm a pescatarian, so I was scared for a minute) Second time, the ciabatta was fighting me back (chewy like it had beef with me), so 4 stars. But flavor..still slaps. Third time is a charm....back to 5 stats! Now, about the doughnuts! They're fluffy, they're pretty, they come dressed to impress. But the toppings! Whew, sweet on sweet on sweet. And this is coming from me, someone who never says no to sugar. If my sweet tooth is waving the white flag, you know it's serious. Bottom line: Go for the sandwich, grab a doughnut for the photo and prepare your insulin. Coconut Cream filled 3/5 Stars $4.25 French Toast 2/5 Stars $4.25 Plain Jane 3.5 /5Stats $2.95 Pumpkin Chai Cheesecake 3.5/5 Stars $4.25 Sandy Beach 2.5/5 Stars $4.25 Spinach Pesto breakfast sandwich $6.95 Turtle Cheesecake 3.5/5 Stars $4.25

    I love a good donut and was disappointed in these donuts. They were just average…read more The turtle donut looked fabulous, but had very little caramel flavour in the topping The lemon was more artificial than real lemon flavour The coconut donut was the winner. The flavour came through with no artificial aftertaste. The double chocolate was not a chocolate donut. My bad for not reading the product description. It was chocolate frosting with chocolate chips to achieve the double title The donut itself was not greasy, but did not rock my socks with awe.

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    As soon as I walked in, I was greeted by a super energetic and friendly employee who immediately…read moremade me feel welcome. The shop was incredibly clean and aesthetically pleasing, creating a great first impression. Since it was my first visit, they took the time to explain all the flavors and how everything is made fresh daily. They were very informative, personable, and genuinely kind. I ordered three flavored donuts that happened to be seasonal, and they were absolutely incredible! You could really taste the freshness, and they stayed fresh throughout the entire day. Mochidot Donut hit the craving out the ballpark!!! I'm already contemplating going back again today! Highly recommend checking this place out!

    I love mochi donuts! I wish more places made them cuz they are my favorite type of fried dough. We…read morewere next door getting boba and I wanted to pop in and see what flavors they had. We had the place to ourselves and I perused their display case. They had some interesting flavors and I only wanted 3, but their menu prices reflected 6 or 12 ($18 and $30 respectively). I asked if 3 would be $9, and the employee said yes. I chose their ube, Vietnamese coffee, and black sesame with raspberry. Other flavors included gochujang caramel, almond joy, churro, and blueberry crumble. It was hard choosing flavors cuz they all sounded great. I was rung up for 3 single donuts ($3.50 ea) and asked if that was correct. The employee said yes, as only the half dozen and dozen are discounted. I was tempted to get another 3 donuts but decided against it. We sampled the donuts after finishing our early dinner and the texture was spot on: light, chewy, and delicious. They're so fun and easy to eat too; you can pick off the balls and share them (if you want). Each of the toppings should differentiate the tastes, since the donut base is the same, but honestly none of them had strong flavors which was disappointing. The black sesame seeds did were the most flavorful, but not all of the balls had the seeds on them. Since I enjoy these donuts so much, I'd come back again, although not too often due to the price point.

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    Creampuff

    Creampuff

    4.5
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    1.2 mi

    Ambiance service and donuts are a 10/10 love the donuts! I got a s'mores and strawberry shortcake,…read moreboth were so darn good BUT s'mores is my favorite. I wanted to try the cookie butter & churro as well but I had to fight temptation. I'm glad I don't live in downtown because this place would be a problem lol. I also ordered a maple brittle iced coffee, it wasn't bad but nothing special. I will definitely come back again!

    I recently tried Creampuff and had a good overall experience. We ordered the churro donut and the…read morecrème brûlée donut. The churro was solid--I'd rate it a 7/10, with a nice cinnamon sugar flavor. The crème brûlée donut was definitely the standout for me, I'd give it a 9/10. It had great flavor and was the better of the two. The girl at the front was very helpful and took the time to explain the different options, which I really appreciated. The inside of the shop is also really spacious, which I loved. it makes it a nice place to sit and hang out. That said, the overall quality was good but not amazing, and I wouldn't necessarily go out of my way to come back. One downside was the parking situation, it's pretty tight out front and the curb is really high. I actually scraped the bottom of my car door when opening it, which was frustrating. Overall, a good place to try, especially for the crème brûlée donut, but just be careful with parking.

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    Novel Ice Cream - desserts - Updated July 2026

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