The Top Ice Cream in Knoxville, Tennessee
Bruster’s Real Ice Cream is one of the first places people in Knoxville will tell you to go when you ask about ice cream. Bruster’s began in Pennsylvania back in 1989 and now boasts ice cream shops all over the country, including two in Knoxville. One is at 1043 Old Cedar Bluff Rd; it’s hard to miss, since in spring, summer, and fall there is a line of people waiting for their ice cream. The other location is 906 E. Emory Road, and I’m sure people line up there, too, but we have only visited the Old Cedar Bluff Road location. Bruster’s takes farm-fresh milk and cream and tons of other yummy ingredients to churn out creamy, thick, delicious ice cream that Bruster fans rave about. But they don’t stop there. Yogurts, pies, cakes, smoothies, shakes, and sundaes are several other reasons to make Bruster’s a regular stop.
A little further in west Knoxville, in the new Colonial Pinnacle shopping center at Turkey Creek (worth going to even without ice cream at the end of the trip) lies Maggie Moo’s Treatery. To be honest, I thought the people who recommended Maggie Moo’s to us liked it just because of the name. I mean, how could you not like an ice cream store named after a lovable black and white cow who, it is said, has even appeared around Knoxville and to grand openings and such? (We were not privileged to meet Maggie, however.) But no, Maggie Moo’s ice cream proved to be as smooth, rich, and creamy as her supporters had led us to believe. Maggie’s ice cream is made right in each store, eliminating ice crystals that form due to thaw and freeze when ice cream is transported. With flavors like amoretto, cafÃ?© cubana, and pink peppermint stick; and mix-ins like cappuccino chips and gummy bears that are added in right in front of you, it’s easy to see why Maggie Moo’s Treatery was such a hit. We looked at but have not sampled Maggie Moo’s selection of dream cakes like Caramel Drizzle and Maggie’s S’Mores; and truffle cakes like Chocolate Espresso Truffle or Chocolate Sundae Truffle or definitely on our list of must-tries. Maggie Moo’s of Knoxville also has sorbets (I’d like to try the one made with Red Bull), shakes, smoothies and cute little ice cream cupcakes.
Knoxville has several Marble Slab Creamery stores, one in West Town Mall, that have captured plenty of ice cream aficionados’ hearts. A host of Baskin Robbins 31 Flavors abound, one at 9157 Middlebrook and one at 412 Merchants Drive, proving that people in Knoxville do love their ice cream. No mention of ice cream stores would be complete without the Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream at 4477 Kinston Pike, and their ice cream is definitely worth a little drive on a hot day, too.
But there are quite a few people in Knoxville and elsewhere in East Tennessee and the South, who will swear that the very best ice cream is in the distinctive yellow tubs of Mayfield Dairy. Those people would say it is worth going to just about any convenience or grocery store in Knoxville, buying a half gallon or so of such ice cream flavors as Moose Tracks, Peanut Butter Cookie Dough, or Blueberry Cream Pie and dishing it up yourself. Mayfield Dairy’s ice cream is fantastic, but the Blueberry Cream Pie could be eaten for breakfast, lunch, dinner and any snack between! Let me just say, it is cream cheese ice cream with a blueberry swirl and sugar pie pieces. And if that doesn’t sound great to you, maybe the Chocolate Ripple, Cherry or Black Walnut will. Mayfield Dairy’s ice cream calls itself “creamier” and it is definitely a smooth, rich, creamy ice cream. Mayfield Dairy has a plant right down the I-75 from Knoxville in Athens, Tennessee. Their secret to great ice cream is a special “quick freeze” to prevent ice crystals from forming, and to preserve that creamy texture.
Sure, summers get long and hot and humid here in Knoxville, Tennessee, but with great ice creams like this, you will be wanting to “come on back, y’all, now hear.”
