To celebrate National Ice Cream Day, which falls on Sunday, July 21, many ice cream businesses and chains across the U.S. are offering discounts and free sweets to customers.
The annual holiday has taken place on the third Sunday of each July since President Ronald Reagan announced it in 1984, declaring ice cream to be “a nutritious and wholesome food” while announcing that each July would be National Ice Cream Month.
See where you can partake in enjoying the holiday.
National Ice Cream Day is July 21. Here are deals and freebies to celebrate.
Friendly’s
The family eatery is celebrating itself and National Ice Cream Day with cheap deals.
Friendly’s 2024 Founders Day is celebrating 89 years of business since opening its first restaurant in 1935. Through July 21, customers can get a single-scoop cone for 89 cents in honor of its 89th anniversary and National Ice Cream Day, the restaurant said in a release. The offer is available at any Friendly’s nationwide.
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Any member who joins the Friendly’s Fan Club in July, National Ice Cream Month, will receive a Fribble for $2 for the entire month of July.
Find Friendly’s locations here.
Will you celebrate National Ice Cream Day with a cone from Baskin-Robbins? The ice cream purveyor claims to be the largest in the world.
Baskin-Robbins
Starting Sunday through July 27, receive $5 off any purchase of $20 or more. Receive a free gift card with any purchase of the “ice cream social” necklace, featuring cotton candy ice cream, the iconic pink spoon and cappuccino blast ice cream.
Find Baskin-Robbins locations here.
Dairy Queen
Dairy Queen is offering its rewards members a one-day free perk for July 21.
The Dilly Bar will be available for free with any DQ rewards order of $1 or more, at participating U.S. locations where Dilly Bars are available.
Find Dairy Queen locations here.
Insomnia Cookies
Guests will get a free ice cream with a purchase for National Ice Cream Day from Friday through Sunday.
The deal is valid for two scoops of ice cream in a cup with any purchase in-store and online/in-app for delivery orders only, the business said on its Instagram. The deal excludes online/in-app local pickup orders. Customers must mention the deal in-store or add deal to cart online/in-app, prior to checkout to redeem.
Find an Insomnia Cookies bakery here.
Cold Stone Creamery
For Cold Stone Club rewards members, members can get $5 off a purchase of $10 or more.
The last day to earn the offer is Tuesday, July 23. Coldstone is also bringing back three retro snacks to celebrate: the Root Beer Float, Classic Fudge Sundae and an Orange Cream Float.
Find Cold Stone Creamery locations here.
Dippin’ Dots
Ice cream for breakfast? Dippin’ Dots is giving away a free mini cup of Dippin’ Dots during a two hour window, so check with your local store to see when the giveaway will be.
Find Dippin’ Dots locations here.
Burger King
The burger chain is offering rewards members a free soft-serve ice cream with any $1 purchase on National Ice Cream Day, July 21.
Royal Perks members can redeem a soft serve cup or cone for 150 points instead of 250 through July 31, according to Burger King’s website.
Find Burger King locations here.
National Ice Cream Day is July 21. What is your favorite ice cream?
Humphry Slocombe
Humphry Slocombe is doing a raffle for National Ice Cream Day this year. The shop is giving away three 9-inch breakfast ice cream cakes. Tickets are $1 and proceeds benefit Project Open Hand, which provides nutritious meals to the sick and vulnerable.
Find Humphry Slocombe locations here.
Salt & Straw
The Portland-based ice cream shop is giving away a free pint of ice cream with the purchase of any three pints ordered for delivery. There are also several flavors available only this month: birthday cakes & blackberries, wild foraged berry slab pie, goat cheese marionberry habanero, banana bread w/ strawberry jam (vegan) and huckleberry cornbread pudding.
Find Salt & Straw locations here.
Marble Slab Creamery
Get a free small cup of ice cream on Sunday when you buy a small cup or larger in stores. You can also get $5 off Ice Cream Cakes with the code CAKE24 all throughout July.
Find Marble Slab Creamery restaurants here.
Tribune News Services contributed to this report.
America’s 8 most-visited ice cream shops — and the hottest new chain
America’s 8 most-visited ice cream shops — and the hottest new chain
It’s no secret, we all scream for ice cream. But where do we scream the loudest — and for what, exactly? To help you make the most of your summer, we dug into Lyft rideshare data to find America’s favorite ice cream spots — national juggernauts, up-and-coming specialty shops, and local favorites.
Most popular ice cream brand: Culver’s
No surprise, the most popular ice cream stores are all major chains. Culver’s, a Midwestern-based frozen-custard chain, draws over 20% of all ice cream–seeking riders. Dairy Queen, which has been serving up soft-serve ice cream for more than eight decades, follows close behind. Together, they draw more than three times as many visitors as the next most-popular chain, Baskin-Robbins.
Fastest-growing brand: Van Leeuwen
The ice cream landscape is always changing. Here are the spots that saw the biggest growth in Lyft rides last year:
And the winner is … Van Leeuwen, a made-from-scratch ice cream chain featuring smooth and sophisticated flavors like honeycomb and Earl Grey.
Van Leeuwen is a relatively new brand — it began as a food truck in 2008 — and has recently expanded, launching 17 new stores in 2023 alone. But the secret behind its rise could be its butterfat content. At 18% butterfat, Van Leeuwen ice cream is substantially richer than other ice creams, even those not known for skimping.
Most popular destination, by state
Culver’s and Dairy Queen are the most popular spots in 36 states. But other states are more loyal to home-grown shops: Newport Creamery in Rhode Island (in the Ocean State since 1928), Friendly’s in Massachusetts (1935), Carvel in New York (1929), Braum’s in Oklahoma (1968), Moo’s Gourmet Ice Cream in Wyoming (1989), and Salt & Straw in Oregon (2011 — surprisingly, the spot is also #1 in California too).
Vermonters get a special shoutout — they flock to ice cream shops more than three times as frequently as the average American. And 80% of those rides are to hometown favorite Ben & Jerry’s.
Local Favorites
National chains are great, but there’s nothing better than stumbling upon a scoop shop that only locals know about. Here are six state-specific spots that are particularly popular among Lyft riders.
- Tricycle Ice Cream (Providence, RI) — Tricycle brings novel flavors (think Ube and Horchata) to the classic ice cream sandwich.
- Kopp’s Frozen Custard (Milwaukee, WI) — A Milwaukee favorite since the 1950s, Kopp’s keeps things interesting by offering a special flavor of the day, updated daily on the Flavor Alerts app.
- Azucar Ice Cream (Miami, FL) — Azucar ice cream provides a “farm to cone” experience: Ingredients for flavors like guava are sourced from South Florida farmer’s markets.
- Blank Slate Creamery (Ann Arbor, MI) — When family-owned Blank Slate Creamery first opened, it sold out of ice cream in three days and was closed for a week to produce more.
- Fifty Licks (Portland, OR) — Offering flavors such as “Vanilla AF” and maintaining a vibrant Instagram page, Fifty Licks isn’t just a scoop shop — it’s a vibe.
- Golden Cow Creamery (Charlotte, NC) — Golden Cow touts its “stubborn” commitment to its three-day production process and highest-quality ingredients.
This story was produced by Lyft and reviewed and distributed by Stacker Media.