8 Great Puget Sound Ice Cream Shops To Try During The Heat Wave

SEATTLE, WA - When temperatures approach 100 degrees, there are only a few tried-and-true ways to cool down. If you don't have air conditioning or a cold beer nearby, the best way to cool down is by scarfing a few scoops of ice cream. No doubt lines will be long at local ice cream shops this week, but these local ice cream shops are worth the wait.

Here are best bets for ice cream around Puget Sound:

12 Scoops
4267 S Orcas St, Seattle
This shop has 144 flavors up its sleeve, but owner Wally Morris - who is an expert in hot temperatures: he's from Jamaica - only serves 12 per month. "Easily some of the best ice cream I've had in awhile in terms of texture. Super creamy and smooth. I appreciate that it wasn't so cold it was rock hard. Their ice cream slides off the spoon," wrote one reviewer on Yelp.

Main Street Dairy Freeze
1402 Main St, Sumner
There's no air conditioning outdoors, but there's something magical about eating ice cream on a summer night at a 1950s-style dairy store. Not to mention, you can pick up a basket of french fries, the perfect salty complement to ice cream.

Kapaw's Iskreme
21 NW Front St, Coupeville
Worth the ferry ride to Whidbey Island, this shop offers traditional ice cream flavors in the historic Coupeville waterfront. One excellent feature of this shop is that they make waffle cones fresh right there in front of you.

Bluebird Ice Cream
7400 Greenwood Ave N, Seattle
Hello, beer and ice cream. The two most cooling food stuffs for a hot day are available from this small shop on Phinney Ridge (there are three locations in Seattle).

Ellenos Real Greek Yogurt
699 120th Ave NE, Bellevue
Is it possible for yogurt to be better than ice cream? If so, Ellenos (based in Seattle's Georgetown neighborhood) has made it. On a hot summer day, a scoop of thick, creamy lemon-flavored Greek yogurt is surprisingly refreshing (and nutritious).

Black Bear Frozen Yogurt
1901 S 72nd St, Tacoma
Look, you can find a self-serve froyo place in just about every city around Puget Sound. But the owners of this froyo spot near Lakewood took the concept a step further, selling a huge number of flavors in a Pacific Northwest-themed setting. It's cozy and just a few blocks from Wapato Lake.

Triple XXX Root Beer Drive-In
98 NE Gilman Blvd, Issaquah
This is another one of those 1950s-style greasy spoons. And while the ambiance is great, you'll want to grab a shake or, even better, a malt here. What's a malt? It's basically a milkshake made with malt powder - a milkshake with a creamy kick.

Sweet Breeze Ice Cream
643-A Southwest 152nd Street, Burien
Delicious homemade ice cream available just a short distance from the - hopefully - cooling breezes coming off Puget Sound. Sweet Breeze is also near the brand-new Burien Town Square Park, which has one of those water fountains that the kids (or you) can run through.

Did we miss your favorite local ice cream spot? Email neal.mcnamara@patch.com with suggestions.

Image via Rick Uldricks/Patch.com