No moo for you: Dairy-free ice cream in Calgary

Whether you’re lactose intolerant, vegan or dieting, no one should have to sacrifice ice cream. And so, we all scream for (dairy-free) ice cream! Fortunately, city ice cream shops are better than ever at giving customers milk-free options. While all of these ice cream parlours feature deliciously creamy frozen treats, they also pack dairy-free options with just as much punch. Image credit: iStock.com/bhofack2.

By Jillian Clark

Village Ice Cream

1

820 49 Avenue SW, Calgary, AB T2S 1G9

• Phone Number
  • 403-457-9808Primary
• Directions
• Menu

Village Ice Cream’s two locations in Calgary scoop handmade, small-batch, organic ice cream flavours. The boutique ice creamery features a menu of favourite flavours including chocolate, maple pecan, Phil & Sebastian coffee and toasted coconut. Village also rotates through sweet, seasonal selections. Lactose-intolerant and dairy-sensitive patrons can opt for a dairy-free sorbet or dairy-free, coconut-milk ice cream.

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Amato Gelato Cafe

2

7-2104 Kensington Rd NW, Calgary, AB T2N 3R7

• Phone Number
  • 403-270-9733Primary
• Directions

Next time you’re in Kensington, stop by Amato Gelato for a creamy frozen treat. Amato serves dairy-free and authentic Italian gelato in 72 rotating flavours. All are handmade using the best ingredients available and strictly following traditional Italian recipes. Amato’s tofulati is made with soy milk and flavours include chocolate, vanilla, strawberry and mango. Also dairy free, try fruit-flavoured sorbetto.

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My Favorite Ice Cream Shoppe Ltd

3

2048 42 Ave SW, Calgary, AB T2T 2M7

• Phone Number
  • 403-287-3838Primary
• Directions
• Menu

My Favourite Ice Cream Shoppe in Marda Loop is a nostalgic purveyor of cold treats. It serves more than 70 flavours and has retro ice cream-themed signage and trinkets lining the walls above the shop’s bench seating. A piano acts as the focal point for the room, and 10 minutes of playtime earns a free cone. Non-dairy folk can enjoy a sweet selection of dairy-free sorbets.

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Righteous Gelato

4

110-221 19 St Se, Calgary, AB T2E 7M2

• Phone Number
  • 403-452-3150Primary
• Directions

Fiasco Gelato is all about high-quality non-GMO ingredients. Also available are fresh-baked cookies, locally brewed coffee and hot chocolate served with locally made flavoured marshmallows. Intolerance friendly, Fiasco’s small-batch sorbetto is entirely dairy free.

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Lic's Ice Cream Shop

5

3410 3 Ave Nw, Calgary, AB T2N 0M2

• Phone Number
  • 403-283-3578Primary
• Directions

Leavitt’s Ice Cream, known to its regular patrons as Lic’s, serves hard-scoop ice cream. For dairy-free ice cream lovers, Lic’s menu features lactose-free ice cream and milk-free sorbet. There’s even a few sugar-free and frozen-yogurt flavours available as well. Choose your favourite flavour in a bowl or waffle cone, and get licking.

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Made by Marcus

6

121-1013 17 Ave SW, Calgary, AB T2T 0A7

• Phone Number
  • 403-452-1692Primary
• Directions

Previously available at various shops around the city, Made by Marcus recently unveiled its own “microcreamery” on 17th Avenue Southwest. The artisanal ice cream shop serves unusually tasty flavours such as dulce banana walnut, lemon curd and wild raspberry. The shop’s seasonal flavour rotation keeps visitors guessing, and fruity, dairy-free sorbet flavours are available.

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Pop's Dairy Bar

7

1024 Bellevue Ave SE, Calgary, AB T2G 4L1

• Phone Number
  • 403-455-1035Primary
• Directions

Pop’s Dairy Bar has served ice cream, hot dogs and lemonade since 1939. There’s something about eating these treats in the Pop’s outdoor courtyard that heightens their deliciousness. Fruity and flavourful dairy-free sorbet servings are available as well. Open seasonally from June 1 through the end of September, this spot should be a priority on your summer snack list.

Nice Cream

8

4-4604 37 St SW, Calgary, AB T3E 3C9

• Phone Number
  • 403-454-8868Primary
• Directions

Nice Cream is Canada’s first liquid nitrogen ice cream parlour. Why liquid nitrogen? The faster you can freeze it, the fewer ice crystals form, and the creamier the finished frozen treat becomes. Liquid nitrogen freezes fast for the creamiest ice cream you will ever taste. Head to Nice Cream to try the shop’s rotating selection of unusual flavours. A small non-diary selection includes sorbets. Science never tasted so good!

MacKay's Cochrane Ice Cream

9

220 1 St E, Cochrane, AB T4C 1Z3

• Phone Number
  • 403-932-2455Primary
• Directions

A visit to MacKay’s alone merits the short road trip Cochrane. Stop by this retro ice cream parlour for a funky change of pace. The shop uses the highest quality butterfat cream and low air content to create dreamy, dense ice cream. Dairy-sensitive ice cream lovers can choose from low-diary (less than one per cent) sorbet. Gluten-free ice cream flavours are also available.

More from Jillian Clark

Jill loves all things fun, fruity and yogi. She recently departed Montreal to try life in Calgary. Here she searches for the perfect balance between the hot room and “real life” and also between healthy living and her love of chocolate. Besides yoga and writing, her favourite activities include making new friends, drinking red wine with old ones, and force-feeding them her gluten-free recipes.

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