Three Denver ice cream shops land on Yelp’s list of most coveted in America

Denver just proved it can hang with San Francisco, New York and Los Angeles when it comes to ice cream — and honestly, nobody who’s ever stood in that line at Little Man is surprised.

Yelp released its 2026 list of the 50 most-saved ice cream shops in the country on June 24, and three Denver spots made the cut. Little Man Ice Cream’s flagship location at 2620 16th St. in the Highlands — the one shaped like a giant milk jug — came in at No. 8 nationally, the highest-ranked shop between the coasts. The Congress Park location at 3506 12th Ave., which recently rebranded from Sweet Cooie’s to Little Man Ice Cream Congress Park, landed at No. 38. And Bonnie Brae Ice Cream, the beloved University of Denver-area institution, rounded out Denver’s showing at No. 47.

Yelp compiled the list by analyzing which ice cream shops users “save” or bookmark on the platform — essentially measuring where people are planning to go, not just where they’ve been — with added weight for star ratings and number of reviews. Mitchell’s Ice Cream in San Francisco took the No. 1 spot, followed by Soft Swerve in New York City and Mashti Malone’s in Los Angeles. Yelp noted that globally inspired flavors like black sesame and mango sticky rice are trending among this year’s top shops.

Only a handful of cities placed more than one shop on the list. Denver’s three entries tied it with some of the biggest food cities in the country — not bad for a place that was better known for green chili than gelato a decade ago.