17 Essential Cincinnati Creamy Whips You Need to Visit This Summer

Zip Dip

4050 Drew Ave., Westwood
Zip Dip literally shines like a beacon of light through the dark — the iconic neon lightning bolt adorning the roof is unmistakable. It was added to the building in 1951 and has been guiding customers through summer heat waves to ice cream salvation ever since.
What to order: Everyone loves a classic. The top-seller here is a basic small cone with a twist, but scrap the whole chocolate and vanilla idea. Zip Dip serves an orange and vanilla twist that will make you forget you ever wanted anything else. If you’re looking for more, Zip Dip has a whole heap of ice cream selections from chipwiches to sugar-free yogurt to banana boat parfaits. Those who prefer to drink their ice cream should skip the shakes and opt for a malt instead.
Photo: Jesse Fox

Putz’s Creamy Whip

2673 Putz Place, Northside
Putz’s Creamy Whip has been in the family since the day Constantine and Anna Putz opened their first trolley car walk-up ice cream window in 1938. The Putz as we know it — now in a square concrete structure just down the hill from Mt. Airy Forest — is a scoop of summer nostalgia served with a smile. Not much about this place has changed over the past several decades. Of the current generation, Putz descendant Mindy Borgman has been cranking out cones at the creamy whip for the last 17 years — all on the same Electro-Freeze machine. Another tradition? Putz’s is cash-only.
What to order: Despite the hoopla about the vintage ice cream machine and vanilla soft serve, the pineapple sherbet is a must. It is creamy like soft serve and tangy like, well, pineapple. “Face cones” are also a hot commodity at Putz’s. The soft-serve cones are adorned with Necco wafer ears and mysteriously crunchy candy googly eyes.
Photo: Sami Stewart

Old Milford Parlor

119 Main St., Milford
Old Milford Parlor sits in Old Milford’s historic district filled with vintage shops and quirky eateries. Nick Ganim owns this contemporary, year-round parlor, inspired by his grandfather’s Mt. Washington Bakery, now the Mt. Washington Creamy Whip and Bakery.
What to order: Get a classic zebra soft-serve swirl and then select from Old Milford's wild array of toppings, from a classic Krunch Koat and rainbow sprinkles to marshmallow charms and edible gold flakes (made with real gold...).
Photo: Hailey Bollinger

Loveland Dairy Whip

611 W Loveland Ave., Loveland
A former Dairy Whip and hamburger stand that opened on the Fourth of July in the 1950s, Loveland Dairy Whip now specializes in creamy soft serve ice cream made with a thick and creamy Dairyman's blend. With chocolate, vanilla and twist cones, plus chocolate, cherry and butterscotch dip top — and a cake batter dip top — or sprinkles, the whip offers a taste of nostalgia. They also have a drive-thru.
What to order: They claim the Chocolate Mountain, Reese Tulip and Hot Fudge Brownie are their customer favorite parfaits.
Photo: The Loveland Dairy Whip Facebook

Mt. Healthy Dairy Bar

7840 Hamilton Ave., Mt. Healthy
As far as penny-pinching goes, this ice cream shop offers the most bang for your buck. Mount Healthy Dairy Bar has been serving leaning towers of soft serve for more than 60 years. If you’ve got a monstrous appetite and love a good challenge, they also have a monster sundae that jams three large servings of ice cream, three sundae toppings, four brownie and two bananas into a ginormous bowl for $9. Does a better bargain exist?
What to order: While they famously serve two-pound monster cones for dirt cheap, their rotating sherbet flavors are to die for. Right now they're offering a Shockin' Strawberry sherbert.
Photo: Sami Stewart

Whipty-Do!

2529 Montgomery Road, Maineville
Whipty-Do! opened its doors in May of 2009, when owners Joe and Kristen Fields turned their love of ice cream into a colorful brick-and-mortar shop. They began serving blue ice cream in 2010, and customers drive from as far as Columbus and Indianapolis to stock up on the stuff with coolers and dry ice in tow.
What to order: Customers tend to get creative with their Whipty-Do! blue ice cream concoctions, taking advantage of the shop’s many topping offerings like rainbow sprinkles, chocolate dip, hot fudge and Fruity Pebbles. Swirl it with vanilla and add a homemade waffle cone or try it in its “iceberg” incarnation — a base of blue ice cream topped with any flavor of slushie (cherry, orange, lime, grape, blue raspberry or strawberry).
Photo: Whipty-Do! Facebook

Bold Face Dairy Bar

801 Mt, Hope Ave., E. Price Hill
This walk-up urban creamy whip just began sweetening Cincinnati last spring. Helmed by the Grear and Harkins family, the menu includes floats, shakes, gourmet ice pops, smoothies and flurries in addition to soft serve. Cones come in vanilla, chocolate or swirl with toppings like sea salt, sprinkles and strawberry sauce but where things really get creative are their flavor swirls. Among additions like lavender, pistachio and chai tea is bourbon barrel stout, a unique Kentucky-style stand-out.
What to order:The Bold Face cone is a swirl in a waffle cone, topped with a 24K gold leaf and covered with chocolate sprinkles.
Photo: Bold Face Dairy Bar Facebook

Pendleton Parlor

1218 Broadway St., Pendleton
At Pendleton Parlor, a bona fide second location of Old Milford, visitors can order from a diverse menu of creamy whip flavors ranging from strawberry to Thin Mint, but soft serve won’t be the only choice to fill your cup or cone. More adventurous customers can opt for edible cookie dough by the scoop or choose to blend the batter into a shake or sundae.
What to order: Mom always said never to eat raw cookie dough, but forget her advice for now. There are multiple flavors of dough on the menu, but the core offerings will always include chocolate chip cookie and sugar cookie with sprinkles. Those seeking out a caffeine buzz alongside their sugar rush will also be able to order from a small menu of espresso drinks.
Photo: Hailey Bollinger

The Cone

6855 Tylersville Road, West Chester
West Chester’s The Cone is arguably the most recognizable creamy whip in all of Ohio — partially because of its large ice cream cone-shaped exterior. The Cone’s flavors and ingredients are all natural, the majority of which are made in-house daily with fresh fruit, real chocolate and more. Even their famous bright orange zebra cone is made from real oranges. Plus all their ice creams, yogurts, Italian ices and sherbets are not only all-natural but soy free, gluten free and egg free, and their whipped cream is homemade on a daily basis from scratch.
What to order: Their orange-vanilla swirl and footlong cheese coneys were The Cone’s original customer-favorites — and they still offer them. A family recipe since 1972, the orange-vanilla swirl is made fresh daily with a secret all-natural recipe; tastes like a creamsicle. Newer menu items include “Wizzards” — ice cream mixed with candy toppings.
Photo: The Cone Facebook

Norwood Delite Creamy Whip

4490 Forest Ave., Norwood
This no-frills whip has been in Norwood for 65 years, serving everything from footlongs and barbecue to burgers and ice cream.
What to order: If you grew up going to Kings Island as a kid, you probably partook in your fair share of blueberry soft serve at the Huckleberry Dairy in what used to be Hanna-Barbera Land. To relive the nostalgia — and if you can’t swing the $50-plus admission to get today’s version of a blueberry cone — Norwood Delite has you covered. This creamy whip staple offers the famed blueberry soft serve and also has everything from popsicles and sundaes to pickles and more.
Photo: Norwood Delite Facebook