Ice cream and desserts in Winston-Salem: gelato, custard and doughnuts

Last checked Oct. 12, 2026. Refreshed every three months.

Ice cream and desserts in Winston-Salem are spread out: downtown has Dream Kreams on West Third Street; Reynolda Road has Cafe Gelato’s original shop and Dough-Joe’s in Reynolda Village; Ardmore has Cafe Gelato’s second shop on South Hawthorne Road. The chains are on Peters Creek Parkway, Fairlawn Drive, Burke Mill Road and University Parkway.

How we made this list. The places come from OpenStreetMap records inside Winston-Salem’s city limits, the same data behind our local directory, checked against each place’s own website on Oct. 12, 2026. Several ice cream, frozen yogurt and rolled ice cream shops in the city have no website of their own, so they are not listed until a second official source confirms them. The list is alphabetical. It is not a ranking or a recommendation, and nobody paid to be on it. Run one of these places? Write to us to correct your entry.

The list

The places

Baskin-Robbins on Peters Creek Parkway is the ice cream chain’s Winston-Salem store. Its location page lists dine-in, a drive-thru and delivery, and posts the current flavors.

Cafe Gelato opened in 2005 at 845 Reynolda Road and is still there. It makes traditional Italian gelato and sorbet by hand and serves coffee and wine. A second shop on South Hawthorne Road, opened in 2018, adds boba tea, fruit tea and boba floats. Each shop makes its own gelato, so the flavors differ between them.

Culver’s on Fairlawn Drive is a burger and frozen custard chain. Its location page posts a custard flavor of the day.

Dough-Joe’s in Reynolda Village is a coffee and doughnut shop. Its case includes doughnuts and baked goods and homemade ice cream from Dream Kreams.

Dream Kreams is a Black woman-owned ice cream shop downtown. It began in 2018 as a summer project to teach the owners’ children about business. It makes dairy and dairy-free ice cream, with the dairy-free flavors also free of nuts, soy and gluten, and serves pastries and coffee from the Coffee Park Airstream. It caters events.

Duck Donuts on Burke Mill Road sells doughnuts by the dozen and half-dozen, lets customers build their own assortments, adds seasonal sets and lists ice cream and drinks on its menu.

Krispy Kreme on University Parkway is a doughnut shop with a drive-thru, takes online orders and caters.

Related lists: pizza, wings, Mexican and Tex-Mex, barbecue, breakfast and coffee, burgers, sushi and Asian, bakeries, patios and outdoor dining and every list by category. Also: the business directory and restaurant inspection scores.

Frequently asked questions

Where can I get ice cream in Winston-Salem?

This list has eight places inside the city limits, including Dream Kreams downtown on West Third Street, Cafe Gelato on Reynolda Road and South Hawthorne Road, Baskin-Robbins on Peters Creek Parkway, Culver’s on Fairlawn Drive and Duck Donuts on Burke Mill Road.

Where can I get dairy-free ice cream in Winston-Salem?

Dream Kreams at 102 W. Third St., Suite 102, says its dairy-free ice creams are also nut-, soy- and gluten-free, with many vegan choices. Cafe Gelato makes sorbet at both of its shops.

When does Cafe Gelato switch to winter hours?

Cafe Gelato’s summer hours, noon to 9 p.m. Tuesday to Saturday and 1 to 5 p.m. Sunday, run through Oct. 31. From Nov. 1 the Reynolda Road shop opens Thursday to Sunday only and the Hawthorne Road shop closes at 8 p.m.

Where can I get doughnuts late in Winston-Salem?

Krispy Kreme at 5912 University Parkway lists hours to 10 p.m. Sunday to Thursday and 11 p.m. Friday and Saturday.