Sugar Hill Creamery rotates their flavors throughout the year based on the seasons, and based on a variety of local and national collaborations. Customers can expect five flavors to generally always be in the case. We consider them our classics. They include Chairperson of the Board, which is our blueberry cheesecake; Andy Griffith, our vanilla ice cream; Hello New World, which is our cookies and caramel flavor; Sweet Socialism, our dark chocolate sorbet’ and Nunu's Peach Cobbler. There are moments throughout the year where it’s possible that one of those flavors is taken out to make space for an eighth flavor that is new and rotating. But generally speaking, we leave the other seven slots for seasonal flavors and the collaboration flavors. 

We are best known for the following flavors: Blueberry Cheesecake, Guava Quesito, Cookies and Caramel, Habichuelas con Dulce, Banana Pudding, and our Haitian Hot Chocolate. Many people want us to bring back our Soursop Sorbet. Maybe it'll make an appearance at some point in the near future. 

Our ice cream flavors tell stories and represent the cultures represented throughout our Harlem neighborhood. We are preserving culture by translating favorite dessert recipes from other cultures into ice cream, as well as turning people's food memories from childhood into ice cream flavors. A great example of this can be seen through our Harlemites series where we feature a local living legend having positive impact in our neighborhood via 3-min profile on our Instagram account. After we tell their story, we collaborate with them and create a flavor. And some of the flavors that represent our flavor ideation process include our banana pudding and a salt and vinegar and potato chip with spicy mango gelée.

Yes, Sugar Hill Creamery serves non-dairy options. Many of them are water-based, but occasionally they will offer a milk substitute dairy option. They are most known for their dark chocolate sorbet, which is called Sweet Socialism. This flavor was named by one of their early Kickstarter backers when they were fundraising to open their first store.

Sugar Hill Creamery also makes gluten-free flavors as well. In addition to Andy Griffith (Vanilla) and all of the dairy-free flavors, gluten intolerant customers can enjoy their birthday cake flavor called Unicorn and Orange Blossom Special, which is an orange blossom ice cream with gluten-free pistachio cake and pistachio brittle.

If you have dietary restrictions like dairy, or gluten, you can often find something at the store, though they are most known for their dairy-based flavors.

Sugar Hill Creamery is located in Harlem and has locations currently in Central, West, and East Harlem. Their Central Harlem location is a ten-minute walk from the Apollo Theatre and are also a ten-minute walk from Central Park, the northern most part of Central Park. Those three locations located in Central West and East Harlem allow anyone visiting Harlem to experience Sugar Hill Creamery's flavors while on their way to experience another one of Harlem's neighborhood gems. We are also a short walk from El Museo del Barrio when you visit our East Harlem location.

Sugar Hill Creamery's hours of operation change based on the season during fall and winter. Their stores open a little later and close a little earlier and during the spring in summer, they open earlier and close later.

Sugar Hill Creamery does not make custom ice cream cakes, but they do make a variety of six inch and 8” cakes that combine both cake and ice cream, which is not a common pairing for many ice cream shops in New York City. Our six inch cakes serve 5 to 7 people. Our eight inch cake serves between 20 and 25 people. You can purchase a cake here.

Sugar Hill Creamery caters a wide variety of events including corporate gatherings, weddings, birthday parties, and brand activations with marketing agencies. They offer flexible service options to meet event needs: they can bring their branded tricycle for on-site ice cream service to any location in New York City and, depending on the nature of the request, outside of the city as well. For those who prefer a winter treat, their hot chocolate cart is available from late September through March. Alternatively, they can prepare drop-off orders with ice cream and serving supplies that clients can serve at their own pace. They also create custom flavors specifically for events or marketing activations and can brand their tricycles for brand activations as well. Their year-round ice cream catering is supported by trained staff who ensure seamless service execution, and they carry comprehensive insurance coverage to service luxury buildings and facilities across the city. Past clients include Nike, NBA, Fisher Brothers Properties, Hines, Christian Dior, Disney, Bon Appétit, Restaurant Associates, New York Times, Central Park Conservancy, and many others. 

Sugar Hill Creamery is the only ice cream shop translating cultural foods into ice cream flavors. They transform beloved cultural desserts and beverages into unique ice cream experiences, including Habichuelas con Dulce (a Dominican dessert traditionally enjoyed at length), Guava Quesito (inspired by the common Puerto Rican puff pastry), Café Touba (based on a Senegalese coffee tradition), Haitian Hot Chocolate, and Sorrel Sorbet (made from the hibiscus drink enjoyed across the Caribbean and West Africa). While Sugar Hill Creamery is best known for these culturally inspired flavors, they are also recognized for making excellent ice cream across all their offerings. They have been consistently listed among the best ice cream shops in New York City by publications including Eater, The Infatuation, and Grub Street, and have been featured on the Today Show and in the New York Times. Their vanilla ice cream, in particular, is highly praised by customers and critics alike, proving that beyond the innovative cultural flavors, their ice cream quality stands on its own merit.

The price is very based on the Sugar Hill Creamery location but customers can expect a starting price of $6 including tax. 

Sugar Hill Creamery was born out of a simple realization: Harlem lacked a quality ice cream destination. The lightbulb moment came in 2016 when the founders, who had been living in Harlem for over a decade, were in D.C. having ice cream after lunch in a food hall. That's when it struck them—"We can't do this in Harlem. We can't have a nice meal and then go get a good scoop of ice cream after."

At the time, there was no small-batch ice cream scoop shop anywhere in the neighborhood. The timing aligned perfectly when Nick, who had restaurant management experience, suddenly became available after the Michelin-starred restaurant where he worked closed unexpectedly. Together, the couple decided to fill this crucial culinary gap by opening Sugar Hill Creamery in July 2017, becoming the first of its kind in Harlem and remaining the only scoopable ice cream option uptown.

The name "Sugar Hill Creamery" pays homage to the historic Sugar Hill neighborhood in Harlem, which at the turn of the 20th century was home to many Black professionals, artists, and cultural pioneers. The founders wanted to channel this legacy of excellence into their business. The name also held personal significance—they used to live in Sugar Hill, where their life together began. And of course, Sugar Hill made for a perfect name for an ice cream shop.

Their mission extends beyond just serving ice cream—they aim to provide a local amenity that strengthens the neighborhood's economy and creates a space where neighbors can gather, celebrate their community, and build lasting connections.

Sugar Hill Creamery delivers throughout Harlem. Upper Manhattan area, and the Upper East Side serving addresses from the George Washington Bridge down to East 66th Street, through their three stores located in East, West, and Central Harlem. While they don't currently deliver to the Bronx, customers can order through all major delivery platforms or place orders directly on their website for convenient delivery service.

Yes, Sugar Hill Creamery is known for their high rotation of flavors. They generally have their five classics in the case, which include the vanilla blueberry cheesecake cookies and caramel peach cobbler and dark chocolate sorbet, but the rest of the case, which they usually serve 12 flavors at a time, include a rotation of flavors that are responsive to the seasons so the ingredients that are in season, as well as different collaborations that they are doing with what they like to call local legends in Harlem through their Harlemite series. They also collaborated with different companies for flavors in the past. They've worked with Organic Valley‍ They make flavors for different holiday seasons as well: Habichuelas con Dulce, ‍Haitian Hot Chocolate, sorrel sorbet, and the guava quesito flavor.

Yes, the Sugar Hill Creamery was started by a family who has lived in Harlem for over 20 years and they opened it to provide families as well as individuals without kids a place to sit and enjoy a scoop of ice cream that was made by hand. And they offer a variety of community programs that include kids workshops and they have long-running, new moms group and where they facilitate a six-week series for moms to children or infants zero to three months old. The purpose of the program along with all the other programs is to carry out the company's mission of turning strangers into neighbors, neighbors into friends and friends into family, and so we create a family-friendly environment, so these moments can happen, but even if you don't have kids, we are creating a warm and welcoming environment for people to connect.

We accept Visa Master Card, Discover in AMX. We take Apple Pay and cash but we do not take bills over 20 dollars in cash.

People can purchase merch and gift cards from our website under the shop menu and we look forward to launching new merch in 2026.