5 Best Restaurants in Cape Cod, Massachusetts

You know your host loves you when they take you to this local favorite (with multiple locations). The Creamery incorporates only the best ingredients in its ice cream, including Madagascar vanilla and French cocoa; this year-round location also serves sandwiches and chowder. The mini-scoop sampler is a popular choice for newbies, featuring six flavors served in a banana boat dish. There are seasonal locations in South Yarmouth, Dennis, and at the Hy-Line ferry terminal on Ocean Street in Hyannis.

Feel the ice cream love at this café, where the creamy frozen joy is available in vegan, non-dairy, and sugar-free forms, in addition to their usual premium homemade ice cream. The flavors are dreamy—think brownie batter swirl, chocolate-chili pepper, and Red Velvet cake—and the made-to-order ice cream sandwiches have ice cream stuffed between decadent thick cookies from nearby Cottage Street Bakery. Swoon.

The recipe of the swoon-worthy hot fudge served at Ice Cream Smuggler is one of the best-kept secrets on Cape Cod. Their hot fudge sundae was featured on the Food Network's "The Best Thing I Ever Ate," and it is legendary in these parts, but you won't go wrong with a cone filled with, say, Raspberry Truffle, Salty Oreo, Apple Pie, or Peanut Butter Cookie Dough. 

Refined, adult-friendly ice cream flavors—think crystallized ginger, beach plum, and lavender sea salt—make this P'town shop a must-stop for discerning palates. Everything is made on-site, including boozy options like mudslide chip, White Russian, and Belle de Brillet. Look for their ice cream truck at Truro Beach. 

Head to the "cave" (a jolly colorful ice cream shop) to treat yourself to an array of traditional and unique flavors including "Death by Chocolate," an in-your-face punch of chocolate-y deliciousness that features super-creamy chocolate ice cream with a swirl of fudge and dark-chocolate chips. There are also options for a variety of dietary restrictions, sundaes, and made-to-order ice cream cakes and pies.