With a tropical climate and skyrocketing temperatures, it’s always ice-cream season in Panama. Culture Trip has put together the sweetest guide to the best frozen treats in the capital. From Italian gelato to tropical popsicles, discover Panama City’s best ice cream parlous and indulge in unforgettable frozen cones, ice lollies and everything in between.
Gelarti
Gelarti has mastered the art of making ice-cream in all its shapes. From traditional scoops to sorbets and gelato on a stick, to banana splits and vanilla ice cream topped brownies, the parlour has got everyone covered. With numerous locations around Panama City, both along touristy promenades and inside the best shopping malls, Gelarti is hard to miss.
Gelarti, Isla Perico, Amador Causeway, Panama City, Panama +507 6151 6205
Dolce Idea
Dolce Idea is a real Italian gelateria located on the last of the Amador Islands, a unique location in Panama City. The ice cream parlour is a family-friendly café that also serves espresso and traditional desserts like tiramisú. The ice cream flavours are a blend between great classics like chocolate and stracciatella and local sorbets of melon and passionfruit.
Isla Flamenco, Amador Causeway, Panama City, Panama +507 280-8182
Granclement
Granclement is an old-fashioned French ice cream parlour that makes traditional artisanal ice cream using only natural ingredients of the highest quality. Among the wide variety of creamy and sorbet flavours are all the evergreen classics plus a wide selection of original flavours such as basil, cinnamon, chocolate with orange and lavender, making it a truly unique experience in Panama City.
Granclement, Av. Central, entre Calle 3era y 4ta, Panama City, Panama +507 228-0737
La Michoacana
La Michoacana is a chain of ice cream parlours that serve sorbets and ice cream on a stick, with a selection of over 50 flavours made out of fresh fruits, filled with condensed milk or glazed in chocolate. An all around favorite, it is the place to go if you are looking for an ice cream that tastes just like it’s supposed to: fresh and delicious.
Palettamerica
Palettamerica serves gourmet ice cream on a stick. Founded by a group of gelato-lovers, their dream is to encapsulate the flavours of distinct regions and places of Latin America in its selection of ice-cream. From passion fruit to dulce de leche and Chilean red wine, it promises an unusual sensory journey across the continent.
Palettamerica, Av. los Fundadores, Panamá City, Panama +507 397-5404
Gelato & Co
A great classic, Gelato & Co is the traditional Italian Gelateria that serves gelato in traditional paper cups and thin waffle cones, topped with meringues and chocolate flakes. The mission is simple: bring the highest-quality Italian gelato to Panama. Among the most popular flavours in this delicate and cosy ice-cream parlour are pistachio, chocolate and hazelnut.
Gelato & Co, Calle 55 Este, Panamá City, Panama +507 6720-2715
Popbar
Popbar is an experimental ice cream shop that serves handcrafted gelato on a stick, customizable and made only with natural ingredients. With two locations in Panama City, it has now started franchising. Among its creations is a selection of popgelatos, popsorbettos, yogurtpops and popwhichs, a children’s favourite.
