Swirl into summer: Sweet spots for soft serve ice cream in Prague

While Prague’s appetite for soft serve ice cream has not reached the feverish levels of the U.S., where demand is high for weird and wild flavors like root beer and PB&J, the popularity of točená zmrzlina is undoubtedly on the rise in the Czech capital. From matcha-tea flavored soft serve in a cake dish or a cone topped with basil oil and candied citrus, there are plenty of gourmet ways to enjoy this smooth and creamy summer treat.

Puro Gelato Soft is the latest addition to the Puro Gelato franchise, which originated in Výtoň and has since expanded to several locations throughout Prague. Situated near the original Výtoň location, this DIY soft-serve shop lets you customize your gelato creation with freeze-dried raspberries, strawberries, popcorn, pretzels, and gummy candy.

True to its name, the soft serve is “pure,” made in-house without additives, flavorings, or dyes. Customers self-serve and pay CZK 69 per 100 g at the checkout. Chocolate, mango, strawberry, vanilla, and pistachio flavors are available alongside more unique options like blackcurrant, super spirulina, and sugar-free black coconut.

Taiyaki Bar opened last year, nestled among the shipping-container food vendors behind Prague’s Kotva department store. After quickly becoming a social media sensation, the family-run business has now opened a brick-and-mortar shop offering its unique twist on soft-serve ice cream, served in golden-brown, fish-shaped Japanese pastries called taiyaki.

With a chewy inside and crunchy outside, these treats are filled with decadent options like Nutella or red bean paste and topped with Asian-inspired soft-serve flavors such as brown sugar milk tea, matcha, and pandan.

Bára Karpíšková, influencer and author of the Bjukitchen blog and cookbook, opened her highly anticipated bistro in central Prague last year. Unlike typical brunch spots, the Scandinavian-styled bistro focuses on porridge (ovesná kaše), offering both sweet and savory varieties. Located at Jungmannova and Charvatova Street, the bistro now offers vanilla soft serve sundaes topped with basil oil and candied citrus or sprinkles.

Prague sweet shop Myšák ventured into ice cream production last year, a journey that took head Pastry Chef Lukáš Pohl on a hunt for know-how from Brno and ingredients from Sicily and Madagascar in a quest for creating the perfect pistachio and vanilla scoops.

The historic confectioner has added a decadent vanilla soft serve to its menu this year. For purists, it can be enjoyed solo or opt for a sundae topped with caramelized nuts, crushed biscuits, dried fruit, peanut butter or caramel sauce.

Ovocný Světozor's iconic scoops and soft serve have been long-time favorites among Czechs; their banana and strawberry ice cream is a bestseller. As if those electric colors weren’t enough, in recent years, chocolate-dipped sprinkle cones have appeared on the menu. Of their numerous locations around Prague, the shop in the Světozor passage take-out window connected to the Franciscan Gardens is the most scenic.

Though this bakery-cafe, which has multiple locations throughout Prague, is best known for its bountiful selection of bread, rolls, and stodgy Czech buchty, come summer, the soft-serve window is swinging. With its generous portion size, price, rich chocolate-and-vanilla flavor, and optional nuts or sprinkles, this soft-serve cone hits all the right notes.

On the road from Prague to Slapy, in the small village of Davle, you’ll find Milujemetočenou. The ice cream stand sells up to 15 types of Italian ice cream, with soft serve standbys and unconventional flavors like mango, ginger with lemon, vanilla with cinnamon and gingerbread, butter cookie, and pistachio.

A spacious garden and convenient parking make it the perfect pitstop to and from the cottage. You can also visit the newly opened Davle wharf and see the iconic bridge featured in the 1969 Hollywood film The Bridge At Remagen.