Highest-rated ice cream shops in Merced by diners

Nothing makes people quite as happy as a trip to the ice cream shop. Thankfully, there are endless options offering enough goods to tantalize anyone's palate. Across the U.S., nearly 17,800 ice cream shops serve up tasty treats to satisfy Americans' cravings.

While most of us would agree that there's no such thing as bad ice cream, there are still elements that keep customers coming back to one ice cream shop over another. A sense of newness and surprise are two big draws. Shop owners aim to please by using quality ingredients to experiment with new mashups—consider the rising trend of ice cream combined with pie. Some put unique spins on global treats, like Japanese mochi and Italian gelato. Others create giant Instagram-ready concoctions that become the highlight of social media.

Consumers have learned that smaller scoop shops may be more adaptive to real-time reactions, which means embracing new concepts, such as delicious dairy-free options. They can also ditch chemicals and give plant-based food coloring a try to see how it resonates with their customers.

But where artisanal shops really shine is in their ability to push the envelope to create amazing new flavors and limited-edition offerings that have customers eager to not miss out on what's next.

Seasonal ice creams feature fresh ingredients and flavors that evoke a particular time of year. Partnerships with local businesses can result in crave-able combinations highlighting local specialties. Many local shops also dabble with exotic flavors—savory ice cream, anyone?

To find out who's scooping up the best options, Stacker compiled a list of the highest-rated ice cream shops in the Merced area using data from Yelp. Data is as of June 24, 2025.

Businesses were selected using Yelp's ranking system, which calculates an adjusted rating value that takes into account the number of ratings as well as the rating score itself. Only businesses with at least 20 reviews and within a 10-kilometer radius of Merced were considered. Also, in an effort to highlight independent businesses and local chains, those with more than 10 locations nationally, based on our Yelp data, were not included.