My Go-To Spot For The Best Ice Cream In Chattanooga, TN

I've never been very decisive when it comes to ice cream. My mom is fond of saying that it used to take us "hours" to go out for a cone when I was a kid because I had to sample all 31 popular Baskin-Robbins ice cream flavors before I could narrow it down to just the two I wanted in my double scoop. Even though she's obviously exaggerating, she makes a valid point. It has always been hard to pick my dairy-based treats –- there are too many great options. Now, as an ice cream-loving adult, I still have a heck of a time settling on a flavor, but there's one thing I'm always sure about: In Chattanooga, Tennessee, it has to be Clumpies Ice Cream Co.

Clumpies is our handcrafted, small-batch, carefully churned, hometown creamery, like most good towns have. It's the place you go for a quality scoop and creative flavor options. While you can get a scoop of chocolate, butter pecan, or cookie dough, you can also sample flavors like blackberry mojito, carrot cake, or raspberry lemonade sorbet. In my opinion, Clumpies is one of the best ice cream parlors in the state — it's where you go when going out for ice cream is what you're doing tonight. It's an occasion.

I discovered this haven before I even lived here. In my moving-to-Chattanooga preparations, I was scrolling through a list of local businesses online, and the name caught my eye. Clumpies? What the heck? The name intrigued me, so I called to inquire about it. I spoke to an ice cream manager, and she gave me the scoop on Clumpies.

When Clumpies founder Marshall Brock used to get flack for the fact that his famous homemade milkshakes, which he used to make at parties, were just a little bit too clumpy, he didn't let that get to him. Instead, he turned it into a successful business venture. In 1999, Brock opened an ice cream parlor, which he aptly named Clumpies Ice Cream Co., after his renowned lumpy milkshakes.

Today, Clumpies is still doing everything by hand, with "only the finest ingredients that can be found." Good things come in small batches, and Clumpies insists on keeping production on a smaller scale — as little as 9 gallons or less per batch — so that it can guarantee the quality of its premium product.

As a third-generation candy maker, Brock really knew the business of sweets. Although he sold the business to Rock City Enterprises in 2013, his dedication to making top-notch ice cream is frozen in time and is carried on today. In April 2026, Rock City actually sold the ice cream shop to Clumpies director, chef Ashley Bottoms. Clumpies now has over 30 flavors to choose from at any given time — including approximately 16 year-round classic flavors, like coffee toffee and coconut almond chunk, and a rotating list of featured seasonal flavors, such as red velvet cake and strawberry pretzel pie.

By luck, coincidence, or divine intervention, I ended up living two blocks away from Clumpies in Chattanooga. That means that I'm just a few-minute walk to a convenient cone. It also means I'm close enough to take my ice cream to-go and get it back to my freezer at home before it melts. Then, I can have Clumpies for days.

I like my ice cream with a lot of stuff in it, and Clumpies' flavors are chock full of cake pieces, cookies, fruits, pretzels, muffin bits, sprinkles, graham cracker crust, and more – This ice cream is the cream of the crop. Allergic to dairy? Try a non-dairy flavor or sorbet. There are also malts, floats, and sundaes. The waffle cones are made on-site, and the whole place smells delicious. My all-time favorite offering from Clumpies is its six-flavor ice cream flight. It's perfect for those, like me, who are always waffling about what they want in their waffle cone. 

Sizes range from a scoop to a pint, or treat yourself to a six-pint box. Those living outside Chattanooga don't have to miss out — the company packs its ice cream on dry ice and ships it anywhere in the contiguous United States. If you really scream for ice cream, there are even shirts, hoodies, mugs, and socks to show off how proud you are to be among the Clumpies faithful. It's easy to be loved when you're in the dessert biz. But when you make good ice cream, have strong company values, and prioritize customer service, as Clumpies does, well, that's just the cherry on top of the sundae.