‘Best I’ve ever had.’ Bellingham’s favorite ice cream, in time for National Ice Cream Day

National Ice Cream Day is Sunday, July 17, and finding a sweet way to celebrate shouldn’t be difficult. For those looking for a great ice cream, we’ve got the scoop.

The best ice cream in Bellingham

We asked readers which Bellingham ice cream shop made the best ice cream, and the votes are in.

The poll had seven options of local shops in Bellingham including Acme Valley Ice Cream, Edaleen Dairy and The Selkie Scoop. The poll received 155 total votes.

Tops with 66 votes was Mallard Ice Cream.

The shop features ice cream made in-house, with flavors such as cinnamon cheesecake, strawberry black pepper, lime olive oil, cookies and cream and root beer.

The shop rotates through about 600 flavors of ice cream, but some of the most popular include coconut chocolate chunk with almonds and mint Oreo.

“Mallard is a really unique place. We hope folks who come in here have a different experience than others, remembering the quirky ins and outs of our shop and our interesting flavors,” said Hannah Spencer, Mallard’s general manager.

The local ice cream shop has received a 4.5 star rating from 556 reviews on Yelp, and is praised for its unique ice cream flavors and customer service.

Read Gary L.'s review of Mallard Ice Cream on Yelp Read Lindsey R.'s review of Mallard Ice Cream on Yelp Read Mary H.'s review of Mallard Ice Cream on Yelp

“Mallard offers you a product that uses local ingredients, not only has delicious flavor but a personality around it,” Spencer said.

Mallard Ice Cream is open from noon to 11 p.m. daily and is located in Bellingham at 1323 Railroad Ave. The shop does require masks.

In second place with 58 votes was Edaleen Dairy.

Edaleen Dairy has over 40 flavors of ice cream such as caramel apple crisp, passion guava, white chocolate raspberry and coconut almond bliss.

Read Heather H.'s review of Edaleen Dairy on Yelp Read Karen M.'s review of Edaleen Dairy on Yelp

Edaleen Dairy has six locations spread throughout Whatcom County in Fairhaven, Lynden, Blaine, Sumas and Ferndale.

▪ Fairhaven: Open from noon to 9 p.m. Monday through Saturday at 1200 10th St., Suite 104.

▪ Lynden has two Edaleen locations. The first is open from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Saturday and is located at 9593 Guide Meridian Road. The second location is open from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Thursday, and from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday, at 1011 E. Grover St.

▪ Sumas: Open from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Saturday at 908 Cherry St.

▪ Ferndale: Open from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Saturday at 5905 Portal Way, Unit 103.

▪ Blaine: Open from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Saturdayat 458 Peace Portal Dr.

Acme Valley Ice Cream came in third place with 11 votes, followed by Lopez Island Creamery, The Selkie Scoop, Chocolate Neccessities & Gelato and Lafeens Family Pride Donuts and Ice Cream.

The best brand of ice cream

We also asked readers for their favorite brand of ice cream for enjoying ice cream at home.

The poll had nine options including Lopez Island Creamery, Umpqua, Tillamook, Halo Top and Ben & Jerry’s. The poll received 85 total votes.

In first place with 27 votes was Tillamook ice cream.

Tillamook’s creamery is located in Tillamook, Oregon, and produces ice cream, cheese, yogurt, cream cheese spreads, sour cream and butter.

Tillamook’s ice creams come in a variety of flavors such as marionberry pie, caramel toffee crunch, coffee almond fudge, monster cookie, Oregon dark cherry and white chocolate raspberry.

Tillamook can be found in stores such as Fred Meyer, Safeway and Haggen.

In second place was the “other” option with 26 votes, followed by Ben & Jerry’s and Haggen Daz.