Where to enjoy the best Winnipeg treats and ice cream, candy, chocolates and cake!

Here are the best Winnipeg treats and ice cream, candy, chocolate, and pastry to enjoy during your visit or for gifts to take home (if they last that long).

Winnipeg treats and ice cream - Winnipeg Ice Cream shops

The Bridge Drive Inn

The BDI, a Winnipeg institution, is next to a pedestrian bridge, until the 1950s a one-lane car bridge, but now you now can stroll across, enjoy the river view, and wander through the pretty neighbourhood beyond.

Or sit at a bench and enjoy the view.

We are warning you it can be a long wait to get your ice cream or milkshake at BDI on a summer evening – it is also a Winnipeg tradition to meet here and catch up with friends and family while waiting in line at the BDI for treats that are totally customized, meaning virtually infinite choice (which is what makes the wait so long).

Can’t decide? Go for one of the 11 flavours of soft ice cream in a waffle cone. Or the GOOG special. Or the hot fudge sundae. Or...

BDI, 766 Jubilee, Winnipeg.

Sargent Sundae

Line-ups get long here, too, in summer due to the location, right across from the north (Portage Ave.) entrance to Assiniboine Park, via a walking bridge across the river.

You can park on Portage (on the park side) after rush hour. Get a cone, cross Portage and stop to admire Agassiz Ice, then cross the river to the park. Turn right and you will come to the lovely Leo Mol sculpture garden and the formal English garden, fragrant and beautiful on a summer evening.

Or go left to a picnic area and the outdoor Lyric Theatre, to take in a free concert, offered on many summer evenings.

Sargent Sunday, 2053 Portage Ave., Winnipeg.

Dairy Chef

Dairy Chef has mastered the art and craft of premium ice cream in Winnipeg. What makes their incredibly delicious ice cream a premium product is that (unlike mass producers) they use only fresh cream in their ice cream and ice cream novelties and treats.

Dairy Chef has more than 40 flavours, including four with no added sugar.

Most of their output goes to stores and restaurants throughout Central Canada, (though we have heard of Winnipeg ex-pats who special-order it online).

Get a taste of Winnipeg’s only locally-made premium ice cream at their own store: Sweet Tops, 949 Henderson Highway.

We scream for MORE ice cream...

For a drive and a treat on a hot evening, we like heading for one of the smaller neighbourhood ice cream places, where there are shorter lines (or no lines at all).

You can head away from Downtown in any direction and find these little ice cream outlets, but we especially like the ’50s feel of these, north of the downtown core:

Sub Zero, 298 Jamison

The Spotted Cow, 27 Red River

Cool Encounters, 1523 Gateway.

Scoops on Main, 2494 Main St.

We also like:

Dorothy’s Ice Cream Parlour, a charming little place west of Downtown at 433 Academy

Forbidden Flavours, used to be my local for ice cream, pastry and, in winter, delicious coffee, roasted on the premises. But, sadly, they've scopped their last waffle cone and ground their last bean. Forbidden Flavours closed in early 2010.

Dairy Delight for soft ice cream. They also have good burgers and chips, 487 St. Anne’s Road, Winnipeg.

Winnipeg treats and ice cream -- Love Gelati? (Or want to find out if you do?)

When you think Winnipeg treats and ice cream, gelati might not immediately leap to mind. But (even though we're just about as far from Italy as it's possible to be) gelati is a summer delight in Winnipeg, and there are many places where you can indulge. These are among the best:

Nucci’s Gelati

Credited with introducing Winnipeggers to the delights of Italian ice cream and still the most popular place to indulge, Nucci’s serves 65 flavours of sheer delight in a cup or a cone.

Open daily (afternoons only on weekends) and they also have a patio. Cash only. 643 Corydon Ave.

Eva’s Gelato & Coffee Bar

A pretty shop with home-made Argentinian-style gelato and a pretty, contemporary patio. Also special here is that they offer low-carb and dairy-free choices.

Open weekdays and Saturdays noon to 11 p.m. 101-1001 Corydon Ave.

Winnipeg treats and ice cream - Let us eat cake!

Jeanne’s Bakery

Generations of Winnipeggers simply couldn’t celebrate a birthday (or any other special occasion) without a Jeanne’s cake. So when Jennifer Lopez was in town filming Shall We Dance?? the crew bought her a Jeanne’s cake for her birthday on the set.

We guess Jenny likes Jeanne's, because before she left town, Ms. Lopez sent an assistant to fetch two more Jeanne's cakes.

When Monty Hall comes to town, he likes to shop in person (there’s no telling who you might spot in line).

Choices here are a round, log-style, square or slab cake, always with a shortbread crust and Belgian chocolate swirls, and there are four cake flavours: banana, marble, white or chocolate.

Sizes range from small (serves 4) to a slab cake that's enough for 96. Departing Winnipeggers have been known to phone in their order and then make Jeanne’s their last stop on the way to the airport.

Open Tuesdays to Saturdays except Holidays. Cake order line: 774-2554.

Jeanne’s Bakery, 931 Notre Dame Ave., Winnipeg.

Double D’s Cheesecake & Coffee House

This is where to get the absolute ultimate sinfully delicious cheesecake, the best I have ever tasted anywhere.

Double D's is east of Downtown at 200 Meadowood Drive in St. Vital.

More Winnipeg treats and ice cream

Winnipeg treats and ice cream - pies and pastry

Baked Expectations where the cakes are beyond sinfully delicious, 161 Osborne in Osborne Village.

The Chocolate Shop on Portage near MTS Centre.

Pastry Castle and Bakery in The Exchange, Arthur St. at McDermot Ave.

And also at Winnipeg fine dining restaurants

Winnipeg treats and ice cream - fine chocolates

Morden's of Winnipeg

Go for the wide range of chocolates, (all that we’ve tried are delicious), by this Winnipeg institution. Known for their Russian mint, also gift-quality roasted nuts.

Morden’s of Winnipeg, 674 Sargent Ave., Winnipeg.

Chocalatier Constance Popp

Interesting for two reasons – this is high end chocolate, yet everything here is from the sustainable, green, organic, fair trade mind-set which is appealingly 21st century.

The chocolates are innovative, such as their chocolate greeting cards and spicy chocolates. Beautiful store, beautiful products, a warm welcome and charming service, and definitely worth a visit.

Open Tuesdays to Saturdays.

Chocalatier Constance Popp, 1853 Portage Ave., Winnipeg.

Bernard Callebaut

The platinum standard of chocolate truffles made by the company started by a 5th generation chocolatier from Belgium who now makes Winnipeg home. Our son insists that it just isn’t Christmas without a box of Bernard Callebaut smooth and creamy chocolates from this beautiful shop.

Bernard Callebaut, 431 Academy, Winnipeg.

Winnipeg treats and ice cream - candy and fudge

Sugar Mountain Express

Nostalgia candies and treats at Sugar Express, The Forks, Winnipeg

Housed in a train car at The Forks, this is the place for nostalgia candy and treats and a fun place to shop.

For much larger selection, go to their Corydon store. It is Sugar Mountain Confectionary Co., 791 Corydon, Winnipeg.

Maple Leaf Fudge

Along with the mouth-watering anticipation of fudge consumption you also get to watch them craft the fudge at Maple Leaf Fudge.

How will you ever choose? There are 26 flavours including the absolutely decadent Bailey’s Irish Cream, which would make a great gift to take back home (if there’s still any left by the time you get there).

Not a fudge person? Try Maple Leaf’s carmel apples (just like the ones you may remember from childhood) and excellent peanut brittle. Open daily.

Maple Leaf Fudge, Main floor of The Forks Market, Forks Road, Winnipeg.

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SBI!