2025 Nags Head Ice Cream Guide

First opened in 2010, Booty Treats --- playing off Nags Head’s pirate history ---offers a unique hot weather sweet that has become a word-of-mouth phenomenon.  A combination of shaved ice and flash-frozen “mini-melts,” the booty freeze, a creation of the owners of this locally-owned business, inspires imaginative pairings of flavors.  Shaved ice, also known as Southern snow, has the consistency of snow and absorbs the flavoring (try the “tiger’s blood”!) Mini-melts are little bits of extra-creamy, super-cold ice-cream.  By using liquid nitrogen to freeze the ice cream, it cuts the ice content down to 10 percent, versus 60 percent in regular ice-cream.  When mini-melts, also available in numerous flavors, are sprinkled over shaved ice, the result is a super-cold tongue-number perfect for a steamy-hot Outer Banks night. The shop also offers high-quality traditional ice cream and non-fat frozen yoghurt, available in cones, shakes or sundaes.  Customers can eat inside at one of the hand-made bars and stools, or outside on one of the four picnic tables. Booty Treats T-shirts and local photography can also be purchased at this Beach Road shop. 

Coastal Creamery OBX sells a wide variety of frozen treats: hard scooped ice cream, soft serve frozen yogurts, sorbet, and custard, and our dairy free selection of Italian Ices. They serve in cones or cups with all of the toppings available and offer old fashioned milkshakes, banana splits, and sundaes. Coastal Creamery also takes orders for ice cream cakes and sells ice cream in quarts to take home. Their bumper boats are a huge attraction for children of all ages. Coastal Creamery is a family destination. They are located on the 16 milepost on the Soundside in Nags Head.

Opened since the 1950s at the same Whalebone Junction location,  although no one seems to know exactly when, Dune Burger is one of the oldest drive-up burger joints on the Outer Banks. It’s just a cinder block square, painted red and white, but its no-frills, just the basics approach works because, after all, it’s across the street from the beach. So who cares if you’re in your bathing suit, coated with sand and dripping wet? No one! Get in line to get your burger, fries, onion rings, fish sandwich and various other staples of summer living at the beach.  Of course, you can also snag some ice cream in a cone or cup, or a cool milkshake or sundae. You can eat at one of the picnic tables at the stand, or head back to the beach or your summer digs.

What’s great about Fatboyz is you can stroll over to it from the beach in your bathing suit, get some tasty food and ice cream, and sit right down on their outside porch and enjoy it. No worries about your wet bathing suit or sandy bare feet.  Opened at the same location since 1994, Fatboyz is also a great place to pick up a meal on your way to or from Jennette’s Pier, which is just south of the eatery. Offerings include hand-patted hamburgers, hot dogs, tuna steak sandwiches, fried shrimp or oysters, chicken tenders, Philly steaks, and crabcakes. There’s also sides like cole slaw, fries and onion rings. For treats, you can get ice cream, shakes, malts, hot fudge brownies, slurries and malts. Seating is outside only, but it’s covered, so you don’t have to worry about a summer shower. 

Just like it sounds, a snowball is shaved ice, covered with flavored syrup. Originated in Baltimore, they provide a great way to cool down on a summer night, and Island Snowball has brought the refreshing treat to the Outer Banks with affordable prices. 

Here’s a comfortable place to stop for some ice cream. Located in what looks like a cedar shake house with a porch,  Owned by the same folks who run the Beach Road ice cream stand Snow Bird,  Logans offers Hershey ice cream in all the favorite ways, including shakes, malts, sundaes and floats.  Of course there’s also cones--- waffle or sugar.  If Mom and Dad so choose, the young ‘uns can gobble their ice cream with a spoon from a “Kiddie Bowl.” Logans also has Italian ices in different flavors. For a special treat, try a slushie: an Italian ice mixed with soda.  Customers can enjoy the sweets outside on the covered porch, where there are some chairs and benches to sit, or if the Outer Banks weather is acting up, they can sit at tables inside. 

A combination mini-lunch counter and ice cream shop, Scoops offers a break from shopping with homemade ice cream, cold drinks and sandwiches. The ice cream, with 34 flavors, really is homemade, and is available ---of course --- by the scoop in cones, or in sundaes, smoothies, shakes, malts and floats. There’s not a whole lot of food available, but it’s got the basics that will fill your stomach and taste good. Sandwich choices include turkey and cheese, grilled cheese with ham and peanut butter and jelly. There are also burritos and hot dogs.  Enjoy your meal and/or your treat outside at one of the small tables lining the covered top deck. If you time it right, you’ll be able to savor a gorgeous sunset over Jockey’s Ridge, which is directly across the street. 

Painted in bright primary color stripes, this little ice cream & food stand on the Beach Road has a long history in Nags Head. Until 1954, it was located near the spot where a kid-sized castle still stands at Jockey’s Ridge. Depending on the direction of the wind, the castle disappears under sand for years at a time, and then re-emerges. That may explain why Snow Bird was moved to a less volatile area on the west side of the Beach Road. It’s easy to see the reason the stand has stood the test of time: It’s perfect for getting a quick meal or cool ice cream treat when you're going to and from the beach, with no worries about your sand-covered attire and bare feet.  And it’s open late to satisfy last-minute munchies. The menu is surprisingly complete for an ice cream stand, including appetizers like grilled veggies and wings; baskets of corn dogs, clams, shrimp or chicken with fries; a variety of hotdogs and burgers; and wraps or sandwiches. Ice cream, of course, is offered in all its favorite ways: waffle cone or cup; milkshakes,floats, malts and flurries; and a variety of sundaes. There is also a kids' menu. 

When you’re too tired to get out of your car, or you just are too sandy and wet, Sonic is the answer. Famous for it’s car-side service,  drivers can just pull up to the menu at one of the stalls, review the choices and then order with the push of a button. Before you know it, a carhop delivers the meals right to the drivers’ side of your vehicle, and you pay the carhop with cash, or pay the machine with your credit or debit cards. Offerings are typical fast food: cheeseburgers, fries and chicken, but some loyal customers swear it’s better than most.  And there is also a hot dog menu, with several regional choices and corn dogs. And there’s a kids’ menu, and breakfast burritos, French toast and egg and cheese sandwiches are available any time. Sweet tooth’s can be satisfied with a vast number of ice creams options in the Frozen Zone,  including sundaes, shakes and mixed-up “blasts.” And after 8 p.m., a menu of shakes can be had for half the price! Then there is the vast menu of Sonic specialties that cool you from the inside out: six flavors of limeades, including cherry, cranberry and strawberry; six flavors of fruit slushes, a mix of fruit and slush, including pineapple island breeze and lemonberry fruit; and seven flavors of the famous slushes, including cherry, orange and watermelon. 

Located directly across the street from Jockey’s Ridge on one side, and the ocean on the other, Sooey’s is a good casual place to stop for a bite and take in the view. It offers hickory smoke BBQ pork, beef, chicken, ribs and seafood, and one side even sells ice cream and Italian ices. Appetizers include buffalo wings, beer battered onion rings and a basket of cornbread or hushpuppies. Sides are good Southern offerings like collards, mac ‘n’ cheese, cole slaw and fried okra.  Meals can be in the form of a sandwich or a platter, with choices ranging from hand pulled pork or chicken BBQ to Southern fried chicken to crabcakes to a half rack of ribs. Menu choices can be eaten inside or made to go. There are tables inside, but if the weather permits, sitting outside at the shaded picnic tables, or upstairs on top of the roof, is the best way to enjoy the meal. Sooey's also offers catering service year-round. 

Owned by Outer Banks former professional surfer Kelly Hines and his wife Whitney, Surfin’ Spoon,on the Beach Road right across from the ocean,is a great place to take a break from the beach, or after a long day of surfing.  Featuring big benches with comfy cushions to hang out on, or stools to pull up to the bar behind the benches, folks can enjoy some delicious and healthy frozen yogurt while watching surf films on the big screen TV.  

Satisfy a sweet craving at this Nags Head destination that is a perfect spot to visit in between beach trips. Sweet Retreat Ice Cream Bar features a lengthy list of ice-cold treats that range from Italian ice to classic sundaes, ensuring that everyone can satisfy a sweet tooth in whatever way they choose.

With a mission to provide a meal made with fresh, natural and premium ingredients, the eatery offers a range of interesting and delicious gourmet salads, bistro sandwiches, grilled flatbreads and toasted wraps, all made with a flair for international flavors.