"Where are we going for ice cream?" is the question I get every Saturday between Memorial Day and Labor Day, usually right around 7:15 p.m. — that pocket of time when the sun's still up, the kids are still in their pool clothes, and nobody has the energy to think hard about it. After twenty summers in West Knox, here's the short list I've built. Eight shops I actually drive my own family to, plus one to keep on the radar.
Five inside Farragut (or a few minutes outside it)
These are the go-tos when we're already home from a long Saturday and nobody wants to sit in I-40 traffic. All five are either inside Farragut town limits or a quick five-minute hop just over the line in West Knox.
Paleteria Azteca — 11615 Parkside Drive, Turkey Creek
Carlos and Marisol Cobian opened in Turkey Creek in 2025 and it has quickly become one of our favorite stops. Sixty-plus flavors of paletas (Mexican-style fruit popsicles, the real kind), 30 house-made ice cream flavors, mangonadas, agua frescas, and proper tamales and birria nachos when the kids are actually hungry. The first time you try a tamarindo paleta, or a mango-with-chili-lime-chamoy, is the kind of small thing your kids will remember. Family-friendly, bilingual, and a different speed than the standard scoop shop.
Marble Slab Creamery — Pavilion at Turkey Creek
At 10972 Parkside Drive. The frozen-stone mix-in technique is theater at kid eye-level — they pick the scoop, they pick the mix-ins, and they watch the whole thing get folded together right in front of them. The storefront is shared with Great American Cookies, which is either a feature or a bug depending on how full your kids already are. Indoor and outdoor seating, a full parking lot, and the rest of Turkey Creek on either side for a walk-around after.
Moonshine Mountain Cookie Company — 10205 Kingston Pike, Farragut
Hand-scooped artisanal ice cream made in-store, paired with cookies coming straight out of the oven. The "Country Roads" and "Bear Tracks" land squarely in the kid demographic; the salted caramel and peach are aimed at the parents. The unspoken expectation is that you'll combine the two — fresh-baked cookie plus a scoop equals the best ice cream sandwich inside the Farragut town limits. Closed Sundays, which is the one thing to plan around.
Knox Dough — 10605 Kingston Pike (just over the Farragut line)
Rolled ice cream poured onto a frozen plate and scraped into curls in front of you, plus 30-plus flavors of edible cookie dough with no raw eggs. Both items are basically performance art at three-foot height. If you have a kid who has never watched their ice cream get made for the first time, this is the trip. They lean Thai-style with the rolls and lean indulgent with the dough — it is not a "small portion" kind of shop.
Lolli and Bobo's Ice Cream Shoppe — 10914 Spring Bluff Way, Hardin Valley
Sharon and Joe Wallman opened the Hardin Valley location in October 2024 — it's the newer of two locations (the original is in Oak Ridge) and it has earned the line out the door it usually has on a summer Saturday. The pitch is "extra creamy," which I can't define scientifically, but my kids vote for it unanimously. Tucked behind the Chick-fil-A, which makes the whole Saturday-evening family-outing question one quick stop away from solved.
Knox Dough on Kingston Pike — rolled ice cream and 30-plus flavors of edible cookie dough, the most kid-eye-level show in town.
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Three worth the slightly longer drive
For Sundays when the drive itself is part of the outing.
About 15 minutes east of Farragut, in the Bearden corridor. Frozen custard is not ice cream — it is denser, slower-melting, less air folded in — and Andy's is the place I send people who have never properly had it. Concretes (the spoon-stays-upright milkshakes) and the Jackhammer (with hot fudge piped in from the bottom by a long wand) are the moves. Drive-thru and walk-up only, no indoor seating, which is perfect for the after-baseball-game ride home.
Bruster's Real Ice Cream — 1043 Old Cedar Bluff Road, Cedar Bluff
Twenty-four-plus flavors handcrafted in-store daily, rotating through a library of 150-plus recipes — so the menu actually changes between visits, which is a real reason to come back. Fresh-baked waffle cones, generous scoops, and a staff that is consistently kind to indecisive kids. About 15 minutes from central Farragut depending on Kingston Pike traffic. Outdoor seating only, which in Knoxville summer is either a feature or a bug depending on the humidity that day.
La Michoacana — 1645 Downtown West Boulevard, Bearden
The flagship of an East-Tennessee-wide chain run by the Alonso family. Mangonadas (mango sorbet layered with chili-lime and chamoy), 80-plus flavors of paletas, raspados (tropical-fruit slushies), aguas frescas, even elote (Mexican street corn) if the kids ate light at dinner. The variety alone is worth the drive — anybody who thinks ice cream is three flavors hasn't met a chamoy paleta yet.
Pick the shop your kids will remember as "the one we always went to." That's the win.
— Hilary Kilgore
Hilary's local favorite — Bruster's at Turkey Creek
Bruster's at Turkey Creek just opened at 11692 Parkside Drive, and it has already become our family's go-to. Everything I love about the Cedar Bluff location — the 24-plus handcrafted flavors made fresh on site daily, the waffle cones baked all day, the rotating recipe library that genuinely changes between visits — now sitting right in Turkey Creek with its own freestanding building, a 2,900-square-foot patio, and red umbrellas spread across picnic tables out front.
The drive-thru is the part that I think is going to make this the summer's busiest spot. A scoop in a paper cup, handed through the window, two minutes after you pulled in — in a Knoxville July when it is 94 degrees and 80 percent humidity at 7 p.m. and nobody wants to get out of the air-conditioned car — that is the kind of small thing that just works. The walk-up window and patio seating are still there when you want to make an evening of it.
Hilary's note
Hours are 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday. It is going to be busy this summer — plan for that. And yes, this one is the new family answer to “where are we going?” most Saturdays.
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How we actually choose
I would love to tell you we make this decision rationally. We don't. What actually drives the call at my house, in roughly this order:
Our real-life decision tree
How tired everyone is. The further the drive, the more it costs in cranky kids on the way home.
Whether anyone needs real food first. Paleteria Azteca and the Hardin Valley Chick-fil-A run cover here.
Whether we want to sit somewhere (Marble Slab, Paleteria Azteca) or eat in the car (Andy's, Bruster's).
What time it is. After 8 p.m., Moonshine Mountain is closed on Sundays — and 8 p.m. comes fast.
Whether the night calls for a flavor adventure (La Michoacana, Paleteria Azteca) or a known commodity (Andy's, Bruster's).
Hilary's note
The strangest piece of buyer feedback I've gotten over twenty years: clients have actually told me they chose a particular Farragut house in part because it was "five minutes from Knox Dough." Lifestyle wins, all the time. The whole West Knox summer rhythm — pool clubs, ice cream nights, the July 4 parade, lake afternoons — is one of the genuine reasons families settle here for two and three houses in a row.
If you're moving here from out of state and trying to picture what a normal summer evening actually looks like for a Farragut family, this is most of it. The other big rhythm of the year — the parade, the fall festivals, Light The Park, all of it — I mapped out in a year-in-Farragut events calendar that pairs well with this list. And if you're working on the food side too, our take on Dos Agaves on Parkside is the dinner half of the same Saturday.
Frequently Asked
Frequently asked about ice cream in Farragut.
Which Farragut ice cream shop is most kid-friendly?
There is a near-tie at the top. Paleteria Azteca on Parkside Drive carries 60-plus paleta flavors and 30 ice cream flavors and has a warm, family-friendly counter. Knox Dough on Kingston Pike turns ice cream into a kid-eye-level performance — rolled ice cream is scraped into curls right in front of you. Marble Slab Creamery in the Pavilion at Turkey Creek lets kids customize their scoop with mix-ins folded into the ice cream on a frozen stone. All three have indoor seating, real parking, and patient staff.
Are there ice cream shops in Farragut with outdoor seating?
Marble Slab Creamery in the Pavilion at Turkey Creek has both indoor and outdoor seating. Bruster's Real Ice Cream in Cedar Bluff is outdoor seating only — covered benches and tables, no indoor dining. Andy's Frozen Custard on Kingston Pike is drive-thru and walk-up only with no seating. Knox Dough and Lolli and Bobo's are primarily indoor-counter shops with a few benches outside. In Knoxville summer, the outdoor-only options are best before 8 p.m., before the humidity settles in.
When will Bruster's Real Ice Cream open in Turkey Creek?
The Farragut Municipal Planning Commission approved Bruster's site plan for 11692 Parkside Drive in March 2025 — a freestanding building with a long drive-thru lane. As of May 2026, construction is in progress and no official opening date has been announced publicly. The fastest way to track the actual opening is to follow the Knoxville Bruster's Cedar Bluff Facebook page, which posts updates about both locations. The existing Cedar Bluff location at 1043 Old Cedar Bluff Road remains open in the meantime.
What is a paleta and where can I get one near Farragut?
A paleta is a Mexican fruit popsicle on a stick, usually made from real fruit, cream, or a combination. They are less sweet than American popsicles and often have chunks of fruit suspended in the bar. Paleteria Azteca at 11615 Parkside Drive in Turkey Creek carries more than 60 flavors — tamarind, mango with chili-lime chamoy, mamey, rice horchata, and others. La Michoacana at 1645 Downtown West Boulevard in Bearden carries more than 80 flavors. Both are family-friendly and a fun first-paleta introduction for kids.
Are there dairy-free or vegan ice cream options near Farragut?
Paleteria Azteca and La Michoacana both offer fruit-based paletas that are naturally dairy-free, though their cream-based bars and ice creams are not — ask at the counter which is which. Knox Dough lists dairy-free edible cookie dough flavors. The full-scoop shops (Andy's Frozen Custard, Bruster's, Marble Slab Creamery, Moonshine Mountain Cookie Company) are primarily dairy-based, though seasonal options change. Call the specific shop ahead if a dairy allergy is involved — menus rotate and ingredient lists are the safest source.
Let's Talk
Thinking about moving to Farragut?
The summer rhythm — pool clubs, ice cream Saturdays, July 4 on Concord Road, lake afternoons — is one of the strongest reasons families settle in Farragut for two and three houses in a row. If you're starting that conversation, I'd love to walk you through what life here actually looks like. Reach out or use the form below.
Thanks — message received.
Hilary will be in touch within a day or two. In the meantime, keep reading.
