The Penny Ice Creamery is one of The 15 Best Places for Desserts in Santa Cruz.

1. The Penny Ice Creamery

8.8
913 Cedar St (at Locust St.), Santa Cruz, CA
Ice Cream Parlor · Downtown Santa Cruz · 75 tips and reviews

Randall N.Randall Nacamuli: The ice creams are fabulous, current favorites are the mint w/ cacao nib, the caramel, and the raspberry rose sorbet. The Earl Grey bon bon is superb as well.

JJ: The olive oil chocolate sea salt ice cream paired with the freshly made house donuts. ERMERGARD.

IS K.IS KLE: Raspberry gingerbread ice cream. Crazy flavor. Great little ice cream place.

Marianne's Ice Cream is one of The 15 Best Places for Desserts in Santa Cruz.

2. Marianne's Ice Cream

9.1
1020 Ocean St (Ocean St), Santa Cruz, CA
Ice Cream Parlor · Eastside · 82 tips and reviews

Bobby A.Bobby Alcott: Contrary to the tip I just saw, the staff was unbelievably kind and patient while we sampled quite a few flavors. Will come back just because of them (and the superb ice cream)

Kimberli B.Kimberli Barker: YumYumYum. Best Ice cream in the area. Every flavor I have ever tried has been fantastic. A MUST STOP!

Michelle T.Michelle Tagata: Awesome ice cream as always. NEW flavor Kahlua cream is fantastic!

Pacific Cookie Company is one of The 15 Best Places for Desserts in Santa Cruz.

3. Pacific Cookie Company

8.4
1203 Pacific Ave, Santa Cruz, CA
Dessert Shop · Downtown Santa Cruz · 15 tips and reviews

Helen C.Helen Christine: The chocolate dipped cookies are to die for! My favorites are the chocolate mint and the Dr. midnight cookie, and hubby's fave is Almond Joe cookie. Snickerdoodles are fantastic too!

Nat d.Nat de Guzman: Delicious and soft gluten free cookies! Yum!

whitney b.whitney b: They do have a gluten free cookie option! You can also can get a custom ice cream sandwich with any of their cookies.

Mission Hill Creamery is one of The 15 Best Places for Desserts in Santa Cruz.

4. Mission Hill Creamery

8.0
1101 Pacific Ave (Cathcart), Santa Cruz, CA
Ice Cream Parlor · Downtown Santa Cruz · 26 tips and reviews

Thibault J.Thibault Jousse: Awesome milkshake, the salty caramel was perfect! Very nice way to satisfy a sweet tooth for desert.

Kathryn G.Kathryn Gorges: Salted caramel ice cream with hot fudge sauce - yum!

Stephanie W.Stephanie Wu: Affogato is delicious!

Ferrell's Donuts is one of The 15 Best Places for Desserts in Santa Cruz.

5. Ferrell's Donuts

7.8
2227 Mission St (at Fair St), Santa Cruz, CA
Donut Shop · Westside · 7 tips and reviews

Scott L.Scott Longo: If you're getting ice cream in Santa Cruz get Marianne's. Second fattiest in the nation, yo!

IS K.IS KLE: Big selection of donuts - something for everyone. Choc glazed Cake donut ok, but not amazing.

julianna i.julianna iran: Donuts and ice cream= best break your diet food ever!

Marini's Candies is one of The 15 Best Places for Desserts in Santa Cruz.

6. Marini's Candies

7.7
1308 Pacific Ave (at Walnut Ave.), Santa Cruz, CA
Dessert Shop · Downtown Santa Cruz · 12 tips and reviews

Adriel H.Adriel Hampton: Maple ice cream with chocolate-covered bacon

MCMC: Strawberry ice cream with chocolate sprinkles!

DJ M.DJ Moore: Vegan's Nightmare is not for the faint of heart but bacon chunks in ice cream = amazing

The Buttery is one of The 15 Best Places for Desserts in Santa Cruz.

7. The Buttery

8.6
702 Soquel Ave (Branciforte Ave), Santa Cruz, CA
Bakery · Eastside · 47 tips and reviews

Steve B.Steve Blount: Shout out to Andy for awesome customer service even on the busiest of days! A big howdy to the girls that know me as the "Tiramisu Guy"

Kim M.Kim Marasti: They won't sell slices of the key lime pie which is the whole reason I ventured here in the first place. Dumb.

LexLex: They make mochas with their own special chocolate; Highly recommended! Also, they have the best cheesecake around.

The Picnic Basket is one of The 15 Best Places for Desserts in Santa Cruz.

8. The Picnic Basket

7.9
125 Beach St, Santa Cruz, CA
Restaurant · 48 tips and reviews

Allen W.Allen Wagner: Penny's ice cream On the beach? Oh yeah!

Bfortch F.Bfortch Fortch: Bfast burrito is epic. With pickled cabbage. The filled to order jam donut is also amazeballs.

Melissa B.Melissa Begin: Breakfast burritto is delish! And the strawberry filled donut is yummy!

Companion Bakeshop is one of The 15 Best Places for Desserts in Santa Cruz.

9. Companion Bakeshop

8.8
2341 Mission, Santa Cruz, CA
Bakery · Westside · 21 tips and reviews

Andrew W.Andrew Ward: Blue Bottle coffee and great baked goods as well as artisan breads baked on premises. I had a cappuccino and salted fudge cookie (they were out of coconut macaroons, alas)

Susan C.Susan Cannon: Coconut Macaroons are delish!!

Odile R.Odile Roujol: We love good breads 🍞 choose the one you love here! And giant chocolate croissant 🥐 🍫 for only 2 dollars. I’d like one day to understand why they are at 6 dollars in San Francisco for poor quality

Kelly's French Bakery is one of The 15 Best Places for Desserts in Santa Cruz.

10. Kelly's French Bakery

7.5
402 Ingalls St (at Swift St), Santa Cruz, CA
Bakery · Westside · 30 tips and reviews

Hatice U.Hatice U.: Olallieberry & pumpkin macarons are awsome!! Also organic tea's are the best!!

Trish P.Trish Peach: My favorite bakery in Santa Cruz down the road from the Seymour center and the choices for lunch are sublime - the chocolate eclairs are not for sharing 😉

Jennifer E.Jennifer Evans: Good selection of macaroons and some pastries but definitely try their bread selection.

Ferrell's Donut Shop is one of The 15 Best Places for Desserts in Santa Cruz.

11. Ferrell's Donut Shop

7.2
1403 Ocean St (at Franklin St), Santa Cruz, CA
Donut Shop · Central Santa Cruz · 5 tips and reviews

Elliot D.Elliot DeRemer: Open 24 hrs... grab a delicious donut after a night of drinking downtown!

David C.David Criswell: On too many occasions the donuts tasted like the fry oil was old. Won't go back.

BrandieBrandie: Ate at Denny's and popped in for a fresh donut with hot maple on top. Amazing. Man that owns the place was nice.

Verve Coffee Roasters is one of The 15 Best Places for Desserts in Santa Cruz.

12. Verve Coffee Roasters

8.9
1540 Pacific Ave (at Front St), Santa Cruz, CA
Coffee Shop · Downtown Santa Cruz · 127 tips and reviews

Tan H.Tan Ha: If you're a tea and chocolate addict, get the red velvet tea. You'll love it.

Amir A.Amir A.: Now they're serving affogato :)

cami j.cami j.: bright, sunny, gorgeous shop, knowledgeable, helpful baristas, delicious coffee.

Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk is one of The 15 Best Places for Desserts in Santa Cruz.

13. Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk

8.5
400 Beach Street (btw Riverside Ave & Cliff St), Santa Cruz, CA
Pedestrian Plaza · Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk · 186 tips and reviews

Aniyah J.Aniyah Jonae: Deep fried cheesecake and roasted corn. If you haven't tried them yet... Do it.. . thank me later.

Dion S.Dion Shattuck: Check out the wharf! It has restaurants, shops, ice cream, sea life, and more.

Jeff R.Jeff Reine 🌧: Rides! Games! Ice cream! Cotton candy!

Real Thai Kitchen is one of The 15 Best Places for Desserts in Santa Cruz.

14. Real Thai Kitchen

8.2
1632 Seabright Ave (at Soquel Ave), Santa Cruz, CA
Thai Restaurant · Eastside · 12 tips and reviews

Barbara M.Barbara Matthews: Be sure to check whether they have mango sticky rice, it is perfect for 2 to share for dessert!

Susan C.Susan Cannon: Great buffet! (Unusual for a Thai restaurant) Wonderful Veerkat art on the walls too.

Jeremy G.Jeremy Geiger: The name is accurate. This is one of the few Thai restaurants I the U.S. That my Thai wife will go to

Sala Thai is one of The 15 Best Places for Desserts in Santa Cruz.

15. Sala Thai

7.9
353 soquel Ave (Ocean), Santa Cruz, CA
Thai Restaurant · Central Santa Cruz · 4 tips and reviews

Tanya B.Tanya Bauerle: Best pho in town! The #1 is delicious, has beef, chicken& prawns.Add mixed veggies for$2!It's pho-king tasty!I also love the fried squid with spicy green sauce and the fried bananas&coconut ice cream.

Aaron H.Aaron Hughes: The Pho is awesome!

Athonia C.Athonia Cappelli: #vegan and #vegetarian types should avoid the tom Kha and tom yum soup. These have shrimp and other fish based broth. Otherwise, this place is fantastic for vegans. They have faux duck, chix and fish!