Independent guide Tartine et Boterham has published its annual selection of favourite ice cream spots in the capital — a shortlist built on craft, ingredient quality, and creative ambition.
Each year, Tartine et Boterham — the independent Belgian guide dedicated to artisan sweet makers — releases a selection of its favourite addresses in a given category. This season it turns to ice cream, naming six glaceries across the Brussels-Capital Region that it considers worth the journey. The ranking was compiled around four criteria: quality of raw materials, respect for artisan methods, creativity, and sustainability.
The selection reflects the breadth of a city where gelato has taken firm root alongside the traditional Belgian glacerie. From a Ixelles address run by Belgium’s reigning champion ice cream maker to a decades-old institution in Uccle that still draws queues, the six addresses span nine communes and several distinct approaches to the craft.
“Quality of raw materials, respect for craft, creativity, and sustainability — these are the criteria that guided our selection.”
The guide counted roughly twenty artisan ice cream makers in the Brussels-Capital Region whose principal activity is centred on ice cream. The selection below is a tightly curated subset — addresses where the thinking behind the product is as evident as the taste of it.
The selection:
Giotto, Ixelles & Jette
Founded in 2023 by Christian Wu and Karen Tran on Rue Washington in Ixelles, Giotto takes its name from Padua — where the couple trained under renowned Italian master Antonio Mezzalira. The gelateria earned Wu the title of Belgium’s best ice cream maker at the 2024 Gelato Festival World Masters. Flavours rotate weekly, ranging from fior di latte and Piedmont hazelnut to kriek and prosecco with hibiscus. A second location on Rue Bonaventure opened in Jette. The signature: an edible cookie spoon.
Bargello, Place de la Liberté, Brussels Centre
Named after the great municipal palace in Florence — the city credited with the invention of gelato — Bargello brings Florentine craft to Place de la Liberté. Founded by Laura Fontani, the concept draws entirely on artisan tradition: no artificial colours, no artificial flavours, only noble ingredients including Bronte AOC pistachio, Madagascar vanilla, and Piedmont IGP hazelnuts. The signature crema range (toscana, fiorentina, bargello) has developed a following of its own. Summer queues are long, and considered worth it.
Froo, Watermael-Boitsfort
Run by Frédérique from a small atelier on Rue Middelbourg, Froo is a neighbourhood parlour with an enchanted feel. The glacerie grew out of a previous project called Poppins Time and has maintained its founding ethos: artisan production made with passion, seasonal ingredients, and a focus on original flavour combinations. The shop is open Wednesday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday — a deliberately slow rhythm that suits the quiet character of Watermael-Boitsfort.
Zizi, Uccle
An institution since 1948, Glacier Zizi on Rue de la Mutualité is one of the city’s most enduring ice cream addresses. Five generations in, the parlour still produces its flavours — stracciatella, spéculoos, moka, croccantino — from scratch, and still draws the queues to prove it. Waffles, crêpes, and a milkshake cuberdon round out the menu. It accepts Bancontact only, and remains resolutely unfranchised. A particular favourite among those who grew up in the southern communes.
Pepe’s, Woluwe-Saint-Lambert, Etterbeek & Ixelles
José Romero, originally from Ecuador, launched Pepe’s in Woluwe-Saint-Lambert in 2018 after three years of dedicated training in ice cream and chocolate making. The business quickly established itself on the basis of genuine craft and imaginative flavour development — most famously a Sri Lankan cinnamon, salted caramel, and caramelised walnut combination that won the Gelato Festival Next Generation title in 2019. In early 2026, Pepe’s ranked among the top five ice cream parlours in the world at the Gelato Festival World Masters.
Gaston, Brussels City Centre & Woluwe-Saint-Pierre
Gaston occupies two addresses — Quai aux Briques in the Sainte-Catherine district and Place Dumon in Woluwe-Saint-Pierre — and operates year-round as both glacerie and tea room. Founded by Turan and Lucy Ucar, the concept was designed from the outset around transparency: the laboratory is visible from the counter, and the label on each container lists only milk, cream, sugar, eggs, and a natural preservative. Ingredients include Valrhona chocolate, Ardennes dairy, and Madagascar vanilla beans. Retro in feel, uncompromising in quality.
Together, these addresses illustrate the maturity of artisan ice cream in Brussels — a city that now counts close to twenty dedicated glaciers, most of them small enterprises of one to five full-time equivalents.
Did you know? Belgium’s per-capita consumption of 14 kilograms places it among the highest in Europe — a figure that may explain why the sector continues to attract serious artisan investment. Tartine & Boterham also identified three structural shifts currently reshaping the market.
Three trends to note:
- Year-round operations. Brussels glaciers are increasingly shedding the seasonal model. Winter menus now feature Liège waffles and Christmas bûches glacées. Meanwhile, chocolatiers are moving into artisan ice cream during summer to offset their slower period — a convergence that is quietly reshaping the city’s sweet-maker landscape.
- Alternative formats. Evolving consumer habits are prompting glaciers to expand their offer: vegan options, high-protein formats, lactose-free varieties, and reduced-sugar recipes are now common additions rather than novelties. The shift is practical as much as ethical — broadening the customer base without compromising core identity.
- Premiumisation and experience. To differentiate from supermarket chains and franchise brands, artisan glaciers are investing in higher-quality, often unusual ingredients, and extending their thinking to the entire customer experience — from the texture of the cone to the considered simplicity of their communication. The product is increasingly a statement of values as much as a flavour.
This ranking was compiled by Tartine & Boterham, the independent Belgian guide to artisan bakers and sweet makers, with the support of equipment specialist 2Bake SRL. All six addresses can be found on their website.
