Find Two Scoops in the Smallest Cup at Trudy's Ice Cream

Trudy's Ice Cream sits at 975 Columbus Avenue on the Upper West Side, close enough to Central Park that it works as the last stop of a walk rather than a separate trip. The decision it settles is the one every small scoop shop forces: how much ice cream you get for the smallest spend. Here the answer is generous. The shop is deliberately built for sampling, and the staff will hand over tastes before you commit, which matters when the case holds peanut butter, chocolate cherry, mango and an orange and vanilla swirl side by side. Even the smallest cup size fits two different scoops, so mixing and matching costs nothing extra. It is a small neighbourhood room at the counter rather than a parlour with tables, and the price bracket is the lowest, which is why families treat it as a routine stop rather than a treat. Service runs from noon to 9 PM seven days a week, so there is no weekday and weekend puzzle to solve before you go. The one asset detail worth knowing in advance is the dog policy: this is a pet-friendly shop that sells pup cups, so the walk can include the dog. If you want to compare dessert plans for the same evening, the five pages below cover the near alternatives.

Address: 975 Columbus Ave, New York, NY
Area: Upper West Side, Manhattan
Hours: daily 12:00–9:00 PM, no day off in the weekly schedule
Phone: (646) 649-3612
Website: trudysicecream.com
Rating: 4.6 out of 5 from 155 ratings
Price: lowest bracket ($)
What it sells: homemade scoops, soft serve, pup cups
Cup sizes: the smallest cup fits two different scoops
Sampling: encouraged at the counter before you choose
Good to know: pet-friendly, near Central Park

Sampling is the operating principle here rather than a favour you have to ask for. The counter hands out tastes so you can compare before committing, and that changes the order: instead of guessing at a cone, you build one from two flavours you have actually tried. The case runs a spread rather than a theme, with peanut butter, chocolate cherry, mango and an orange and vanilla swirl all named in the shop's own description, and homemade scoops and soft serve sold side by side. Because the smallest cup already takes two scoops, the cheapest order is also the most varied one. A practical sequence for a first visit is to taste one rich option and one fruit option, then pair them; chocolate cherry against mango reads better than two heavy flavours together, and the orange and vanilla swirl works as a bridge between the two. Nothing is priced as a premium tasting, so experimenting costs the same as ordering the obvious thing. Portions across the sizes are modest by design, which is why two flavours in the small cup is the shop's own recommended shape rather than a workaround.

Yes, and this is one of the few dessert stops in the area where the pet is part of the plan rather than a reason to draw lots. The asset flags the shop as pet-friendly and lists pup cups among the things it sells, so a dog gets its own serve instead of waiting outside. That detail sits alongside the location: 975 Columbus Avenue is a corner spot a short walk from Central Park, which makes the natural route a park loop that ends at the counter. The pet-friendly chip and the pup cups are the two items worth knowing before you arrive, since neither is obvious from the street. For anyone walking a dog in the afternoon, the practical window is the whole afternoon: doors open at noon and stay open until 9 PM every day, so there is no gap to plan around. The room is small, so a large dog is better handled at the door than inside. If the walk is the point, the dessert pages below add two late-night Harlem options and a soda counter for a longer loop.

The schedule is flat, which is unusual and useful: noon to 9 PM seven days a week, with no late-night extension on Friday or Saturday and no earlier opening on weekends. That removes the guesswork about which day gets the longest service, and it means a 3 PM Wednesday visit and a 3 PM Saturday visit run on the same clock. The realistic quiet windows are early afternoon, right after the noon opening, and the half hour before nine, when the after-dinner crowd has thinned. The busiest stretch is the one you would expect near a park: a warm late afternoon, when families and dog walkers arrive at the same time. Because the shop sits on Columbus Avenue rather than inside the park, there is no gate or path to navigate, so the only queue is at the counter. If you are buying for more than two people, ordering the small cups two scoops at a time is faster than working through a long list of single cones. Arriving after 8:30 PM still leaves time to sample and choose, though the case thins by then.

What are the opening hours?
Noon to 9 PM every day of the week. There is no separate weekend or late-night schedule, so the same window applies on Saturday and Sunday.

Can I try a flavor before ordering?
Yes. Sampling is part of the shop's service and the staff encourage it, so you can compare several options at the counter before choosing.

How many flavors fit in the smallest cup?
Two. The shop's smallest cup size is built to hold two different scoops, which is the cheapest way to order two flavors at once.

Is it walkable from Central Park?
Yes. The shop is at 975 Columbus Avenue on the Upper West Side, close enough that it works as the final stop of a park walk rather than a separate trip.

Can I bring my dog?
Yes. The asset lists the shop as pet-friendly and pup cups among what it sells, so a dog gets a serving too. The room is small, so larger dogs are better managed at the door.

What is the price range?
The lowest bracket. Homemade scoops and soft serve sit at the affordable end, which is what makes it a routine neighbourhood stop rather than a special occasion.

Do they sell soft serve as well as scoops?
Both. The asset separates homemade scoops from soft serve, so you can order either, or mix a soft serve with a scoop in the same cup.

How is Trudy's rated?
4.6 out of 5 from 155 ratings, a high count for a small corner shop, which reflects its standing as a local routine rather than a destination.

Five more pages sit within about two and a half miles of Columbus Avenue. Two lead with warm sweets uptown: late-night crepes with gooey cookie pies rated 4.8, then a custom-crepe shop in Harlem that also publishes daily hours. A third stays on the same avenue as a deli open early and late, the fourth heads to a 1925 soda counter on the Upper East Side for hand-mixed cola and egg cream, and the fifth is an Upper West Side bagel counter baking from 6 AM. If you are deciding between a scoop and a sit-down dessert, the crepe pages answer it first, while the soda counter covers anyone who would rather drink dessert than eat it.