Toronto's most Instagram-famous ice cream spot. Freshly baked cookies sandwiching premium ice cream in flavours that rotate constantly. The salted caramel and brown butter cookie is the undisputed champion.
Neighbourhood: Kensington Market · Address: 93 Ossington Ave, Toronto, ON · Hours: Mon: Closed | Tue–Thu 12:00 – 9:15 PM | Fri–Sat 12:00 – 9:30 PM | Sun 12:00 – 9:15 PM · Price Range: $ · Phone: (416) 531-1900
Bang Bang’s legendary ice cream sandwiches let you mix and match fresh, gooey cookies with rotating house-made ice cream flavours you won’t find anywhere else in Toronto.
Unlike most spots, Bang Bang lets you pick your cookies and fill them with unexpected, seasonally inspired ice cream combinations—think lychee rosewater or everything bagel. The constant line out the door is proof their Instagram-worthy creations really are worth waiting for.
Bang Bang Ice Cream on Ossington Avenue is the kind of Toronto dessert stop people talk about before they’ve even tried it, and honestly, in this case the hype mostly holds up. It’s best known for ice cream sandwiches built to order: warm, freshly baked cookies on the outside, house-made ice cream in the middle, and enough rotating flavour options that you’ll usually spend a minute staring at the menu board and changing your mind at least once. The whole thing sounds simple, but that’s also the point. A lot of places can do “cookie plus ice cream” in theory. Bang Bang does it in a way that feels carefully calibrated, with the right balance of temperature, texture, and sweetness so the sandwich doesn’t collapse into a mess after three bites. The cookie is still warm enough to soften the ice cream at the edges, the centre stays cold and creamy, and the whole thing somehow manages to be indulgent without crossing into too much.
The salted caramel sandwich is the classic order for a reason. If you’re only going once, that’s probably the one I’d tell you to get first. The brown butter chocolate chip cookie has that slightly crisp edge that gives way to a chewy centre, and you can taste the toasted butter in a way that makes the whole thing feel a little more grown-up than your average cookie. The salted caramel ice cream is the real driver, though. It’s not just sweet with a vague salty finish; it actually has enough salt to sharpen the flavour and keep it from turning flat. That contrast is what makes the sandwich work. You get hot, soft cookie, cold ice cream, a little salt, a little caramel bitterness, and then suddenly the whole thing is gone and you’re looking at your hands wondering how you ate it so fast. That’s usually what happens. People say they’re going to split one and then don’t.
What makes Bang Bang fun is that the menu keeps changing enough to reward repeat visits. There are the staples, but the seasonal flavours are where the shop shows off. Black sesame is the one that usually gets the most attention because it’s nutty, slightly earthy, and a little bitter in a good way, which makes it feel more interesting than the standard sweet flavours you see everywhere. Passion fruit is another strong one when it’s on, especially if you want something brighter and sharper against the butter-heavy cookie. Matcha white chocolate shows up often enough to be part of the conversation, and there are always limited runs and special drops that people end up chasing because they saw them on Instagram and decided, yes, they need to go tonight. If you’re the type who wants the exact same thing every time, that’s fine, but Bang Bang is at its best when you lean into the rotating board and let the staff steer you toward what’s good that day. That said, if you’re visiting Toronto and only have one shot, the signature combo still deserves the attention.
The shop itself feels casual in a way that fits the product. It’s not trying to be a polished dessert lounge or one of those places that makes you feel like you should linger for an hour after ordering. It’s more energetic and a little chaotic, especially when the weather is good and the line starts building outside. On a sunny afternoon, Ossington is full of people doing the same thing you’re doing: strolling, chatting, taking photos of their desserts, stopping in front of murals, deciding where to go for drinks or dinner after. Bang Bang fits right into that rhythm. You order, you wait, you watch other people get their sandwiches and immediately start eating on the sidewalk because there’s no pretending otherwise. These things are messy in the best way. The cookies are oversized, the ice cream melts quickly, and if you’re not careful, half the sandwich will be running down your hand before you’ve found a napkin. That’s part of the experience, whether you planned for it or not.
The neighbourhood matters here, too. Ossington has become one of those Toronto streets where people come for a very specific reason and then end up hanging around longer than they expected. It’s got a mix of bars, restaurants, cafés, and shops that make it easy to turn a dessert stop into an evening out. You’ll see people arriving after dinner, groups of friends treating the place like a post-drinks pit stop, and couples using it as the last stop before heading home. Families show up earlier in the day, usually with kids who are very focused and very vocal about their flavour choice. The street itself has a little of everything: busy enough to feel alive, but not so hectic that it becomes exhausting. If you’re already in Kensington Market or heading through downtown, it’s not a huge detour to get here, and that’s part of why it stays popular. People build it into their plans because it works as an easy add-on, not because they need to make a pilgrimage out of it.
What sets Bang Bang apart from the places that have tried to copy it is that the details actually line up. The cookies aren’t just there to hold the ice cream together; they’re baked to stand on their own and still make sense as part of the sandwich. They’ve got enough structure to handle the ice cream without turning soggy immediately, but they’re not dry or overly dense. The ice cream has real flavour, not just sugar and colour, and the rotating options mean the menu doesn’t feel stale even if you’ve been a few times. A lot of competitors get one half of the formula right and miss the other. Either the cookie is too thick and overwhelming, or the ice cream tastes generic, or the whole thing is so carefully styled that it feels more like content than dessert. Bang Bang avoids that. It’s photogenic, yes, but the reason people keep coming back isn’t just that it looks good in a picture. It tastes good in a way that survives the walk home.
If you’re visiting, the best advice is simple: go with a little patience and don’t treat it like a quick grab-and-go stop unless the line is short. Weekend afternoons are the busiest, which you can probably guess, and the line absolutely can get long enough to make you reconsider your timing. The good news is that it usually moves. It’s one of those Toronto lines that looks intimidating from a distance and then turns out to be manageable if you’re willing to wait a bit. If you want the least stressful experience, aim for a weekday or come earlier in the day before the evening rush starts. On warmer nights, especially Friday and Saturday, the place gets packed with people who are already out for dinner or drinks and are making one last dessert stop before calling it. If you hate crowds, don’t come at the exact moment everyone else has had the same bright idea. If you don’t mind the buzz, though, the energy is part of the fun. You can feel the momentum of the place, with people constantly cycling in and out, taking photos, comparing flavours, and trying to eat neatly while failing a little.
The honest reality is that Bang Bang works best when you accept a few things. You will probably wait. You will probably see other people take pictures of their desserts before eating them. You may have to make a decision faster than you’d like if the board changes or if a seasonal flavour is close to selling out. And yes, it’s possible to go there, order something, and think, okay, this is just a very good ice cream sandwich. That’s not a bad thing. It’s actually a sign of why the place lasts. It doesn’t rely on gimmicks or over-the-top presentation to feel special. It’s just consistently good at exactly what it does. The sandwich is the star, the soft serve is a smart backup if you want something simpler, and the seasonal flavours keep the whole thing from feeling repetitive. If you’re in Toronto for a short time and want one dessert stop that feels local, popular, and genuinely worth the line when the weather cooperates, Bang Bang is easy to recommend. Just don’t show up starving and impatient, because that’s how a five-minute wait turns into an annoying one. Better to treat it like a sweet detour, grab your sandwich, and eat it while it’s still at that perfect point where the cookie is warm, the ice cream is just starting to melt, and the whole thing tastes better than it has any right to.
Bang Bang is known for freshly baked cookie ice cream sandwiches — cookies made daily and assembled with house-made ice cream in rotating flavours. The signature is salted caramel ice cream in a brown butter chocolate chip cookie. The shop is on Ossington Avenue in the west end. Seasonal flavours (black sesame, passion fruit) are announced on Instagram.
Bang Bang Ice Cream is at 93 Ossington Avenue, between Dundas Street West and Queen Street West. The nearest transit is Ossington Station (Line 2), a 5-minute walk south. The 63 Ossington bus also stops nearby. The street is the centre of the Ossington restaurant and bar corridor.
The salted caramel ice cream sandwich in a brown butter chocolate chip cookie is the signature — the contrast of properly salty caramel ice cream against a warm brown butter cookie is exceptional. Ask about seasonal flavours (black sesame, passion fruit, matcha white chocolate) and the current soft serve option. Everything is made fresh and assembled to order.
Weekend afternoon lines (Saturday 2–5pm) can be 15–30 minutes. Weekday visits are significantly shorter. The line moves steadily once you're in it — sandwiches are assembled quickly. The best strategy is arriving after 5pm on weekends when the rush subsides slightly, or visiting on a weekday afternoon.
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