The Best Donuts In America Are From An Arizona Ice Cream Shop (According To Yelp Elites)

It's no secret that America has a love affair with donuts. Regardless of if your favorite is custard-filled Boston cream donuts, perhaps coconut baked donuts, or anything in between, the love for this fried sweet confection is nearly universal. While there are tons of great donut places around the country to choose from, ranging anywhere from specialty donut shops to donuts from the gas station, there's one place that ranks supreme according to Yelp, and ironically it isn't even actually a donut shop.

Meet Novel Ice Cream, a beloved spot in Phoenix, Arizona. While ice cream is definitely the name of the game here, this shop rose to prominence thanks to a unique item known as the Dough Melt. This famous sweet features ice cream of your choice stuffed into a freshly made glazed donut, and it's the very reason that this eatery has taken first place for best donut shops in the country on Yelp.

It isn't just Yelp users raving about the donuts at Novel Ice Cream. Users on TikTok and visitors on Tripadvisor have also highly recommended the Dough Melt, along with the delicious ice cream at Novel Ice Cream. If you ever find yourself in Arizona and craving sweets, be sure to give the Dough Melt at Novel Ice Cream a try.

Opened in 2017, Novel Ice Cream gained popularity thanks to its delicious handcrafted ice cream. However, their clever combo of the ice cream stuffed donut really put them on the map, and to this day they still refer to themselves as the home of the original ice cream stuffed donut. The Dough Melt is proving to be a major draw for Novel Ice Cream, especially since you can customize it with any of the 12 ice cream flavors available at the shop.

It isn't just the donut that's worth trying at Novel Ice Cream though. Many sing the praises of the ice cream itself, with users on Reddit calling the lavender ice cream especially delicious. TikTok users have also praised the Straight Up Strawberry flavor, saying it tasted fresh and actually like real strawberries.

While the Phoenix, Arizona location specifically is the store that got first place for best donut shop in the country on Yelp, Novel Ice Cream does have other locations. There's another shop in Mesa, Arizona, and one in Peoria, Arizona, too.