Sampaguita: Orlando’s Top-Rated Scoop Is Filipino
Sampaguita Ice Cream takes No. 1 in our Ice Cream & Desserts rankings with a Net Score of 93.5 — why it won, and what to get when you go.
2 minute read
Sampaguita Ice Cream is the No. 1 ice cream & desserts pick in Orlando — not by our say-so, but by the numbers. In Orlando Citizen’s Top Businesses rankings, it posted a Net Score of 93.5, the highest in its category, on a blended 4.8★ drawn from 1,148 public reviews. This is the winner’s profile: why it won, what to get when you go, and the details that make it a Mills 50 fixture.
Why it won
Our Net Score blends a business’s public ratings across the review sources we could retrieve — here: Google 4.8★ (1,148) — weights them by review volume, and then applies Bayesian shrinkage (m = 200) so a handful of five-star reviews can’t outrank a proven track record. Sampaguita Ice Cream cleared a field of 12 ranked businesses in Ice Cream & Desserts. That is a clear margin over the No. 2 finisher, Bacio Ice Cream Shop (Lee Vista) (92.2). Scores compare only within a category, and the underlying ratings were retrieved November 14, 2026.
What to order
The Ube Latte, the Soy Sauce Butterscotch and the halo-halo — and the namesake Sampaguita, almond vanilla bean with jasmine and lychee.
Worth knowing
Nothing on the menu, but expect a crowd: one reviewer calls it “always packed and worth the wait.” The line moves quickly.
The local detail
Orlando’s first Filipino-American ice cream shop, opened in 2022 by Marie and Mo Mercado — the team behind The Greenery Creamery — and winner of the Orlando Sentinel Foodie Awards’ Critic’s Choice for Best Dessert in 2025.
The essentials
- Find it: 1233 E Colonial Dr, Orlando, FL 32803
- Directions: Get directions
- Neighborhood: Mills 50
- Hours: Varies by day — check the current schedule before you go (as listed in November 2026 — confirm before a special trip)
- Online: official site
See the full list: The 10 Best Ice Cream & Dessert Shops in Orlando — every ranked business in this category, with scores.
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Photo: the photographer (Creative Commons), via Openverse. Photo-grade treatment by Orlando Citizen. The photograph is representative of the category, not the business itself.
Part of Orlando Citizen’s Top Businesses in Orlando series. Net Scores are recalculated from fresh public review data each edition.
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