IMHO, soft serve ice cream is the perfect dessert to have on a hot summer day. Whether you have it in a cup or a cone, it’s delicious and easy to customize with different flavors that you can swirl together and all the toppings galore you can add on top. Plus, it brings in a taste of nostalgia from my childhood — running to the Mister Softee ice cream truck after school and picking out something delicious to cool me off or cheer me up. To me, it’s way better than hard ice cream and always my go-to sweet treat. Controversial take, I know — but there must be some who feel the same way, because while National Ice Cream Day falls in July, there’s *also* a National Soft Serve Day, a day dedicated to celebrating soft serve ice cream specifically, on Aug. 19.
Soft serve ice cream actually has an interesting backstory. Did you know that Carvel actually invented it? If you want a short history lesson, it was invented during Memorial Day weekend by Tom Carvel in 1934 when his ice cream truck got a flat tire. The ice cream was slightly melted, and he pulled over and began to sell it. To his surprise, a lot of people liked it softer better, and the rest is history.
And because Carvel was the inventor of soft serve that so many fans have come to love over the years, Carvel is of course giving customers multiple different deals and discounts on soft serve ice cream to enjoy for National Ice Cream Day 2025. Here’s the lineup of what to expect from the ice cream chain.
For starters, on National Soft Serve Day, Aug. 19, Carvel is selling $1 soft serve (one per person) in a cup or cone at participating locations. Talk about a good deal!
But Carvel is delivering even more deals and taking things to the next level. The chain is basically turning soft serve day into soft serve week. If you want to enjoy some soft serve ice cream from the comfort of your own home or dorm, you can get $5 off your Carvel delivery order when you spend $15 or more on DoorDash or Uber Eats from Aug. 18 to Aug. 24.
Also, to make things even sweeter, if you want to treat your friends and get them in on the Carvel fun, from Aug. 18 to Aug. 31, if you buy $25 Carvel gift cards — online or in stores — you can get a free small soft serve sundae. Yum!