{"id":430896,"date":"2026-08-12T17:38:55","date_gmt":"2026-08-12T17:38:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/430896\/"},"modified":"2026-08-12T17:38:55","modified_gmt":"2026-08-12T17:38:55","slug":"7-very-very-good-milkshakes-in-orange-county-orange-county-register","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/430896\/","title":{"rendered":"7 very, very good milkshakes in Orange County \u2013 Orange County Register"},"content":{"rendered":"

While not the most refreshing dessert<\/a> to tackle in the throes of summer<\/a>, milkshakes might be among the tastiest. They come in all shapes, sizes and levels of excess, from the unadorned chocolate malt to more bombastic creations crammed with nuts, candies and even pie. Scouring the shake scene in Orange County, here are seven truly great standouts that surpass scoops on a cone.<\/p>\n

And at the risk of wading into the ever-churning tipping debate<\/a>, please tip the employee who makes your shake. As someone whose first job found him stuck behind an ice cream counter at the rapscallion age of 15, I can tell you that shakes are always the biggest pain to prepare.<\/p>\n

\"StrawberryStrawberry milkshake at Blue Scoop Creamery, with locations in Brea and Yorba Linda. (Photo courtesy of Blue Scoop Creamery)<\/p>\n

Blue Scoop Creamery<\/p>\n

391 S State College Blvd., Brea; 5105 Richfield Road, Yorba Linda; bluescoopcreamery.com<\/a><\/p>\n

Southern-style ice cream spot Blue Scoop Creamery<\/a>, with locations in Brea and Yorba Linda, has turned its house-made scoops into something of a North County staple. Since opening in 2020, the independently owned creamery has switched to using lactose-free milk and cream for all of its ice cream, making its shakes friendlier for those who live with lactose strife. I recommend the strawberry shake, a simple, thick rendition topped with whipped cream and, of course, a cherry. No frippery required.<\/p>\n

\"LemonLemon Cream and Berries Shake at Bruxie. (Photo courtesy of Bruxie)<\/p>\n

ALSO SEE: End your summer with cool milkshakes at these Los Angeles County spots<\/a><\/p>\n

Bruxie<\/p>\n

215 W. Birch St., Brea; 3333 Bristol St., BLM3, Collage Food Hall, Costa Mesa; 292 N. Glassell St., Orange; bruxie.com<\/a><\/p>\n

Orange-based fast-casual chain Bruxie churns out some of the best shakes around. Small wonder: It uses frozen custard, whose extra richness gives its shakes an almost impossibly thick texture. For summer, go for the Lemon Cream and Berries shake. The seasonal offering pairs the richness of the custard with tart lemon and berries, enough acidity to keep the whole thing in balance.<\/p>\n

\"TheThe Orange Dream Cream shake at Handel\u2019s Ice Cream, with several locations throughout Orange County. (Photo by Brock Keeling, Orange County Register\/SCNG)<\/p>\n

Handel\u2019s Ice Cream<\/p>\n

300 Pacific Coast Highway, Huntington Beach; 5365 Alton Parkway, Irvine; 827 Spectrum Center Drive, Irvine; 13786 Jamboree Road, Irvine; 28121 Crown Valley Parkway, Laguna Niguel; 23615 El Toro Road, Lake Forest; 2200 W. Oceanfront, Newport Beach; 30622 Santa Margarita Pkwy, Rancho Santa Margarita; 610 Camino De Los Mares, San Clemente; 18210 Yorba Linda Boulevard, Yorba Linda; handelsicecream.com<\/a><\/p>\n

This ice cream chain is noted for its litany of flavors (I miss Animal Cookie and hope it returns to regular rotation), but sometimes the simplest ones work best here. Case in point: Orange Cream Dream, a mix of orange sherbet and vanilla ice cream \u00e0 la a 50\/50 bar. It makes for a fantastic scoop and an even better milkshake, blended into citrusy, creamy perfection. I prefer the standard size, but the truly committed can opt for the Monster Shake, which comes in a whopping 44-ounce cup.<\/p>\n

\"TwoTwo employees pose with the Coooookie Shake at McConnell\u2019s Ice Cream in San Juan Capistrano. (Photo by Brock Keeling, Orange County Register\/SCNG)<\/p>\n

McConnell\u2019s Fine Ice Cream<\/p>\n

31864 Paseo Adelanto, San Juan Capistrano; mcconnells.com<\/a><\/p>\n

River Street Marketplace is home to plenty of choice eats, but one of its biggest coups was landing Orange County\u2019s very first McConnell\u2019s Fine Ice Cream. The 77-year-old Santa Barbara-based creamery makes some of the Golden State\u2019s finest ice cream, any flavor of which can be turned into a milkshake. If you don\u2019t want to think too hard about it, order the Coooookie Shake (yes, five Os), a blend of Seal Salt Cream & Cookie and Cookies & Cream ice creams, chocolate chunk cookie pieces and whipped cream. Deliriously good. Throw in another buck to make it a malt, which adds a toasted, slightly savory depth that works well with all that cookie business.<\/p>\n

\"StrawberryStrawberry and lemon sorbet shake at Orange Country Creamery in Dana Point. (Photo by Brock Keeling, Orange County Register\/SCNG)<\/p>\n

ALSO SEE: 6 places to try creamy shakes in the Inland Empire<\/a><\/p>\n

Orange County Creamery<\/p>\n

34255 Pacific Coast Highway, Dana Point; orangecountycreamery.com<\/a><\/p>\n

Along Coast Highway in Dana Point, this small shop makes its own ice cream and lets customers build shakes however they please, combining up to three flavors per shake. During a recent visit, I went the sorbet route with the two-pronged attack of lemon and strawberry. Bright, slightly tarty and refreshing. You can opt to have it blended with sparkling water or milk. I chose the latter, which softened the citrus without muting it. If sorbet isn\u2019t your bag, the espresso shake here will pick you right up.<\/p>\n

\"AppleApple pie ala mode milkshake; a salted French vanilla milkshake with layered apple pie at The Straw in Costa Mesa on Tuesday, August 4, 2026. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register\/SCNG)<\/p>\n

The Straw: Modern Milkshakes<\/p>\n

1215 Baker St., Costa Mesa; thestrawmilkshakes.com<\/a><\/p>\n

For a maximalist take on the shake, head to The Straw: Modern Milkshakes in Costa Mesa. This independently owned spot specializes in shakes of the gloriously bombastic variety, like the Donkey Kong, a banana-chocolate-chip milkshake with cookie butter and a cannoli shell perched on top, or the Campfire, a s\u2019mores shake crowned with graham crackers and fire-toasted marshmallows. Best of the bunch, though, is the Apple Pie \u00c0 La Mode. As its name suggests, it\u2019s dessert piled onto dessert, a salted vanilla milkshake layered with baked apple pie. This place merits return visits to check out all of its menu.<\/p>\n

\"TheThe Majoon at Yummy Land in Laguna Hills. (Photo by Brock Keeling, Orange County Register\/SCNG)<\/p>\n

Yummy Land<\/p>\n

23016 Lake Forest Drive, Laguna Hills; yummylandshop.com<\/a><\/p>\n

My favorite of the bunch must go to Yummy Land\u2019s majoon shake. This small, Iranian Laguna Hills dessert shop makes a standout version of the Persian treat, blending bananas, dates, milk and vanilla ice cream with a generous assortment of cashews, pistachios and walnuts both pulverized in the shake and nestled atop the whipped cream. It\u2019s velvety, nutty, subtly fruity and substantial enough to flirt with being a meal. (Dare I call it comparatively healthy? Should that even matter? Sure.) More important, it\u2019s destination-worthy, in the same realm as the famed date shakes at Hadley Fruit Orchards in the Inland Empire and, I\u2019d argue, even better.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"While not the most refreshing dessert to tackle in the throes of summer, milkshakes might be among the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":430897,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[163,165,164,8233,7,3372,12,2462,62415,45621,611,412,580,10808,420,136,7537],"class_list":["post-430896","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-anaheim","tag-anaheim","tag-anaheim-headlines","tag-anaheim-news","tag-brea","tag-california","tag-costa-mesa","tag-dana-point","tag-irvine","tag-laguna-hills","tag-laguna-niguel","tag-orange-county","tag-restaurants","tag-restaurants-food-and-drink","tag-san-clemente","tag-things-to-do","tag-top-stories","tag-yorba-linda"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/430896","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=430896"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/430896\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/430897"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=430896"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=430896"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=430896"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}