Be Free Craft Ice Cream ranks first among ice cream shops in Virginia Beach. The café holds the number one spot on Yelp’s September 2026 list of the best ice cream in the city. On Google, customers give the shop an average of 4.9 stars across more than 400 reviews. A former Navy SEAL started the business with recipes he first tested in his garage.
A Café in Red Mill Commons
Several dessert shops operate along Atlantic Avenue near the oceanfront. Be Free chose a location farther from the beach. The café sits in the Red Mill Commons area on Elson Green Avenue, where it opened in 2024.
The team describes the shop as a café run for the neighborhood. According to the company, regulars act as taste testers. Their feedback decides which flavors stay in the case.
A Navy SEAL With an Ice Cream Machine
Chris Fettes founded Be Free after 13 years as a Navy SEAL. He served with SEAL Team 10 and the Naval Special Warfare Development Group, with deployments to Iraq, Afghanistan, and Somalia. The café’s website credits him with more than 200 missions.
His interest in ice cream started long before the military. Fettes first cranked an ice cream machine at age eight in his grandmother’s kitchen. Years later, he packed an Italian ice cream machine, the Lello Musso 5030, for his deployments.
Overseas, Fettes made ice cream for his teammates and for local children. On a couple of occasions in remote locations, he pasteurized camel’s milk to make a batch. Pasteurizing is the process of heating milk to kill harmful bacteria. Few ice cream makers can list camel’s milk on their résumé.
After leaving the Navy in 2016, Fettes enrolled in the weeklong Ice Cream Short Course at Penn State’s Berkey Creamery. The course dates back to 1892. Penn State believes it is the country’s oldest continuing education course.
Back in Virginia Beach, Fettes started making ice cream in his garage. He launched Be Free Craft Ice Cream as a brand in 2022. WVEC 13News later featured the shop in its February 2025 Friday Flavor segment.
Where the Name Comes From
The brand takes its name from a line by William Faulkner. The line holds that people must be free because they practice freedom, not because they claim it. The quote appears in Faulkner’s collected Essays, Speeches and Public Letters. The company’s Facebook page displays it beside the Be Free name.
The company website carries a related theme. It says every scoop, every shot of espresso, and every pastry is crafted with gratitude. A banner across the bottom of the site reads Crafted With Gratitude, Built With Courage, Made To Be Shared.
The business also gives back to military families. Every sale supports Gold Star families. Gold Star families are the relatives of service members who died while serving.
What Is in the Case
Every scoop at Be Free starts with a recipe the shop wrote itself. The team makes its ice cream and gelato in house in small batches. The company’s commercial formula contains no artificial flavors, canola oil, or food dyes such as Red 40.
The recipes use guar gum, a plant based stabilizer that also works as a prebiotic fiber. Prebiotics are fibers that feed the helpful bacteria in the gut. Fettes plans to share more about the ingredient and why it differs from the fillers found in many commercial ice creams.
The case carries 11 flavors, always available. They include Sea Salt Assault, Milli Mint Cookie Chip, Blackout Cherry Chip, Cookie Commandough, Dark Matter, and Banana Stracciatella. Stracciatella refers to thin shavings of chocolate folded through the base. Three special flavors also rotate through the case, and the current lineup includes Oh my Gourd, Cake After Dark, and 24 Carrot Gold. The new 24 Carrot Gold is a carrot cake flavor made for fall.
Many flavor names nod to military language. Cookie Commandough even has a mascot that wears night vision goggles. The shop colors the flavor bright blue with blue spirulina, a natural color made from algae, instead of artificial dye. Past specials have included a flavor called Hive Recon.
The Flavors Customers Talk About
Sea Salt Assault pairs sea salt ice cream with pralined pecans. The flavor draws frequent praise in reviews. One customer wrote that nothing else compares and recommended adding an espresso shot to make an affogato. An affogato is a scoop of ice cream with hot espresso poured over the top, and the café offers it on the menu.
Seasonal flavors rotate through the case during the year. Around Valentine’s Day, the shop served a raspberry white chocolate cheesecake flavor. A regular who tried it called the Valentine’s themed flavors off the charts. The same regular wrote about missing a past favorite called Pointman Pistachio. A point man is the soldier who walks at the front of a patrol.
Older specials still come up in reviews. A Tripadvisor visitor described a flavor called Hazelnutela as a dream come true.
Options for Guests Who Avoid Dairy
Guests who avoid dairy have four vegan staples to choose from. The lineup includes Vanilla, Dark Matter, Coconut, and a Sorbet Special.
One vegan reviewer on HappyCow noted the pieces of chocolate inside the dairy free chocolate flavor. Another counted three vegan flavors and a sorbet on the day of the visit. The vegan scoops share the case with the dairy flavors. A family with mixed diets can order everything at one counter.
Service at the Counter
Reviewers frequently mention the staff. Employees invite guests to taste flavors before ordering. One Tripadvisor reviewer wrote that visitors may try as many flavors as they like.
Sampling matters at a shop with an unusual menu. A new guest may not know what Blackout Cherry Chip tastes like. A small taste answers the question in seconds, and the café also sells a sampler of three mini scoops.
A family who visited after dinner described the room as relaxing. They also called Be Free their favorite ice cream shop.
A Café From Morning to Night
A barista pulls espresso at the Be Free coffee bar, which opens at seven in the morning on weekdays. Photo courtesy of Be Free Craft Ice Cream.
Be Free also operates as a full café. The coffee bar opens at seven in the morning on weekdays and serves lattes, cold brew, chai, and matcha. A pastry chef bakes the pastries in house.
The pastry case includes laminated pastries such as butter croissants and chocolate croissants. Laminated dough is folded again and again with thin sheets of butter, which creates flaky layers. Many bakeries now buy frozen pastries rather than laminate dough themselves. Mays, a longtime local bakery, recently named Be Free one of only six shops in the area that laminate pastries from scratch.
The menu also lists warm cinnamon buns, brown butter sea salt chocolate chip cookies, and oatmeal crème pies. Brioche donuts appear on weekends.
Morning regulars have their own favorites. The reviewer who praised Sea Salt Assault also called the morning protein coffee fabulous. The café offers free WiFi and outdoor seating.
Parking is free on site. Dogs are welcome on the patio during the warmer months.
Prices at the Counter
Founder Chris Fettes packs house-baked pastries for a to-go order at the counter. Photo courtesy of Be Free Craft Ice Cream.
The café menu lists a classic single scoop at $5.95 and a vegan single scoop at $6.95. The three-scoop sampler costs $9. A warm cinnamon bun costs $7, and a box of six pastries costs $29.
What the Ratings Show
Be Free has more than 400 Google reviews and 90 on Yelp. Its Google average is 4.9 stars, while its Yelp average is 4.8. The café earned those ratings within about two years of opening.
Pints Headed to Grocery Stores
Be Free plans to sell its ice cream beyond Virginia Beach. The brand is preparing seven pint flavors for grocery store freezers. Retail partners have not been announced yet.
Each grocery pint will use whole dairy and real ingredients, with no food dyes or artificial flavors. The company states that every pint is made in America. Until the grocery launch, guests can enjoy Be Free ice cream by the scoop at the café.
Visiting Be Free Craft Ice Cream
Be Free Craft Ice Cream is located at 2336 Elson Green Ave, Suite 107, in Virginia Beach. The café is open seven days a week. From Monday through Thursday, the café opens at seven in the morning and closes at eight in the evening. On Friday, it stays open until nine in the evening.
Weekend hours start later. On Saturday, the café opens at eight in the morning and closes at nine in the evening. On Sunday, it opens at eight in the morning and closes at eight in the evening.
Guests can visit during any of those hours without a reservation. You can reach the café at (757) 301-2578, and it also offers gift cards and a rewards program.
