According to recent reporting, the husband and wife owners of a Dayton ice cream truck called I Heart Ice Cream have signed a lease at 9 N Williams St, which will be their first brick and mortar location. The current projected timeline is a mid-July opening.
Liz Cortes shared with What Now Columbus that the couple launched the food truck concept in 2020 after being laid off due to the pandemic. At that time they each worked in the restaurant industry, and once they decided to start a business, they used their industry knowledge and the unique circumstances of 2020 to their advantage.
The first step in that process was having a unique product and they went with the rolled ice cream concept as a way to stand out, since, at that time, rolled ice cream wasn’t common in the area.
“I wanted to transform the idea of an ice cream truck to something other than handing out cones or soft serve,” Liz Cortes said.
In the early days of the pandemic, the Cortes’ took their ice cream trailer – which is red and has a vintage circus aesthetic, complete with a retractable red and white awning – to different neighborhoods and parks when most restaurants were closed and people were staying home. I Heart Ice Cream quickly became a favorite in the Dayton food scene. Fast forward three years and now they’re ready to expand to a brick and mortar.
“It’s always been a dream to own my own restaurant and when we started, the main goal was to move into a brick and mortar,” Cortes said.
I Heart Ice Cream serves rolled ice cream in a number of flavor combinations that include classic ice cream favorites such as mint chip, which combines a mint ice cream base with chocolate chips, topped with chocolate chips, chocolate syrup, whipped cream and a mint Oreo. There are also flavors like the Elvis that bring together “the king’s” favorite flavors of peanut butter, banana, and chocolate, as well as the sweet and salty, which marries the irresistible combo of rolled vanilla ice cream and caramel, topped with whipped cream, caramel syrup and a pretzel.
Customers can also build their own ice cream by choosing from the base ice cream flavors of vanilla, chocolate, strawberry, mint or coffee and add a variety of mix-ins like popular breakfast cereals, cookies, candy and fruit, and select one of five drizzles to top it off, including Nutella, peanut butter and chocolate syrup. They also serve bubble waffles and may add a savory bubble waffle to the menu at the brick and mortar location. Another addition to the brick and mortar location will be bubble tea and coffee, as well as space to teach rolled ice cream classes, and to host in-house parties.
Although they’re moving into a brick and mortar, the couple isn’t abandoning the food truck concept. Cortes confirmed that fans of the beloved ice cream truck can rest assured that it will continue to operate at parties and events around Dayton.
