Isabella’s Ice Cream has been sold out of an electric Ford Model T truck at Whole Foods and Midwest Schnucks stores and served at several local restaurants. And now — in a matter of days — you can lap it up at its very own Fourth Avenue scoop shop.
The locally owned business will serve ice cream and other frozen confections at 210 N. Fourth Ave., at Ninth Street. Kristel Johnson, who owns and runs Isabella’s with her husband Dominic, said they’re expecting to open in a week or so.
“It’s the same thing we’ve been doing but taking it up a notch,” Kristel said.
Isabella’s began as a homespun food-truck venture in 2010, with the couple selling ice cream out of the Model T. But in the last few years, the Johnsons have been focusing heavily on manufacturing for wholesale distribution, which wasn’t exactly what they had in mind when they started.
“We decided we need to focus on what we want to do,” said Kristel, who added that Isabella’s will still be sold at Whole Foods as well as the local restaurants serving it now.
They talked about opening a shop, and on a Labor Day family bike ride, Dominic pointed out the empty Fourth Avenue storefront to Kristel. By mid-September, they’d signed a lease.
“It happened super fast,” she said.
The facilities are big enough that manufacturing will move from its 17th Street location into the back half of their new spot.
The scoop shop will have an old-fashioned ice-cream parlor vibe — a Model T will be part of the decor, of course, as well as glass chandeliers and antique tables and chairs. Kristel said Isabella’s will offer around 15 flavors of ice cream as well as plenty of extra treats such as sundaes, shakes, bonbons — ice cream cloaked in Belgian chocolate — ice cream churros and tacos and cookie sandwiches.
“All fresh, natural, locally sourced as much as possible,” Kristel said.
Isabella’s will open early on weekdays and serve espresso along with coffee drinks, for those who aren’t quite ready to partake of the cold stuff. The plan is to stay open until 2 a.m. on weekends.
The shop’s namesake, the Johnsons’ oldest daughter who’s now 15, will even be working there, Kristel said.
The couple’s younger daughter, Alexandra, who was just a toddler when the whole ice cream biz started, has been lobbying to have ice pops or maybe the bonbons named in her honor, Kristel said, adding, “Dominic always jokes, if we make a bunch of money, we’ll buy a boat and name it Alexandra’s Turn.”
