Hub Restaurant and Ice Creamery will soon be offering its tasty frozen sweets on both sides of East Congress Street.
The downtown eatery plans to open a HUB Ice Cream Factory scoop shop and production facility in the former home of the Connect Coworking Beta space, 245 E. Congress St., just west of Sparkroot.
At 1,500 square feet, the new spot will produce four times the amount of ice cream than HUB currently produces, which it will then sell in-house and distribute to the restaurant, as well as a HUB ice cream truck that owners hope to have up-and-running by the end of summer.
The new addition came from necessity, said Sandy Ford, director of operations.
“We sell a lot of ice cream out of HUB,” Ford said. “There have been weekends where we have run out. “It has also become a bit of a logistical nightmare. When it gets busy, the line for ice cream goes out the front door. People think it is the line to get a table and go somewhere else to eat.”
HUB will still sell its rotating list of more than 300 flavors of ice cream, offered up 23 at a time, at the restaurant.
The Factory’s menu will be more extensive. It will include milkshakes, ice cream sandwiches, ice cream cakes and floats.
Scoops will be served in 4-ounce and 8-ounce cups, in addition to pint and gallon sizes.
Vegan and gluten-free options will be available.
The plan is for the Factory to be open by early May. Ford said they hope to stay open late on weekends. The shop will have a service window facing Congress Street from which employees can sell ice cream until 2 a.m.
“We are going to feel it out, see how it goes,” Ford said.
Keep up with HUB Ice Cream Factory on Facebook or at hubicecreamery.com.
