NORWALK, CT — Sweet Ashley’s Handcrafted Ice Cream, a longtime spring, summer and fall staple located on East Avenue in Norwalk, will reopen for its 2024 season Thursday at noon.
Since 1992, Sweet Ashley’s has been serving a wide variety of inventive flavors of handmade, small-batch ice cream.
Last year, the store opened under the new ownership of Frank Lanzo and his wife, Judie. This year, the Lanzos are back with a few exciting new additions to their beloved local ice cream shop.
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In addition to many returning favorite ice cream flavors, customers can now enjoy a new menu of custom milkshakes and ice cream sundaes.
“I definitely think customers should try the Sweet Ashley Sundae,” Lanzo said to Patch, “which is vanilla, chocolate and strawberry ice cream with strawberries, Nutella and peanut M&Ms, and obviously it comes with whipped cream, sprinkles and a cherry on top.”
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Lanzo also recommended customers try their new lavender honey milkshake.
“I’m trying to think outside the box,” Lanzo said.
Also new this year are expanded indoor and outdoor seating options, offering more customers the opportunity to sit and enjoy their ice cream at the store.
“We [built] a nice bar inside with seven or eight barstools, so there will now be indoor seating,” Lanzo said. “We also ripped out all the bushes that were outside and we put down gravel…we put out some picnic tables and some more seating outside. We did a little bit more lighting outside too.”
Customers who enter and exit the store may also notice the store’s new mascot, Ashley the Bear, a statue of which serves as both a welcoming face and a great photo opportunity.
For the Lanzos, naming the store’s new bear mascot Ashley was a great way to logically tie into the store’s name, which was established prior to their ownership.
“The previous owner’s daughter was named Ashley,” Lanzo said. “I don’t have a daughter named Ashley, so my web designer and I came up with a bear mascot, that’s Ashley the Bear now.”
To celebrate their newly named mascot, Lanzo developed a new ice cream flavor called Bear Tracks, offering a new take on a familiar taste.
“There’s a famous ice cream flavor by the name of Moose Tracks, so basically I did my twist on it called Bear Tracks,” Lanzo said. “It’s a sweet cream ice cream with chopped peanut butter cups and a salted caramel swirl, whereas moose tracks is a vanilla ice cream with peanut butter cups and a fudge chocolate swirl.”
Lanzo said he is excited to jump back into his new business venture this month after enjoying a very successful first year of running Sweet Ashley’s.
“I’m just looking forward to the season,” Lanzo said. “I think it will be a lot of fun. I’ve got my wife, Judie, on board and my son…and I’ve got a great staff. A bunch of friendly local kids.”
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He also emphasized that all of Sweet Ashley’s ice cream is still made in small batches in house, and customers can make flavor requests any time they wish.
“It’s going to be a great year here at Sweet Ashley’s,” Lanzo said. “Come and get some ice cream and meet our mascot, Bear Ashley. It’s a great photo opportunity.”
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