Restaurant news: Popular family-owned ice-cream shop opens new Beach Street location

This beloved family-owned ice cream shop has expanded, opening a brand-new location in downtown Daytona.

Neighborhood Scoop, known for its Boba tea, quality ice cream selections, and plethora of rotating flavors, has welcomed a second location after teasing the shop’s expansion on social media in October.

The first shop, which opened in Ormond Beach over a year ago, has become a community staple among local ice-cream lovers, praised for its friendly service, unique flavors and range of dairy- and sugar-free options.

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According to owner Craig Frick, Neighborhood Scoop's ice cream is known not only for its tempting flavor combinations but for its high buttercream content, making each serving thicker, richer and creamier than what customers will get elsewhere — a luxury made possible through the shop's partnership with The Ice Cream Club, a 1982-born gourmet ice cream distributor based in Riviera Beach, Florida.

After announcing that a second Neighborhood Scoop would soon make its way to downtown Daytona last month, the shop hosted a brief soft opening during the city's popular Halifax Art Fest. With remodeling and construction taking place indoors, the ice cream shop brought its frozen treats outside, ready to serve those passing by during the busy weekend, while also building anticipation for the shop's opening day.

“With that many people walking the streets, we wanted to take the opportunity to at least get people to know that were here,” Frick said. “We just rolled the freezer out front and did it out there.”

What’s to come at Neighborhood Scoop 2

Like its first location, Neighborhood Scoop 2 will offer an ever-changing array of intriguing flavors, while also offering constants like its strawberry, vanilla and chocolate ice cream. According to Frick, while the Ormond Beach location features 28 rotating flavors, the new Daytona shop will offer 32, cycling through nearly 100 flavors per week.

Neighborhood Scoop 2 will also showcase an expanded menu, offering customers new and existing favorites, including vegan, dairy- and sugar-free ice cream flavors, as well as sorbets, Boba tea, a conservative coffee menu and fruit smoothies for those who “might not want a milkshake for lunch.”

One thing Frick says customers can expect to remain entirely the same at the new location is his commitment to continually improving and ensuring the best possible customer experience for all who walk through the shop’s doors.

“I try to see where I need to grow, where I need to change to make the experience better," he said. "Anywhere we are, we’re your neighborhood ice cream shop, so (people) need to have a customer experience that is above and beyond what they would get anywhere else.”

According to Frick, those who know Neighborhood Scoop know that they’re getting the best scoop sizes and quality for the price in one of the cleanest, most inviting atmospheres that Ormond — and now Daytona Beach — has to offer. Building a bond with the local community is of the upmost importance to the business owner, who noted that customers return when they feel a connection — when they know that it isn’t just ice cream, it’s an experience.

For Frick, that idea remains at the core of his business, insisting that it’s about more than just the cone — it's about the customer.

“People come in and want to sample, you know, all 28 flavors and we’re like sure, no problem. Kids, inevitably — it happens every day — will lick their ice-cream off the cone and onto the ground, and parents come in and try to pay for a new one and I’m like, 'no, it’s free. I have kids, I get it,'” Frick said.

“We want to give back to the community, you know? I’m not here to be a millionaire. We want this to be a staple. I have three kids, and I want this to be something that they can take over and continue to run and expand again and again.”

A 'why not?' dream comes to life

After opening the first Neighborhood Scoop on Ormond's bustling Granada Avenue just over a year and half ago, Frick had no immediate plans to open a second location. In fact, he never had plans to open a first.

The self-employed owner got his start working in sales in the action sports industry — a career he maintains to this day, alongside his ice cream business. In 2019 Frick opened what started as a brand showroom, before soon transforming it into a full-blown retail store — Neighborhood Surf Shop in Ormond Beach.

According to Frick, however, it wasn’t all smooth sailing on his corner of Granada Avenue. After re-signing the lease on his building, he noted that constant construction began flooding the area, making daily business rather difficult for him. A conversation with his landlord revealed that plans for a new ice cream shop across the way was in the works but making little progress, as the original buyer had ultimately forfeited the project.

“I was like something needs to happen,” Frick said. “So, that’s when I volunteered to do it. They wanted an ice-cream shop there, and I worked for Outback for 14 years, so I was like, OK, I can run a steakhouse no problem, so ice cream will be even easier. So, I just did it.”

Following several conversations with friends in the business, Frick gathered all the advice he could before ultimately diving in headfirst to his spontaneous new business venture — one that certainly paid off. What started as a “why not” project became an immense success among the Ormond Beach Community over the course of the last year and a half.

“It’s funny because, I don’t even have a sweet tooth. I never have,” Frick said, “but I have three kids and my wife — she has very much a sweet tooth. So, she did all the testing of all the companies. We tried probably at least six different ice cream companies, and she landed on (The Ice Cream Club) and, luckily, it was the right choice, because everyone raves about our ice cream.”

He went on to explain that the shop’s top-notch offerings and dedication to the customer experience, paired with its commitment to improvement and ideal location has largely attributed to its lasting success, stating that whether you're going downtown to eat, heading to the beach, or simply strolling with friends along Granada Avenue’s busy street, you’re likely to cross paths with the popular roadside shop — and it's sure to make an impression.

“I would always tell all my shops in the surf world — cause they would worry about like, 'Oh what’s so and so down the road doing' — and I’m like, Disney doesn’t care what Universal is doing, Disney cares what Disney is doing. So, how can we do what we’re doing and make it even better?” Frick said.

Two is better than one: Frick plans expansion

According to the business owner, he was in no rush to open a second location, unless a can’t-miss opportunity were to arise.

And it seems as though that’s exactly what happened.

After a long-time customer-turned-friend sent Frick a photo of the Beach Street location for sale, he made his way downtown in sheer disbelief.

“I was shocked that downtown Daytona did not have an ice-cream shop," Frick said. “I was like how does this place — with this many restaurants, the ball park across the street, all the people — I couldn’t believe there wasn’t an ice-cream shop. So, I looked at this place, took it over and went from there. And it’s been a long project for sure.”

Right in the heart of downtown Daytona, located at 228 S. Beach St., the new shop is nestled in a rustic yet charming more-than-100-year-old building. According to Frick, while the building’s age, brick interior and vintage elements have provided an irreplaceable amount of character to the shop, they've also brought along a handful of challenges that delayed the opening over the last several months.

What started as a two-month project back in March has thrown Frick, now eight months in, several learning curves.

“Our other store, I did the design. I did not have to do any of the contracting, none of the building, I just worked with the general contractor on designing the floor layout, kitchen layout and where I wanted what, so that was easy. This one has been almost one hundred percent me,” Frick said.

“That has been the main challenge, just getting everything done and running into roadblocks along the way … . The building was in so much worse shape than I knew when signing the lease. The building is I think from 1902 or 1908, and once you get into a building that old, you start to realize what its age is.”

With the shop’s design now entirely in his hands, Frick went on to detail a few key touches that he hopes will bring his vision to life, while simultaneously setting himself apart from other ice-cream shops.

“I hate the pastels,” Frick laughed. Opting for a more modern design, that still maintains the building's charm, Frick noted his use of clean whites, bold royal blues, and crisp black and stain wood accents throughout the shop, as well as butcher block counter tops, and casual, comfortable seating — a thoughtfully-designed interior Frick hopes will encourage customers to not only stop in, but stick around.

Start planning your visit!

Through the “literal blood, sweat and tears” that have gone into bringing this second shop to life, Frick notes that a now-obvious passion has revealed itself within him, noting his discovery of something that's brought him a true sense of fulfillment, one that neither business success nor ice cream could ever compete with — connection with people.

“I finally figured out why I’m in sales. It’s not to make money, it’s not to have an ice-cream shop. I came to terms with the fact that I just love talking to people,” Frick said.

“And with ice-cream being something that’s easily geared toward kids, you know, kids are the innocence of the world, and we wanted somewhere where they can come and have fun — everyone can. We offer games, too, because we don’t want to be the grab ice-cream and go — the fly-by shop, you know? That’s why we created this environment … so that it’s a hangout for the community.”

Neighborhood Scoop 2 hopes to officially open its doors at the start of December, and is located at 228 S. Beach St. in Daytona Beach. For hours or information, call 386-281-0278 or visit yourneighborhoodscoop.com.

Helena Perray is the restaurant and dining writer for The Daytona Beach News-Journal. A New Jersey native and passionate storyteller, she can be contacted at hperray@gannett.com. Follow her on Instagram and Facebook. Support local journalism by subscribing

This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Ormond Beach ice-cream shop opens new Daytona Beach location