But what if there’s no place in the
neighborhood to twirl some of that coolness into those wafer
cones—making it especially difficult for those bipeds that still rely
on their biological set of rubber-soled wheels for transportation?
That’s been the scenario for the neighborhood of West Genesee between
Geddes Street and the Tipperary Hill area for quite some time now; the
last one that tried it, on nearby Park Street about 20 years ago,
quickly shuttered. But one of the old-timers of that area decided
recently to soft-serve that void. Celebrating its 60th anniversary this
October, Harrison Bakery, 1306 W. Genesee St., has opened an ice cream
window on the side of their building and dubbed it Majic, as an acronym
of the name’s of the owner’s kids (Maddy and A.J.’s Ice Cream), to
compliment their bakery-fresh goodies.
“There’s no place around here to go and
get an ice cream cone,” says Michael Rothfeld, owner of Harrison
Bakery. “Before you had to go down to Fairmount or Salina Street. And
with the amount of foot traffic we have here we thought we might be
able to establish one to bridge that gap. So far, so good.”
Another factor that led to Rothfeld’s
idea for the ice cream shop was the apparatus that actually led him and
all the other employees into the bakery itself. “We had a glass door
that served as an employee entrance into the building,” he explains.
“So when we were making plans to add the shop, we decided to just pull
the door out and install the window for ice cream in its place and
turned the door on the Dewey Avenue side into another entrance.”
Majic’s first ice cream cone was served
on Mother’s Day, with all area matriarchs set to receive a free cone,
which would also be a way to help get the word out about their cool new
venture. But one particular momma spoiled the party for everyone.
“Mother Nature didn’t cooperate with us,” recalls Rothfeld, “and
unfortunately it was cold and rainy. We only got about 10 people who
wanted ice cream that day.”
Since that time, Rothfeld notes that
he’s been slowly easing along the addition of the ice cream service,
while also training the employees and having them get used to the new
specialty. He’s also waiting for an OK from the city to have Butler
Fence Company install fencing around the ice cream area so he can place
a few picnic tables within that space.
In the meantime, Rothfeld is conjuring
up some frosted-milk delights. The ice cream is soft-served Crowley
brand, with a full line of cones, sundaes, floats (including root beer
and orange) and chip-whiches all gracing the menu. And while the ice
cream might not be made on the premises, Rothfeld explains that what
will set them apart from other stands is that some key ingredients in
their ice cream will come from the baked goods that Harrison has been
creating for more than a half-century.
“We’re going to capitalize on the stuff
we already have in house,” he says. “Some of our product line we are
using to enhance it, for instance, are ground-up chocolate chip cookies
we make fresh, as well as chocolate and rainbow sprinkles we use on
other treats. I think the ones that will become the most popular are
our half moon sundaes, brownie sundaes and our apple pie a la mode
sundaes, which are takeoffs of some of our most popular bakery treats.”
Harrison Bakery first opened in 1949 on
Harrison Street, which is where the name originated. They moved in 1961
to their current location and have built a reputation of consistency
and quality that keeps people coming back again. In fact, Rothfeld says
that, “Some people who come here tell me they remember when we were on
Harrison Street and they’d get a free chocolate chip cookie when they
were a kid. We still do that now, but now we’ll also be offering a
sample size ice cream cone for them as well.”
Majic’s cones cost $1.50 for smalls,
$2.25 for mediums and $3 for a large, while all sundaes cost $3.50 and
floats are priced at a cool $2. Regular business hours are Mondays
through Saturdays from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. and Sundays from 6 a.m. to 5
p.m.; but Rothfeld notes that the ice cream stand will be open from
noon until 8 p.m., and expanding until 9 p.m. when school lets out. For
more information, call 422-1468.
Like the cost of our paper, The New Times
is always an advocate of everything “free,” so in a related story, all
Friendly’s ice cream shops will hold their second annual “Free Ice
Cream Day” from noon to 5 p.m. on Saturday, June 6. All customers can
receive a one-scoop dish or cone on the house with 26 flavors to choose
from, including Hunka Chunka PB Fudge, Black Raspberry and of course,
vanilla.
There are five Friendly’s in the area,
so if you want to plan your itinerary so you can drive in concentric
circles hording as much free product as you can from the chain, here’s
where they’re at: 3701 James St., Eastwood (463-6781); 3275 Erie Blvd.
E., DeWitt (446-8332); 4081 Route 31, Clay (652-3786); 7560 Oswego
Road, Liverpool (622-3730); and 501 E. Genesee St., Fayetteville
(637-9518).
West Side story: Harrison Bakery’s new Majic window offers ice cream treats.
