Flooded With Customers, Ample Hills Creamery Runs out of Ice Cream and Closes Doors

Four days after opening, Ample Hills Creamery has run out of ice cream and has closed its doors until the shop can make more.

“It’s a nice validation, but I planned for a lot more moderation,” said owner Brian Smith.

The store – the , instead of from a “dairy mix” of pre-pasteurized milk, cream, sugar and eggs – built up an eager foodie fan base in the months before it opened.

And since Wednesday, the shop has gone through 125 gallons of ice cream, about twice as much as Smith expected. ()

Despite making more during the week, by last night, the shop was down to four flavors: breakfast trash, the root beer-flavored black cow float, sunshine on my chocolate, an orange cheesecake flavor with a chocolate swirl, and bubblegum. He sold them at half price until all that was left was bubblegum, which he gave away. By 10 p.m. it was all gone.

Smith has hired more staff to up the ice cream production, and plans to reopen soon with the full 24 flavors at the counter, and “multiple, multiple tubs” in the back, he said.

Before re-opening, Smith also wants to have the ice cream cakes and frozen ice cream drinks ready (salted caramel and fudge, yum!) and the outdoor seating in place.

“We’re going to make sure that we have everything that we should have had,” the first time, he said.

There will also be a few innovations, including smaller-sized kids cones, and several dairy and egg free flavors including a lemon-ginger sorbet and “something coconut-milk based,” Smith said.

He’ll also be rolling out maple bacon and cinnamon flavors and retiring poor bubblegum after its lackluster showing.

So when will the shop re-open? Weeks? Months? After the first time around, Smith would prefer to keep it vague. 

“I’m hoping it’s more like a week, but I’m not going to commit to a day,” he said.

As for why he ran out of ice cream the first time, Smith said he just didn't expect so many customers. "It's overwhelming, the support," he said.

“I planned for failure, for moving back in with mom and dad, but I didn’t plan for this degree of response,” he said.

In the meantime, don't forget about , just a few blocks away on Underhill and Sterling.

Ample Hills Creamery, 623 Vanderbilt Avenue at St. Marks, (will be) open Sun-Thurs. noon to 10 p.m. and Friday and Saturday noon to 11 p.m. Phone number not yet available.