filed under Food
I Scream, You Scream, We All Scream for Gelato
2:32PM ON
08/16/2009
BY
Annie Messier
To a sweet tooth like me, summer means eating ice cream and its creamy cousin, gelato. Two new places have opened recently to fill this need: Rhode House Creamery on Atwells Avenue (not bad with its fresh, blue-and-white diner feel, corner location, and funky lighthouse logo—but is it racist of me to prefer my bubble tea from Asians?) and Mr. Nick’s Ice Cream & Gelato in North Providence.
I once overheard a couple argue over frozen lemonade (I didn’t yet know how important this stuff is to Rhode Islanders). Del’s was declared the best, but only because some guy named “Mr. Nick’s” was no longer in business. It turns out that Mr. Nick’s operated about 20 years ago on Mineral Springs Ave., where a Burger King is now. Mr. Nick’s daughter has re-opened her dad’s business a couple miles down the street, using the same family recipes for frozen treats. Although I dislike Mineral Springs’ traffic and general lack of appeal, I had to check out this place.
The new Mr. Nick’s is nestled with Envy Salon behind a Blockbuster and a Jersey Mike’s Subs, so it gets a resounding “meh” for location. Yet customers are greeted with a case of yummy-looking cakes and tortes followed by a row of gelato flavors (27), an even longer row of ice cream flavors (49), and other treats from frozen lemonade to shakes to 60-cent mix-ins. While we deliberated what to get, the owner told us with pride that her father sold gelato before most Americans even knew what it was. I finally went with amaretto gelato in a homemade waffle cone. It was the best four bucks I’ve spent in months.
1401 Douglas Avenue (at the corner of Mineral Springs Avenue next to Rite-Aid), North Providence
August 16th, 2009 at 7:06PM
Sarah Says:
I agree that the mineral springs location is meh, but the stylists at Envy are all GREAT if you have a chance to stop in for a service before or after your icecream. (My sister is one of them.)
Thanks for all of your excellent posts of happenings around Providence. It has really helped me find some fun stuff to do - since I am relatively new to the area.
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August 16th, 2009 at 9:41PM
Karen McAninch Says:
Oh, my God! The old Mr. Nick’s gelato was amazing! Giandula, Stracciatella, Zuppa Inglese…Thanks for the tip. We will definitely be there!
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August 16th, 2009 at 9:43PM
Karen McAninch Says:
correction: gianduia…
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August 18th, 2009 at 11:48AM
Angie Says:
I Love this place ! There Ice Cream, Gelato and Lemonade are amazing. Mr. Nick’s was the place to be back in the day. They had the best lemonade and ice cream.
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August 19th, 2009 at 7:43AM
sammy Says:
I can only say “Apple Crisp” You will not be disapointed. So many flavor’s it will take the rest of the summer to try them all. I don’t think the location is meh. Go out the back way and use the light.
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August 30th, 2009 at 2:07PM
Donna Says:
We tried it the 1st week it opened and have gone back a few times since. So many choices. My favorite is “Peanut Butter Pretzel” Ice Cream and “Biscotti” Gelato and my husbands is “Turtle Cheesecake” Ice Cream. Glad they are going to be open year round and I agree with Sammy who says he plans to try them all. It is nice to see an establishment we frequented as a kid(Great Lemonade) is back better than ever.
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August 31st, 2009 at 10:25AM
me Says:
I went to Mr. Nicks and have been many times since they opened!!! It is delicous and the staff is so friendly. I cant say I have a favortite they are all soooooooooooooooooo good. I will definatelty be back and i love the fact that it is open year round. Thank you Mr. Nick for reopening!!!
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