CLEVELAND — Chilly Cleveland days are upon us and that means a foodie favorite is back. One local spot is swapping out its homemade ice cream for something more comforting during the winter months—bowls of hot ramen.
Mason’s Creamery, the ice shop located at 4402 Bridge Avenue in Cleveland’s Ohio City, will once again convert into a noodle shop that runs all winter long.
What started as a pop-up ramen shop became so popular that owners Jesse Mason and Helen Qin decided to give the people of Cleveland what they want: large bowls of hot broth with noodles and veggies.
The pair opened the business as a pop-up shop in 2013 after moving to Cleveland from Los Angeles. The pair found the city’s thriving food scene was a great place to start a small, local business.
A few months after we started in May of 2013, an ice cream shop in Ohio City closed down. And all the neighbors were like, ‘you should look at it,’” Qin said. “ We did, and that's how we got into our location on 44th and Bridge in Ohio City.”
But ice cream isn’t always popular during Cleveland’s cold winters, so to keep the business going the two started offering ramen bowls as a pop-up promotion once a month.
It sold out immediately.
“We decided we were going to turn this into just a permanent winter fixture,” said Mason.
Mason’s Creamery will reopen as a noodle shop on Nov. 3. Hours of operation are Wednesday through Saturday, 4 to 9 p.m. and Sunday 12 p.m. to 6 p.m.
While the ice cream turned noodle shop will mostly be takeout, there will be a small outdoor heated area with seating for people who want to enjoy their bowl of ramen immediately.
Mason’s Creamery said they plan to offer some specials like Korean-inspired corn dogs and other things, but says because of supply chain issues and shortages, Mason and Qin will have to stay flexible so that could change.
Mason’s Creamery will offer a Japanese-inspired soft serve ice cream with cookies made by a local business.
“I think the name of the game is just to stay flexible and nimble as we navigate through increased prices and various shortages," Qin said.
Mason's Creamery was previously featured earlier this year on Good Morning Cleveland. Watch it live in the media player below:
Download the News 5 Cleveland app now for more stories from us, plus alerts on major news, the latest weather forecast, traffic information and much more. Download now on your Apple device here, and your Android device here.
You can also catch News 5 Cleveland on Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, YouTube TV, DIRECTV NOW, Hulu Live and more. We're also on Amazon Alexa devices. Learn more about our streaming options here.
