CLEVELAND — The popular Mason’s Creamery in Ohio City is reopening today with a little bit of a new look for the season.
During the winter months, the owners of the creamery transition to sell hot ramen noodle bowls to keep business flowing and their employees working.
Owners Jesse Mason and Helen Qin 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.
But then the pandemic hit, and the shop was forced to shut down for a couple months in 2020. However, they found a way to keep things going by offering take-out only.
“We were really fortunate. We didn't have to lay anybody off,” Mason said. “Our employees said that it was just it was really nice having some normalcy.
Mason and Qin also decided to close off the parking lot and ad more picnic tables. Today, the Ohio City spot will reopen that lot for ice cream with a new look.
“We decided to turn our parking lot into a small green space this summer,” Mason said. “We have a nice big commercial tent that ‘we are putting up permanently.”
Because of the pandemic, the creamery will still be take-out only with the inside of the shop still off limits for guests for now.
Mason’s Creamery reopens at 2 p.m. Wednesday. Their hours will be 2 p.m.- 9 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday.
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