INSIDE SCOOP

45 Bridge Street, Lambertville, NJ 08530 

10 Bridge Street #4, Frenchtown, NJ 08825

908-442-5586 • sandyscoops.com

New Jersey has some very quaint towns throughout its length and width, from the Victorian sights in southern Cape May to our quiet corner of the Skylands with its excellent riding in the north. And sprinkled about are some excellent stops to satisfy your ice cream desires.

On a recent ride to meet friends for an early Spring gathering, we had the occasion to park and take a walk through the trendy town connected by a bridge to the over-trendy and crowded New Hope in Pennsylvania – Lambertville, NJ. While parking on a weekend can be a challenge, it’s worth a little stretch of the legs to get to this month’s Inside Scoop – Sandy’s Scoops, to be specific.

Friends since middle school, Kevin Tokash and Eric Huesca are the master churners at Sandy’s Scoops. Having acquired a culinary background from the culinary program offered at Hunterdon County Polytech, Kevin was inspired and had the confidence to start learning to make ice cream. He began experimenting, learning from textbooks, cookbooks and other available resources. And there were some early disasters, which can happen, as Dr. Seuss said in ‘Oh! The Places You’ll Go!’ ‘Wherever you fly, you’ll be best of the best. Wherever you go, you will top all the rest. Except when you don’t. Because, sometimes, you won’t. I’m sorry to say so but, sadly, it’s true that Bang-ups and Hang-ups can happen to you.’

But with perseverance, determination and continued effort, the two developed some pretty tasty ice cream, if I do say so myself.

Being in the area, they saw a need for a homemade ice cream shop and had always wanted to dabble in the food industry, so they decided to go for it. They first had pop-ups in front of Cucina Del Sole in Frenchtown, followed by a location inside the Stockton Market. Learning to deal with a larger audience and gaining experience, they secured their spot in Frenchtown, NJ, which opened in 2022 and the Lambertville shop in 2024. By the way, Sandy’s is named for Kevin’s Golden Retriever Lab, whose face adorns their logo.

Kevin finds that he enjoys the creativity that can be expressed through the many flavors they’ve developed, of which there are almost 200. Like many ice creameries, the scooping case in each shop rotates 24 at a time, with seasonal flavors added when the fresh ingredients are available. All their ice cream is made in house, including the base which uses local milk from Spring Run Dairy in Pittstown, NJ. They do their best to include local farm options, such as in their Honey Lavender ice cream, made with lavender from Mad Lavender in Milford, NJ.

We popped into the shop not long after they opened for the season – both shops are closed January and February, but they hope to be open year round soon – and were warmly welcomed with both a springy pink décor and a friendly smile by the young man behind the scooping case. And speaking of scooping case, the options today were amazing, giving us a hard choice. Aside from their most popular flavors of Spring Run Farm Vanilla and Spring Run Farm Chocolate Milk, top on my list were their other fan favorites of Banana Caramel Biscoff (banana base with house made caramel swirl and crushed biscoff cookie pieces) and Coffee Chip (coffee ice cream with dark chocolate stracciatella). So, I took a taste of both – delicious – and instead chose Cherry Cheesecake and Strawberry, while Brian had a homemade waffle cone filled with Coffee and Vanilla. We took a seat up front and enjoyed our early season ice cream while people-watching the sidewalks of Lambertville.

In addition to a cup, cone or waffle cone or bowl, you can have your scoops as a sundae with a grand assortment of toppings from which to choose, milkshake or float and, should you have a hard time making your decision, a flight of four flavors. Sandy’s Scoops has those lactose-intolerant covered with an assortment of Vegan flavors made fresh with house made oat milk and coconut cream, as well as dairy-free sorbets. Their novelty treats include ice cream sandwiches and tacos, when available, at both locations and house made soft serve exclusively at the Frenchtown location during the summer months.

If you happen to have brought your furry canine friend, they can have a treat of the dog variety atop a Pup Cup of vanilla with whipped cream.

Whichever location you visit, you will not be disappointed with Sandy’s Scoops lovely ice cream offerings, as well as their laid-back, easy-going atmosphere. Enjoy, and we’ll see you on the road to our next ice cream stop.