The Evolution of Dave and Andy's Homemade Ice Cream


Let's Take a Look at the History behind Dave and Andy's Ice Cream Shop

Disappearing       Opened in 1983, Dave and Andy's Ice Homemade Ice Cream Shop has enjoyed sweet success. With its location on Atwood Street in the Oakland district of Pittsburgh, it has been home to many ice cream lovers of Pittsburgh. It all started after college when Dave Tuttle and Andy Hardie, both Pittsburgh natives, decided to open an ice cream specialty shop. Seventeen years ago, graduating from Hobart University, Dave and Andy decided to return back their roots and bring something back to the community. Although not unique, Dave and Andy wanted to provide an ice cream shop where people of all ages could enjoy ice cream inexpensively and with good taste.
      Now, with another Dave and Andy's in Monroeville, the ice cream shop has been rewarded sweet success. Ranked as one of the country's top ten non-chain ice cream shops in USA TODAY (July 24, 1998) , Dave and Andy's homemade ice cream and waffle cones are virtually the dessert of Pittsburgh. Known as the must eat in Pittsburgh, they does not plan to expand to a chain. As Andy explains, "We would lose our uniqueness."
      Currently, Dave and Andy's Ice Cream Shop makes homemade ice cream, cones and cakes. The co-founder Andy is often in the Oakland store on Tuesdays and Thursdays helping out his employees. Daily, Andy makes up hundreds of gallons of ice cream of different flavors. They have had over four hundred flavors in the past. Dave and Andy's offer at least 14 daily different flavors that are changed twice a day sometimes, depending on the season. If you would like to learn more about these flavors, please click on this link to take you to our page of flavors.
      With the summers humid and the winters chilly, Dave and Andy's operate year round. Asked what he liked most about making ice cream, Andy replied, "Because everyone likes ice cream."
Mission: To provide the best ice cream in the Pittsburgh area inexpensively.
Vision: To make those hot, humid days feel cool.

Otherwise, here is a brief and sweet history of THE ICE CREAM!

A sexy cow
  • During his reign in the 1600s, King Charles I of England offered a cook a job for life if he made him ice cream and kept it a secret.
  • George Washington loved ice cream so much that he ran up a $200 bill for the dessert treat one summer in the late 1700s.
  • Dolly Madison created a sensation when she served ice cream as a dessert in the White House at the second inaugural ball in 1812.
  • In 1843, New England housewife Nancy Johnson invented the hand-cranked ice cream churn. Lacking the resources to market the churn herself, she sold the patent for her invention for $200.
  • In 1904, the waffle ice cream cone was introduced at the St. Louis World's Fair when a waffle concessionaire started rolling waffles into the shape of a cone for the benefit of an ice cream vendor who occupied an adjoining booth.
  • Invention of the ice cream soda is often attributed to Robert M. Green of Philadelphia, who operated a soda water concession and sold a cream soda -- a mix of cream, sugar syrup, and carbonated water. One day he ran out of cream and substituted ice cream, hoping his customers wouldn't notice. But they did, and his daily sales rose from $6 to $600!
  • In 1983, Cookies 'N Cream, made with real OreoŽ cookies, became an instant hit, climbing to number five on the list of best-selling ice cream flavors. It holds the distinction of being the fastest growing new flavor in the history of the ice cream industry.
  • In 1983, Dave and Andy opened their first ice cream shop in Pittsburgh.