First Abbott’s Frozen Custard Shop on Long Island Opening in Lindenhurst This Fall at Former Uncle Louie G’s Italian Ices & Ice Cream Spot
Manuel Calvelos and his fiancee Julie Altaner are opening the first Abbott’s Frozen Custard shop on Long Island at the old Uncle Louie G’s Italian Ices & Ice Cream at 198 East Montauk Highway in Lindenhurst in October.
According to Manuel Calvelos, who is getting ready to open an Abbott’s Frozen Custard shop this Fall in Lindenhurst, the difference between frozen custard and other cold treats like ice cream or froyo is that custard is more dense; it’s creamier than the others.
“We put it into a machine that turns it very slow and gets all the air out,” he said in a recent phone interview with LongIslandRestaurants.com.
The other difference is that frozen custard at Abbott’s is fresh. You’re not getting custard that’s been sitting in a freezer for weeks.
“It’s made on site,” Calvelos explained. “It’s not going to be something where we let it sit in the freezer for months on end and you don’t know when it was made.”
The frozen custard at Abbott’s comes in the same flavors as ice cream but the difference is the texture and the freshness. The store will offer just eight flavors per day, three are the standard signature flavors: Vanilla, Chocolate, Chocolate Almond. The rest of the flavors are custom and rotate daily.
“People can get a different flavor every day and people will see it coming out of the machine fresh,” said Calvelos.
Although if you miss a flavor they still might have pints left over from the day before to take home. At Abbott’s you can get frozen custard all the ways you’re used to eating other frozen desserts. They make sundaes, shakes, cones, cakes and cookie sandwiches.
Almeida got into the ice cream business because he was looking for something to start up that he could involve his whole family with. His finance, Julie Altaner, is a partner in the business, and he also wants to have his sisters Kathrine and Lydia included as well.
Kathrine is still in college and Lydia is in school to be a pharmacist and works at CVS. Both have a background in food service having worked at Marvel Frozen Dairy in Lido Beach. Lydia was a manager there and at a Carvel ice cream shop in Oceanside.
He would also like to have Altaner’s sibblings involved as well, making it a complete family business.
At first, Calvelos did consider a Carvel franchise but it was too cost prohibitive so he went to a friend who works with people looking for franchise opportunities and that friend hooked him up with Abbott’s Frozen Custard.
“When I spoke to Abbot’s, they were very enthusiastic,” Calvelos said.
He and his fiancee traveled to Massachusetts to check out the shop there.
“We were blown away by the location,” he said.
Calvelos has a family history in the food service industry. His parents used to own Antonio’s Authentic Portuguese Restaurant in Oceanside and Flamingo Bar & Cafe Restaurant in Island Park. Calvelos has also been driving a coffee truck route for the last 15 years.
Once Calvelos settled on opening an Abbott’s Frozen Custard franchise, he searched for the perfect location. He’d been looking at a lot of spots, many with rents that were too high for his business, but then a news article cued him in on an opportunity.
“I found it on Lindenhurst Patch,” he said. “They were talking about the owners of Uncle Louie G’s retiring.”
It took some convincing to get Abbott’s on board with the location at 198 East Montauk Highway in Lindenhurst. He said they are used to locations in upstate New York (where Abbott’s first started in Rochester in 1926).
“Long Island is a completely different place,” Calvelos said.
The spot will be all take-out with some benches outside. He expects it to be opened sometime in October after they complete a renovation of the space. With Abbott’s, Calvelos wants to create a place where people can come together to enjoy a treat and time with each other.
“Our focus is more of a family environment,” he said. “You’re going to be in a happy place.”
📷 Courtesy Manuel Calvelos
