Ample Hills Opens Park Slope Outpost in Restored Storefront Next to Nitehawk Cinema

Ample Hills’ long-awaited Prospect Park West location finally opened its doors on Friday, May 28, following years of anticipation and delay.

The new shop at 192 Prospect Park West, directly adjacent to the Nitehawk Cinema and across the street from Prospect Park, marks the chain’s first additional location since coming under new ownership last year.

“It’s almost like a flagship store for us,” said Ample Hills CEO Mike Zapata. “We’re really excited.”

Plans for the Brooklyn-founded ice cream brand to occupy the historic low-rise building that housed a soda fountain during the 1930s have been in the works since 2018 but were put on hold due to the company’s bankruptcy sale and subsequent takeover by Oregon-based manufacturer Schmitt Industries during the pandemic.

The new location features booth seating, a party room, a small library of children’s books and roof access for customers. It fills a hole along Prospect Park West for nearby Windsor Terrace, which has been lacking a creamery for years.

“Couldn’t be a better location for an ice cream shop,” said Ample Hills Creative Director Lauren Kaelin. “It’s right next to the park, right next to the movie theater, right next to the subway.”

The parkside location also marks the start of a partnership between Ample Hills and the Prospect Park Alliance, the nonprofit stewards of the park — something of a full circle for the brand, which started out as an ice cream cart at BRIC’s Celebrate Brooklyn! music festival in Prospect Park.

As part of the partnership, Prospect Park Alliance members will get a 10 percent discount at the store, and 10 percent of sales of the shop’s location-specific flavor will go to benefit the nonprofit.

The flavor — “Meet me on the Long Meadow” — is an ode to picnic staples, featuring sweet tea flavored ice cream with pieces of lemonade-iced cookies and black currant jam.

“It’s a little bit more subtle than your typical over-the-top Ample Hills flavor,” said Kaelin. “The black currant and the lemonade flavors are a little bit more subtle but I think it’s delicious. I’m interested to see how people react to it.”

The shop’s decor also pays tribute to Prospect Park. A large mural features Ample Hills mascots enjoying scoops out on the Long Meadow, and framed archival photos line the shop’s walls, including one of the dairy farm that once existed in the historic green space.

“We were really inspired by the history of picnicking in Prospect Park,” Kaelin said. “When the park first opened, contrary to Central Park, Prospect Park was always welcoming to the community and actually welcomed and encouraged people to picnic on its grounds.”

Editor’s note: A version of this story originally ran in Brooklyn Paper. Click here to see the original story.

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