Frisbie’s Dairy Barn opening in Hartford
Parkville Market will host ice cream shop’s third location in region
Frisbie’s Dairy Barn, which has been selling ice cream in New Britain since 2015, is opening a location at Parkville Market in Hartford, its co-owner announced. The location at 1400 Park St. is Frisbie’s second satellite location opened this year, after a shop at Maple Hill Farms in Bloomfield made its debut on May 1.
Frisbie’s is known for its flavors with names inspired by New Britain and other Hartford-area towns, such as New Britain Coffee Craze, Rocky Hill Road, Maple Walnut Hill, Southington Salted Caramel, Berlin Black Raspberry, Stanley Park Strawberry, Manchester Mango Strawberry Sorbet, Cake Batterson Park, Yale Peppermint Patty, Pulaski Pistachio, Newington Nutella and Little Poland Lod
Smietankowvy, a Polish-style vanilla ice cream made with extra egg yolks.
One of its most popular flavors is its Blue Devil Cookie Monster, a
blue vanilla ice cream with Oreos and chocolate chip cookies.
Paul Parks III, with his father Paul Parks Jr., bought Frisbie’s from its founder Michael Frisbie in May 2020. Parks said the Parkville
Market location is awaiting its health department permit and should be open within a few weeks.
Parks was hired to manage the flagship location, at 951 Farmington Ave., in 2019, after Frisbie sought recruits at his alma mater, the business school Nichols College in Dudley, Massachusetts.
“He was looking for an intern to run Frisbie’s. Two students were selected, including me. He wanted to see Frisbie’s continue to grow,” Parks said. “This past year, when the opportunity came to purchase it, with the same staff and the same team, we took it. We like to say it’s under new ownership, but not under new management.”
Frisbie, who owns the chain of Noble gas stations, sold Frisbie’s because he wanted to concentrate on that business, Parks said. Frisbie’s ice cream is sold at all Noble locations, as well as other retail and restaurant outlets in the Hartford area.
“He loves Frisbie’s. He didn’t just want to sell it, but he is working on the expansion of Noble. He wanted to give an opportunity to someone to run Frisbie’s,”
Parks said. “After I was there for a while, we pitched a plan to run it. Then he was comfortable selling it because our vision was what he had planned out.”
Parks, a native of Cumberland, Rhode Island, now lives in Hartford. frisbiesdairybarn.com.