S.D.’S FIRST ICE CREAM PARLOR OPENED IN 1880S

July is National Ice Cream Month, prompting this look back through the newspaper archives for stories of San Diego’s ice cream history. Many notable ice cream parlors have come and gone in San Diego, but the grandest of them all may have been the first: Isidor Louis’ Maison Doree.

From an advertisement published in The San Diego Union on July 12, 1883:

GRAND OPENING ~ OF THE ~ ICE CREAM SEASON AT THE HANDSOME PARLOR OF THE MAISON DOREE TODAY

LADIES WHO ARE IN THE HABIT OF GIVING AFTERNOON AND EVENING PARTIES WILL PLEASE CALL AND MAKE ARRANGEMENTS WITH MR. ISIDOR LOUIS FOR ICE CREAM. REMEMBER: THE FINEST QUALITY OF CREAM, AND AT LOW FIGURES.

In about 1880 Isidor Louis, an early San Diego entrepreneur, opened an “oyster and ice cream saloon” on Fifth Avenue in San Diego.

Louis was not the first to person to make ice cream in San Diego, but his was probably the first successful local commercial ice cream parlor.

Later remodeled and expanded, Louis’ Maison Doree — which included an ice cream parlor, soda fountain, oyster bar, “cigar and tobacco department” and private dining rooms — was located on the ground floor of Louis’ Bank of Commerce building.

The establishment took its name from the grand French “La Maison Dorée” or “Gilded House” restaurant in Paris. Louis’ ornate building, which housed the ice cream parlor, still stands at 835 5th Avenue in San Diego’s Gaslamp Quarter.

According to a report in the San Diego Sun on April 29, 1882, those who attended the formal opening of Maison Doree were treated to a cosmopolitan venue:

“This popular establishment, the property of Mr. Isidor Louis, after having for several weeks undergone a complete overhauling, was thrown open to the public last night amid scenes as brilliant as its name suggests,” The Sun reported. “The large crowds that thronged the place were agreeably surprised at the change that has been wrought. All expected, from sundry hints thrown out by Mr. Louis, that it would be one of the most beautiful and enticing places of like nature in Southern California, but none had any thought that their most lavish ideas would be surpassed.”

“THE ROOMS Have been enlarged in all quarters. The general refreshment room, 20x30, is fitted up in gorgeous style. At the right as you enter is the cigar and tobacco department, and on the counter is a fine soda fountain, costing $800, from which, as if by magic process, may be procured a dozen different drinks. At the left of the front entrance are six small private rooms, all fitted up regardless of expense. Above the door of each is printed the name of some city, New York, Boston, Chicago, St. Louis, San Francisco and San Diego – the six largest cities in the

United States – being represented. In each room is a tasty table, with a seating capacity of four. Beautiful curtains hang IN FLEECY FOLDS At the entrance, each being looped up at either side and clasped at the top by a magnificent tasseled button.”

According to Jerry Macmullen, a longtime San Diego newspaper reporter, author and historian, Louis imported ice from Lake Tahoe, 40 tons at a time, and used handcranked freezers to make his ice cream.

In addition to the Maison Doree, Louis also owned several other commercial enterprises. In early 1887 he opened Louis’ Opera House a few blocks away on the east side of Fifth Street between B and C streets and the newspapers no longer mention the once grand ice cream parlor.