Pints of Joy co-founders Arshiya Shaikh, left, and Ketki Dandekar are the new owners of Rick’s Ice Cream in Palo Alto. Photo by Adrienne Mitchel.
A 70-year-old Palo Alto ice cream institution is getting some fresh flavors.
Rick’s Ice Cream, a beloved community ice cream shop along Middlefield Road, recently transferred ownership to the duo behind Pints of Joy, a pandemic-born, Sunnyvale-based ice creamery. The move does not signal an overhaul of longtime flavors – customers can still find fan favorites such as computer chip and industrial chocolate – but there will be some newcomers to the scoop case.
Black sesame crunch, Biscoff and Alphonso mango ice cream from Pints of Joy are now viable at Rick’s Ice Cream in Palo Alto. Photo by Adrienne Mitchel.
“We understand Rick’s has a very strong bond with the community over here,” said Arshiya Shaikh, co-founder of Pints of Joy and now co-owner of Rick’s. “People have been coming here since they were growing up with their grandparents, and we want to preserve all that. So it’s going to be an amalgamation of the old and the new.”
Rick’s is still offering 48 flavors of ice cream to choose from, but about a third of the selection is now recipes from Pints of Joy. While this does mean there are fewer original Rick’s flavors available at any given time, flavors will often rotate in and out, with the most popular being prioritized. Rick’s original flavors and Pints of Joy flavors are evenly dispersed throughout the cases, and unlimited samples are available for taste-testing. Other longtime treats such as ice cream cakes, sundaes and milkshakes remain on the menu.
“The whole goal is … keep what people have loved and enjoyed about Rick’s, and at the same time, introduce them to all the flavors that Pints of Joy is known for,” said Ketki Dandekar, co-founder of Pints of Joy and now co-owner of Rick’s.
Pints of Joy ice cream flights, pictured here at Pints of Joy Sunnyvale, are now available at Rick’s Ice Cream in Palo Alto. Photo by Magali Gauthier.
Rick’s Ice Cream has changed hands many times over the decades. While the shop opened in 1956, the name Rick’s was attached when Rick Payne bought it in the 1970s. In 1991, Payne sold it to Greg Schwarzmann. More ownership changes occurred, and in 2012, the Khosla family took it over.
Sunnyvale residents and friends Dandekar and Shaikh didn’t come from a culinary background – they worked in the finance technology industry until both lost their jobs in the pandemic. So they made ice cream as a way to find and spread joy. In 2022 they opened their first brick-and-mortar store in Sunnyvale, selling eggless ice cream in flavors inspired by both Indian desserts (think gulab jamun, falooda and malai kulfi) and other global sweets (such as sesame peanut brittle, Biscoff cookie and black sesame crunch). In May, the pair opened their second store, in Fremont, and began looking at options to expand up the Peninsula.
Pints of Joy co-owner Ketki Dandekar scoops ice cream at her Sunnyvale shop. Photo by Magali Gauthier.
It was an ADA noncompliance lawsuit brought by serial plaintiff Scott Johnson in July that brought the Khosla family, Dandekar and Shaikh together. Rick’s Ice Cream and Pints of Joy were just two of 30 businesses that Johnson targeted. A month later, the Khosla family expressed they were ready to retire, and Dandekar and Shaikh felt that taking over the business was a natural next step.
“(The Khoslas) spoke so highly of the neighborhood and how there are grandparents and kids who’ve been coming here for years,” Shaikh said. “That really excited us.”
While many of Rick’s bestselling ice creams will remain untouched, over the year, Dandekar and Shaikh will add more nondairy ice cream options and streamline operations to merge with the Pints of Joy brand. There likely will be branding changes in the point of sale, packaging, hours of operations, marketing and promotion and catering, according to Dandekar.
Pints of Joy is now available at Rick’s Ice Cream in Palo Alto. Photo by Adrienne Mitchel.
Quarts of Rick’s Ice Cream are available to purchase in the freezer section of Rick’s Ice Cream in Palo Alto. Photo by Adrienne Mitchel.
The pair hope to extend hours in the summer, noting that Rick’s currently closes most nights at 8 p.m., which is usually when Pints of Joy in Sunnyvale and Fremont are at peak hours.
“We would like to … build this favorite dessert hangout (spot) for families to come in after dinner here as well,” Dandekar said. “Parking is easy, access is easy, rather than going into downtown.”
Pints of Joy isn’t stopping its expansion yet – Dandekar and Shaikh said they hope to eventually reach all of the Bay Area, with their sights set on more locations in the East Bay.
Rick’s Ice Cream, 3946 Middlefield Road, Palo Alto; 650-493-6553, Instagram: @ricksicecream. Open Tuesday to Thursday and Sunday from noon to 8 p.m., Friday and Saturday from noon to 8:30 p.m.
Pints of Joy, 717 E. El Camino Real #6, Sunnyvale; 408-472-7403, Instagram: @pintsofjoyicecream. Open Tuesday to Thursday from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m., Friday and Saturday from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.
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