Feb. 23, 2023

More sweets will be filling a downtown dessert bar that closed last weekend.

The owners of Sub Zero Desserts and Dakota Snow are taking over the former Prairie C Dessert Bar space on the north side of 8th & Railroad Center.

“We’re really excited,” said Jessica Rooney, who owns the businesses with her husband, Matthew. “We’ve kind of putzed around (looking) with different spots, and then this just fell in our lap.”

Building owner Erika Billion reached out to them.

“Her children are often at our stand she told us,” Rooney said. “She said we would be a good fit, and we agree.”

The new shop at 401 E. Eighth St., Suite 105, will be called Sub Zero Desserts. It will be open year-round and will feature the same menu as the seasonal converted shipping container at 501 E. 41st St.

That includes rolled ice cream, shaved ice, signature shaved ice that also has ice cream, Snow Shakes, Dole Whips and boba tea.

The seasonal stand and the two Dakota Snow trailers will remain in operation, Rooney said.

“It’s neat being in the shipping container,” she said of the stand that opened in 2019. “On a hot day, it’s nice to grab a treat and sit outside.”

The Rooneys, who started Dakota Snow with one trailer in 2015, are excited to offer a year-round option for their treats and hope to open downtown next month.

“We’re hoping for March 10, but that might be a pipe dream,” she said.

The Rooneys don’t have a lot of remodeling to do. They bought Prairie C’s decor because “we love the way it looks,” she said. The counter area will look different because of the room needed for the equipment to make the rolled ice cream and other frozen treats.

Sub Zero also will offer grab-and-go treats like ice cream and cookie dough, Rooney said. Next winter, there will be hot cocoa bombs, a popular item the Rooneys have been selling during the off-season along with frozen treats at Chef Ellen at 69th Street and Western Avenue. They’ll continue stocking items there, she said.

“Next winter, we’re talking about adding soups and paninis,” Rooney said. “But that’s on the back burner for now.”

A couple of popular treats that Prairie C offered might be additions to the menu.

Owner Keyes Clemmer, who is moving back to New York City, “had good Italian sodas that were popular,” Rooney said. “We’re going to try to keep that on the menu.”

Clemmer’s cake-on-a-cup is another possibility, she said.

The Rooneys haven’t settled on hours yet but are leaning toward 1 to 8 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday, with longer hours once school gets out for the summer.