April 11, 2024

A downtown frozen treat shop that was closed for winter is reopening Friday and adding sandwiches, soups and soft-serve ice cream.

Polar Bites, then known as Sub Zero Desserts, opened last spring in the 8th & Railroad Center at 401 E. Eighth St. Owners Jessica Rooney and her husband, Matt, have years of experience in serving frozen treats, opening their first Dakota Snow trailer in 2015. They now have two trailers that sell shaved ice and the original Polar Bites, which is seasonal and operates out of a modified shipping container at 501 E. 41st St.

“This will be like a new adventure for us,” Rooney said of serving food. “We’re excited to see what it’s going to do with sandwiches and soup.”

The menu will feature five paninis on Texas toast: roast beef and provolone, turkey pesto, ham and cheddar, grilled cheese, and peanut butter and jelly. They’ll be made to order, so customers can customize them, Rooney said. The sandwiches will come with a bag of kettle potato chips and a can of soda or bottled water for $10.

“We’re trying to make it like a quick, grab-and-go and affordable, easy grab your lunch and go,” she said. “We know that there’s a lot of people that work in this area, so we just wanted to offer something else.”

Kids can get a half PB&J – or any sandwich – with chips and a Capri-Sun or water for $5.

Gluten-free bread will be available, along with dairy-free cheese.

Soup offerings will be tomato bisque and chicken tortilla.

While Polar Bites is known for its signature rolled ice cream and shaved ice, the downtown location will serve soft-serve ice cream cones this year.

“We’ve had a lot of requests for that,” Rooney said, noting that a gluten-free cone also will be available.

Dipped cones will be served in three flavors: chocolate, butterscotch and cotton candy.

The downtown location also is adding the Polar Vortex, which is similar to a Blizzard or Avalanche. Customers can choose vanilla or chocolate ice cream with up to two mix-ins: M&Ms, Snickers, Butterfinger, cookie dough, cheesecake, Oreos or cotton candy crunch.

This year, the only flavor for Dole Whip will be pineapple. “That seems to be the favorite anyway,” she said.

The Rooneys remodeled the seating area, adding a few booths and new tables.

“There’s a better ability for people to come and sit down. They can have meetings; they can have a lunch. A family can sit in the booth and not have to worry about pulling tables together.”

With the additional seating, the miniature golf course is gone.

While the initial plan was to be open year-round, the Rooneys decide to close for the winter in November. If the addition of food helps drive sales, they’ll consider staying open year-round, she said.

To start, hours will be 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday through Friday, 4 to 9 p.m. Tuesday through Friday, and 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Saturday.

“We’ll kind of play it by ear,” Rooney said. “With us not having done lunch before, we don’t know what to expect, so if we need to open earlier, close later, we’re just going to see how the demand is.”

The original seasonal location for Polar Bites is expected to open in early May and will be open daily like it was last year. The only menu change is “we did get rid of boba,” Rooney said. “It just didn’t sell as quick, and I think there’s a lot of shops in town that are starting to specialize in that. Our rolled ice cream and shaved ice are what most people come for there.”

That location will use up the different flavors of Dole Whip still in stock and then also will switch to pineapple-flavored.

The two Dakota Snow trailers, which feature shaved ice treats, will be busy this spring with bookings at school and corporate events and graduation parties. The summer schedule is filling up with weekend events, but there are still some openings, along with weekdays for public and private bookings.