Our Story

​The Ice Creamsmith was opened in the Dorchester Lower Mills neighborhood of Boston in June, 1976, the result of two neighbors being unemployed. David Mabel, with a degree in Public Relations, and his Dorchester neighbor, a Sociology major, saw an ad in the paper for the equipment and “know-how” to open a homemade ice cream store, and decided to take a chance.

David and his partner built and opened the small store in Lower Mills and, with part-time help from their wives, began making their ice cream in the front window in an old-fashioned White Mountain ice cream freezer, and serving it to customers. The partner left after a short time, so David and Robyn took on running the ice cream parlor from there.

The Mabels soon had to replace most of the old equipment, and changed to an Emery Thompson ice cream freezer after three years of lugging ice and salt. There was a second location in the Fields Corner section of Dorchester in the mid-l980’s, but the original location has kept going strong for all these years. The Mabels close the store for the winter, from Thanksgiving to March 1st, for much needed “rest and repairs.”

Employees have come mainly from the Dorchester and neighboring Milton area, with most working for many years, and having siblings join or follow them in the job. David and Robyn have always worked along with them, scooping ice cream and training and supervising their help.

The customers, on the other hand, often come from further afield, especially after hearing word-of-mouth, or reading one of the writeups the store has gotten in ice cream books and newspapers, such as the Boston Globe Calendar section choosing The Ice Creamsmith’s frozen pudding ice cream as a Hit of the Week. While waiting to be served, or eating their ice cream, they can read the many ice cream-related cartoons and articles that adorn the walls.

​In 2014, David and Robyn (my parents) sold their business to my husband and me, allowing them to start thinking about retirement and for the next generation to take over!  We hope to carry the shop, which has become an institution in Dorchester, into the next four decades and beyond by providing the same carefully hand-crafted products in the same friendly environment.

All of our ice cream is made on the premises in small batches using fresh, whole ingredients and concentrated flavorings. We have 13 flavors of 14% milkfat ice cream at a time, with three special flavors-of-the-month, plus a frozen yogurt and a sorbet. Special flavors often have a seasonal tie-in, such as Baileys Irish Cream in March; fruit flavors like Peach, Blueberry and Coconut-Pineapple in the summer; and Pumpkin, Egg Nog and Apple ‘n Spice in the fall.

We also have about 13 “mixin’s” that can be added to the ice cream to order, allowing you to create your own custom flavor. A sign in the shop boasts of having over 2,000 flavors at any time, based on the number of combinations that can be created! We also make ice cream cakes, as well as ice cream pies, pizzas and our newest addition, cupcakes.

Because of the “mixin’s,” we’ve never made many complex or exotic flavors, or use cute or mysterious names for our ice cream. We simply try to provide our neighborhood with delicious, high-quality homemade ice cream at reasonable prices. We don’t claim to have the best ice cream in the world but prefer to let our customers be the judges. So far, customers old and new continue to call The Ice Creamsmith their favorite!  We hope you will, too!

-Sarah Mabel-Skillin and Chris Skillin