Behind glass at the newly opened Frosty’s Nitrogen Yogurt and Ice Cream Lab are two mannequins clad in white lab coats with clipboards in hand, positioned facing the 8,000 pound liquid nitrogen steel tank that chills yogurt and milk down to an icy 321 degrees to create nitrogen ice cream.
The giant tank was lowered gingerly into the shop through a hole cut in the ceiling, but it seems that was the most difficult part of getting Frosty’s Lab up and running. Residents and visitors were eager to try the smooth texture and fresh taste of nitrogen ice cream served at Frosty’s, 15348 N.W. 79 Court in Park Centre Shops, as evident by the 1500 customers that showed up during the grand opening held in April.
Miami Lakes natives and brothers, Nader and Samer Hammad, co-own Frosty’s Lab and stumbled into the ice cream industry after spending decades owning and operating supermarkets in Miami-Dade County, following in the footsteps of their father who owned supermarkets in Colombia before the family migrated to the United States.
Customers would be surprised to learn that Frosty’s Lab is not a franchise, despite the attention to detail put into the shop’s cohesive science decor and theme, modern with details of lab equipment like beakers. Frosty’s Lab is the brainchild of the Hammad brothers and they spared no expense in creating a strong foundation for their first location specifically with plans to branch out and potentially franchise in the next few years.
The menu offers 12 varieties of ice cream and yogurt bases including classics like chocolate and vanilla, alongside more daring and ethnic options like dulce the leche and mamey. Two new flavors are introduced each month, and combined with the multitude of unique toppings like donuts, snickers, and honey, customers could make new tasty creations every visit. But perhaps the most eye-catching menu items are the injectable flavors that are popped into the base of the ice cream cup inside a plastic injectable tube with choices like nutella, caramel, guava and the best-selling condensed milk, or more frequently known as “leche condensada.”
There are also non-dairy and sugar-free options as well as desserts like crepes.
The brothers have plans in the works for promotions similar to their Mother’s Day campaign which treated all moms to free ice cream.
“This is going to be the place to be on Halloween,” said Samer. “We are planning on turning the shop into an amazing haunted house and are working on other things in the upcoming months.”
Samer, a firefighter, acknowledges that his paramedic training and owning supermarkets is very different from owning an ice cream store, but that’s exactly why he likes it.
“Ice cream is a happy business,” said Samer. “When something good is going on in your life, you get ice cream! When you’re in love, to give your family a treat, ice cream is happy and it makes me happy to see all the customers and families we have walking in every day.”
“Miami Lakes is a beautiful area and it’s home,” said Nader. “We feel great about having opened Frosty’s in Miami Lakes.”
Frosty’s Yogurt and Ice Cream Lab is open every day of the year, Monday - Thursday from 1 to 10 p.m ., Fridays from 1 p.m. to midnight, Saturdays from noon to midnight, and Sundays from noon to 11 p.m. For more information, visit www.frostyslab.com or call 786-353-9775. Follow the shop on Facebook and Instagram for discounts, news and promotions.