Mitch and Tarissa Jahnke are making life in Milford a little sweeter.
The pair opened Jahnke’s Creamery, formerly Pop’s Place, at 4370 state Route 28 in May.
The shop offers hard ice cream, soft ice cream and one flavor a week of dairy-free Dole soft serve, as well as a limited menu of burgers, hot dogs and fresh-cut fries.
Tarissa Jahnke, a teacher, said the idea was a long-held hope for her and her husband, a Milford native and dairy farmer.
She said they considered do something with milk or opening up a farm store.
“I was just looking for something new,” Tarissa Jahnke said. “We were driving past Pop’s Place one day, and that’s always been an iconic place in this area, and I was like, ‘I want to open Pop’s Place.’”
Things began to come together in February as the couple lined up distributors, including King Brothers Dairy to supply the ice cream and Two Pods in a Pea to supply local meat for the burgers.
“We just loved how they are a farm that processes their own milk right on the farm,” Tarissa Jahnke said.
Since the May kickoff, Tarissa Jahnke said, customers have embraced the revitalized restaurant’s offerings.
“We’ve been told the soft serve is creamy, and a lot of people really like the soft serve, but they are trying all of the hard ice cream, also,” she said.
Many customers ask about the dairy side of things.
“We always point out that King Brothers is not that far from us,” Tarissa Jahnke said, “and we share information about how they are a large dairy farm and they do produce right there, and we talk a lot about how we really like that story, and it seems to resonate.”
Tarissa Jahnke said ice cream flights — four 3-ounce portions of flavors picked by the customer served a flight board tray — have proven a customer favorite.
“That’s one of the other things people have found kind of cool,” she said. “They can pick any hard or soft flavors.”
Customers have been a blend of locals and visiting baseball families, she said.
“We were pleasantly surprised in May with the turnout of the locals that we did get,” Tarissa Jahnke said, “and we’re finding Dreams Park is picking up a bit. We’re a little this side of things, so we are getting Dreams Park families, but not as much as we anticipated. But it is nice to see all the familiar faces, and we have a lot of locals coming back, so that makes us feel good.”
The shop started a loyalty program to give back to customers, she said. Every 10 ice creams purchased is good for a small soft serve for free.
“We have been really grateful, and I think the community has really come out to support us,” she said.
Though the shop will be seasonal, they are “hoping to be here next year,” Tarissa Jahnke said.
“I am starting to test out some ice cream pies and things like that,” she said. “I don’t anticipate having the actual shop open (through winter), but hope to do ice cream treats and sell them privately over the winter, just to keep the name out there and keep people interested.”
Jahnke’s Creamery is open from noon to 9 p.m. every day, except Tuesday when the shop is closed.
For more information and weekly flavor updates, find “Jahnke’s Creamery” on Facebook or call 607-286-4054.