This beloved Miami Beach ice cream shop served generations before closing. Now it’s back

For a small store, the Miami Beach ice cream shop formerly known as The Frieze had a big history.

Founded in 1987 by Mary Sherman at The Bentley Hotel at Ocean Drive and Fifth Street, the shop had long been one of the go-to destinations for locals and tourists alike. In 1992, Robert and Lisa Warren invested in the brand, and Lisa Warren and Sherman (now Mary Giveen) opened a second location on Michigan Avenue near Lincoln Road.

The Frieze had other locations that eventually closed, and in 1996 the Warrens bought the name, the lease and the recipes and became the sole owners. The Michigan Avenue shop became the perfect ending to an evening of strolling Lincoln Road (yes, in ancient times, locals used to stroll on Lincoln Road). Located just south of the pedestrian street, it served generations of ice cream lovers before movies and after dinners, and supplied desserts to iconic Beach restaurants like The Forge and Joe’s Stone Crab and hotels like the Ritz-Carlton Key Biscayne.

Locals really did love it. Even the famous ones like Gloria Estefan and Shakira, who stopped by on occasion. So did famous non-locals like Beyoncé and Jay Z. For the shop’s 25th anniversary Miami Heat basketball star Chris Bosh scooped ice cream there for a day, gave away an autographed basketball and got a flavor named after himself. He confided to Robert Warren that his first job in Texas was — what else? — scooping ice cream.

The Warrens decided to retire and sold the shop a few years ago, hoping the new owner would continue their sweet tradition. He did, for awhile. Then he decided to move back to South Carolina, and this past summer, the shop announced its closing via Instagram, a surprise that disappointed the Warrens, who had hoped to see their legacy continue.

Now, in an improbable turn of events, the shop has returned with a new name — The Ice Cream Factory — and the beloved old recipes, led by two new owners and with the Warrens signed on as partners and advisors. Also returning is veteran ice cream maker Martin Zelaya, who worked with the Warrens for 14 years.

The Warrens couldn’t be more delighted.

“I had such a good relationship with this company,” says Lisa Warren, who over the years found herself crowned as “the Ice Cream Lady” by dessert-focused young customers who spotted her around town. “It was such a wonderful experience. I feel very proud to be back.”

The landlord, Robert Warren said, offered them a chance to return, but neither was ready to return full-time to running a business. So they approached Sam and Vicky Brejt, their neighbors at the Quayside development in Miami Shores, to sound them out about buying the shop. Sam Brejt had just sold his cellular phone business and considering what his next project would be.

“We were like, ‘Do we want to open another business?’ “ Vicky Brejt said. “But we’re both from Miami. We both grew up here. It was so nostalgic to us, coming back to the Beach after being away, even if it’s a new Beach.”

Brejt had already started to dip her toe (or at least a spoon) into ice cream making when her daughter, now 16, was diagnosed with Crohn’s disease before the COVID pandemic. She couldn’t eat the ice cream she loved, so Brejt got an ice cream maker and started experimenting with making non-dairy desserts.

“I was trying to make things healthier for her so they didn’t upset her stomach,” she explains.

That level of experimentation meshes nicely with The Ice Cream Factory’s plans to highlight the old familiar flavors while still trying a few new ones (everything is kosher, too). The shop offers good old-fashioned full-fat ice cream and non-dairy sorbets and will rotate the flavors every couple of months. It will also sell pints to go and milkshakes.

A dairy lover can indulge in the decadent dulce de leche or Bosch (the one named after Chris Bosh, an ice cream version of a Nutty Buddy), while someone who prefers a non-dairy or vegan dessert can try the mango, guanabana or the surprisingly robust peanut butter and chocolate sorbet. Keep an eye out for the ever-popular Whopper ice cream, made with malted milk balls, to stage a comeback, and don’t sleep on the oddball flavor grapenuts and raisins, which tastes much better than the healthy breakfast cereal you try to avoid.

Robert Warren said that the original recipes, which they own, have gotten raves since the reopening.

“I don’t know if it’s because we’ve been away for three years, but it seems to taste better than ever,” he said of the menu.

Vicky Brejt even created an apple and honey sorbet for the Jewish New Year that may find its way onto the menu at some point. It’s not vegan because of the honey, but we can attest to the fact that it’s delicious.

She’d also like to try her hand at creating a butterscotch sorbet but admits “I have to think about that one.”

The shop will also feature the works of local artists on the wall, Sam Brejt said, as a nod to Lincoln Road’s past as a home for art galleries.

Lincoln Road, now home to a Cheesecake Factory and lululemon, has drifted from what it was 30 years ago. It can’t return to the days before The Gap and the Apple Store, when locals crowded the tables at the Van Dyke Cafe and shopped for reading material at Books & Books. But Sam Brejt hopes spots like The Ice Cream Factory can help bring those memories back.

“It really is beautiful,” he said of Lincoln Road. “Very few venues have a walking area like this. They tried to recreate it on Miracle Mile, and look at what they’re trying to do on Flagler, but those streets aren’t really closed. . . what we’re trying to do is to bring some local flavor back here to the Beach. That’s the goal — bringing back what we remember.”

And besides, selling ice cream is a happy business.

“Having people try things and getting that hit of instant happiness is a lot of fun,” he said. “Better than people yelling ‘My phone’s not working!’ Seeing kids come in and try different flavors or adults getting flavors they loved in their childhood, you can’t beat that satisfaction.“

The Ice Cream Factory

Where: 1626 Michigan Ave., Miami Beach

Hours: 1-11 p.m. daily

More information: 786-732-3228

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