They make about 25 different flavors of fresh ice cream each day in their ice cream shops. It is never deep frozen. Ingredients are slow kettle processed the old fashioned way. They have over 150 flavor recipes in rotation. Each time you visit there is a different list of ice creams on the menu.
Bruster'sConcept
Bruster’s Real Ice Cream is built on delivering a premium fresh-made product with a superior customer experience in a fun, friendly atmosphere where guests can gather to make memories and celebrate special occasions.Bruster’s controls the product from cow to cone, focusing on freshness and making only what is needed to serve daily, which results in a premium product that is never deep frozen. It all starts with a proprietary homestyle mix made the old-fashioned way, with ingredients that are slow kettle processed and designed specifically to create the iconic Bruster’s flavors. Bruster’s owns a dairy in Titusville, PA, which produces its proprietary homestyle mix and delivers it fresh from the dairy to each store, where small artisan batches of decadent flavors are made by Certified Ice Cream Makers, right in the store where they are served.
More than 150 decadent recipes are available on rotation to comprise the Bruster's treat collection. At least 24 premium flavors are prepared fresh daily in each store where they are served, ready to be enjoyed in crunchy, handmade waffle cones (that also are made in-house), sundaes, candy filled blasts, and milkshakes. Customized sundaes, cakes and pies round out the menu. Complementing its freshly made ice cream, Bruster’s only uses premium add-ins and brand-name candies in its treats.
Bruster's Real Ice CreamThe Bruster's Real Ice Cream Story
Bruster's story starts in 1989 with Bruce Reed, the "Bruce" in Bruster's, and his passion to provide the community with fresh homemade ice cream. And since then, our commitment to deliver premium, small batch ice cream hasn't change a bit.We offer at least 24 ever-changing flavors made fresh in our ice cream shops daily. With over 150 handcrafted flavor recipes in rotation, Bruster's is a community staple where you can treat yourself, someone you love and share sweet memories along the way.
There are nearly 200 independently owned locations in 22 states and Guyana.
The Heritage of Homemade
Bruster's Ice Cream is made the old-fashioned way, with slow kettle processing designed specifically to create the Bruster's flavor. Because every generous scoop is made in-house-just a few steps from the counter where it's served-it always tastes thick, creamy and fresh.We also serve artisan desserts made to order, including crunchy handmade waffle cones and bowls, customized sundaes, candy-filled blasts, ice cold freezes and thick milkshakes.
It's a process that simply makes Bruster's A Scoop Above The Rest.
Every Scoop Starts with Real Ingredients
Our handcrafted recipes always start with a proprietary homestyle mix delivered fresh from the dairy to each ice cream shop. We blend our ice cream with only quality cookies, candies and other sweet treats, so you get a loaded scoop of creamy, decadent goodness.
WIKIPEDIABruster's Ice Cream, Inc., AKA Bruster's Real Ice Cream or Bruster's
American chain of ice cream parlors based in Bridgewater, Pennsylvania. Their primary operating region is in most states east of the Mississippi River. The company's main products are ice cream and frozen yogurt, made on site with a milk-based mix at each individual store and made fresh in order to avoid ice crystal formation.Bruce Reed got his start with the ice cream business in the 1950s, when, as a child, he helped out his parents at their diner, Jerry's Curb Service, in Bridgewater, Pennsylvania, a small town located 27 miles northwest of Pittsburgh. It was through this experience that Reed would learn from his dad the secrets to the restaurant business.
In 1989, Reed opened an ice-cream shop right next door to Jerry's. Then Reed began operating under the Bruster's name after 15 months in the business.
- The recipe book that Bruster's uses consists of over 170 recipes.
- Bruster's also makes handmade ice cream cakes, homemade waffle cones, milkshakes, sundaes, and banana splits.
- Bruster's has recently introduced a limited range of non-dairy ice cream flavors made with oat milk.
- Some Bruster's locations also operate as franchisees of Nathan's Famous, with Nathan's hot dogs and other menu items sold in addition to ice cream.
There are 200 independently owned locations in 22 states, Guyana and South Korea.
The TimesJune 2019
Born in Beaver County and now spanning the globe, Bruster's Real Ice Cream has become synonymous with sweet treats. Bruster's turns 30 on July 13, and the Bridgewater store will celebrate that day by rolling back prices to 90 cents, like they were in 1989. Bruster's has more to celebrate than just a milestone birthday, as the company, including its stores in South Korea and Guyana in South America, is in the midst of six consecutive years of sales growth and the highest average unit volume in company history.Headquartered on Mulberry Lane in Bridgewater, Bruster's achieved several notable firsts in 2017-18, such as digitization of its customer loyalty program; new stores in California, Utah and Arizona; a retail area at KeyBank Pavilion in Burgettstown; and an exclusive partnership with Major League Soccer champions Atlanta United FC to sell Bruster's in Mercedes Benz Stadium, where the Atlanta Falcons also play. And there are no plans of stopping.
A look back
Since the 1940s, the northern end of Bridgewater's Riverside Drive has been a popular destination for those craving burgers and fries at Jerry's Curb Service.In the late-1980s, Jerry's owner Bruce Reed spotted an opportunity at the adjacent vacant lot and decided to target a complementary clientele by opening a yogurt and ice cream shop.
Reed originally thought of buying a TCBY yogurt franchise, but after hearing from people who'd drive 45 minutes to visit Handel's Ice Cream in Youngstown, Ohio, Reed entered negotiations to buy the first Handel's franchise, which he could locate on the Bridgewater property. When those negotiations fell through, Reed opened his own store, Bruster's Old-Fashioned Ice Cream and Yogurt.
What began July 13, 1989, as a single ice cream shop in Bridgewater grew to 30 Bruster's stores within a decade. The strategy was simple: Serve premium, never deep-frozen ice cream while creating a family friendly atmosphere.
Three decades later, the growth continues.
Confessions of a Bruster's Scooper
A Bruster's scooper honestly answers all the crazy questions that they get asked every day.OdysseyFebruary 2016
Whether you're treating yourself or someone you love, Bruster's has more than 140 recipes with smooth ice cream made from real ingredients and loaded with cookies, candies, and other sweet goodies. And because every scoop is made in the store just a few steps from the counter where it's served, it always tastes fresh. At any given time, we serve up to 24 flavors of ice cream, yogurt, sorbet, sherbet, and Italian ices. We also make our own fresh waffle bowls and waffle cones in the store every single day. I grew up going to Bruster's for ice cream with my parents during the long hot summer days. When I moved to Greenwood, I decided that while I was in college that I was going to work part time at my local Bruster's store. Over the past year since I have been working there, I have made a mental list of things that are said to me or questions that customers ask me while I am working. I'm going to answer all of those questions as well as comment on all the statements that I hear on a daily basis.
- Oh my gosh, these prices are absolutely ridiculous! I'm not paying this much for a cup of ice cream!
OK. I know the prices are pretty steep, but we have a good reason for why they are high. As I said earlier, we make our own ice cream in the store every single day. This means that the ice cream I just scooped out and handed to you in a cute little red cup was made within the last 24-48 hours. This stuff is fresh as it gets! High quality product means high quality price.- Can I try a couple of different flavors?
Free samples are awesome, and I will be more that happy to let you sample all the different flavors. However, trying all of the 24 different flavors on the board in the drive thru is very frowned upon. I know that the drive thru is extremely convenient, but it is meant for fast service. If you want to try a bunch of different flavors, I beg you, just use one of the walk-up windows. We will gladly let you try all 24 flavors there!- This isn't enough ice cream. Can I get an extra scoop?
My answer to this will be "Absolutely! However, it's going to be an extra 65 cents." Don't look at me like I have just called your momma an ugly name when I say that. I can't give you a free scoop of ice cream just because you think your small cup isn't going to be enough. You saw the sizing on the board when you ordered! If you are getting three scoops of ice cream instead of two, I have to ring it up that way!- *Looks at the board of flavors for five minutes* "Do you have Mint Chocolate Chip?
Friends, this is our number one pet peeve. If you do not see it on that board of today's flavors, we don't have it! If it is in the back, there is a 99.9 percent chance that it is not severable yet. I promise that we aren't keeping your favorite flavor in the back just because we want to see you suffer.- You haven't had my favorite flavor in a long time! When are you going have it next?
I'm sorry we don't have your favorite flavor. How the flavors are rotated is completely up to the manager. We have to keep a wide selection of flavors on a constant rotation so I have absolutely no idea when my manager will decide to make your favorite flavor.- I know that the sweet rewards card is redeemable for a small cup or cone, but can I use it on something else?
- Just a small cup of chocolate and that's it.
If you come through the drive thru, tell us what you want, and drive around to the window, do not wait until I make your order, cash your order out, and hand it out to you for you to tell me that you have changed your mind and that you want a chocolate shake instead.- Mistakes
At Bruster's, when you order we have to remember it off the top of our heads. We don't have the nifty little system that we can ring your order into and it will remember it for us. With this being said, we sometimes make mistakes. Usually we will repeat the order to you just to make sure we have it right before we make it. If we repeat the order to you wrong, please just kindly restate it.
Complete List of Rotating Flavors
Because our product is made fresh-right in each store, available flavors vary by region and location
Complete Flavor List August 2024 A
- Almond Chocolate Coconut
- Almond Divinity
B
- Banana
- Banana Chocolate Chip
- Banana Cream Pie
- Banana Ice
- Banana Nut Bread
- Banana Peanut Butter Ripple
- Banana Sherbet
- Birthday Cake
- Black Cherry
- Black Cherry Chocolate Chunk
- Black Raspberry
- Black Raspberry Cheesecake
- Black Raspberry Chocolate Chunk
- Black Raspberry Ice
- Black Raspberry Sherbet
- Black Raspberry Sorbet
- Blue Pop Ice
- Blue Pop Sherbet
- Blueberry Cheesecake
- Blueberry Cobbler
- Boston Cream Pie
- Butter Brickle
- Butter Fudge Almond
- Butter Pecan
- Butterscotch Ripple
C
- Cake Batter
- Campfire SMores
- Cappuccino
- Cappuccino No Sugar Added Ice Cream
- Caramel Apple
- Caramel Apple Crunch
- Caramel Brownie Batter
- Caramel Cashew
- Caramel Cheesecake
- Caramel Chocolate Pretzel
- Caramel Coconut Cookie
- Caramel Crackle
- Caramel Explosion with Twix
- Caramel Macchiato
- Caramel Swirl
- Caramel Swirl No Sugar Added Ice Cream
- Cayenne Chocolate Chunk
- Cheesecake Made With OREO
- Cherry
- Cherry Almond
- Cherry Creamsicle
- Cherry Ice
- Cherry Pecan
- Cherry Sherbet
- Cherry Vanilla
- Chikoo
- Chocolate
- Chocolate Birthday Cake
- Chocolate Cake Batter
- Chocolate Caramel Swirl No Sugar Added Ice Cream
- Chocolate Cherry Chunk
- Chocolate Chip
- Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough
- Chocolate Covered Banana
- Chocolate Covered Cherry
- Chocolate Covered Pretzel
- Chocolate Fudge Ripple No Sugar Added Ice Cream
- Chocolate Made With OREO
- Chocolate Marshmallow
- Chocolate Mudslide
- Chocolate No Sugar Added Ice Cream
- Chocolate Peanut Butter Buckeye
- Chocolate Peanut Butter Chip
- Chocolate Peanut Butter Pretzel
- Chocolate Pecan
- Chocolate Peppermint
- Chocolate Raspberry Cheesecake
- Chocolate Raspberry Truffle
- Chocolate with Hersheys Special Dark
- Cinnamon
- Cinnamon Bun
- Cinnamon No Sugar Added Ice Cream
- Coconut Chip
- Coconut Cream Pie
- Coconut Pineapple
- Coconut Sorbet
- Coffee
- Coffee Break
- Coffee Cake Streusel
- Coffee Caramel Swirl No Sugar Added Ice Cream
- Coffee Chocolate Chip
- Coffee Made With OREO
- Coffee No Sugar Added Ice Cream
- Coffee Ripple
- Coffee Ripple No Sugar Added Ice Cream
- Coffee Toffee
- Cold Brew Brownie
- Cookie Craze
- Cookie Jar Crunch
- Cookies & Cream Made With OREO
- Cotton Candy Explosion
- Cotton Candy Ice
- Cotton Candy Sherbet
- Cranberry Ice
- Cranberry Sherbet
- Creamsicle
D
- Dark Chocolate Graham Crunch
- Death by Chocolate
- Deep Dish Apple Pie
- Double Chocolate Chunk
- Double Fudge Brownie
- Dragon Fruit Sorbet
E
- Eclair Brownie
- Egg Nog
- Espresso Yourself
F
- Faluda
- French Toast
- Fudge Ripple
- Fudge Ripple No Sugar Added Ice Cream
- Fudgie Cheesecake
G
- Galaxy
- German Chocolate Cake
- Gingerbread Man
- Gone Bananas
- Graham Canyon
- Graham Central Station
- Grape Ice
- Grape Nut
- Grape Sherbet
- Green Tea
H
- Hallowscream
- Horchata
I
- Irish Cream
J
- Jamaican Me Crazy
K
- Kaju Drakh
- Kesar Pista
- Key Lime Pie
L
- Lemon Blueberry Cake
- Lemon Creme
- Lemon Ice
- Lemon Sherbet
- Lemon Sorbet
- Lime Ice
- Lime Sherbet
M
- Mango
- Mango Dragon Fruit Sorbet
- Mango Sorbet
- Maple Pecan
- Maple Walnut
- Mint Chocolate Chip
- Mint Fudge Crunch
- Mint Made With OREO
- Mint with Fudge No Sugar Added Ice Cream
- Mixed Berry Cheesecake with Graham
- Mocha Almond Fudge
- Monkey Madness
- Monster Mash
N
- Nestle's Crunch
- New York Cheesecake
- Non Dairy Banana Oat Milk
- Non Dairy Banana Peanut Butter Ripple
- Non Dairy Black Raspberry Chocolate Chip Oat Milk
- Non Dairy Black Raspberry Oat Milk
- Non Dairy Chocolate Chip Oat Milk
- Non Dairy Chocolate Oat Milk
- Non Dairy Chocolate Peanut Butter Oat Milk
- Non Dairy Chocolate Raspberry Truffle Oat Milk
- Non Dairy Coconut Chip Oat Milk
- Non Dairy Coffee Chocolate Chip Oat Milk
- Non Dairy Cookies & Cream Made With OREO
- Non Dairy Mango Oat Milk
- Non Dairy Mint Chocolate Chip Oat Milk
- Non Dairy Peach Melba Oat Milk
- Non Dairy Peanut Butter Made With OREO
- Non Dairy Peppermint Stick
- Non Dairy Strawberry Banana Oat Milk
- Non Dairy Strawberry Oat Milk
- Non Dairy Triple Chocolate Made With OREO
- Non Dairy Vanilla Oat Milk
- Non Dairy White Raspberry Truffle Oat Milk
- Nutty Coconut
O
- Orange Ice
- Orange Sherbet
P
- Paan
- PB Cup Overload With Reese's
- Peach
- Peach Ice
- Peach Melba
- Peach Sherbet
- Peach Sorbet
- Peaches N Cream
- Peanut Butter
- Peanut Butter and Graham
- Peanut Butter and Jelly
- Peanut Butter Cheesecake
- Peanut Butter Cream
- Peanut Butter Crunch
- Peanut Butter Crunch With Butterfinger
- Peanut Butter Cup with Reese's
- Peanut Butter Parfait
- Peanut Butter Puddles
- Peppermint Made With OREO
- Peppermint Stick
- Pina Colada Italian Ice
- Pina Colada Sherbet
- Pineapple Italian Ice
- Pineapple Sherbet
- Pineapple Sorbet
- Pink Lemonade Ice
- Pink Lemonade Sherbet
- Pistachio
- Pumpkin
- Pumpkin Cheesecake
- Pumpkin Patch
- Pumpkin Pecan
- Pumpkin Pecan Cheesecake
- Pumpkin Pie Ripple
- Purple Dinosaur
R
- Rainbow Sprinkle Cookie
- Rajbhog
- Raspberry Swirl
- Red Velvet Cake Batter
- Rocky Road
- Rum Raisin
S
- S'mores
- Scotchy Pecan
- Sea Salt Caramel
- Sea Salt Caramel No Sugar Added Ice Cream
- Sea Salt Caramel With Almonds
- Sea Salt Caramel with Toffee
- Sitafal
- S'mores Made With OREO
- Snickerdoodle
- Sour Apple Ice
- Sour Apple Sherbet
- Southern Banana Puddin
- Strawberries N Cream
- Strawberry
- Strawberry Banana
- Strawberry Cheesecake
- Strawberry Daiquiri Ice
- Strawberry Daiquiri Sherbet
- Strawberry Ice
- Strawberry Kiwi Ice
- Strawberry Kiwi Sherbet
- Strawberry Lemon Sorbet
- Strawberry Sherbet
- Strawberry Sorbet
- Strawberry Swirl No Sugar Added Ice Cream
- Super Hero Italian Ice
T
- Thin Mint
- Think Pink
- Tin Lizzy
- Tiramisu
- Toasted Almond
- Toffee Bar
- Toffee Bar Crunch
- Triple Chocolate Made With OREO
- Turtle
- Turtle Cheesecake
- Tutti Frutti
- Tuxedo Strawberry
U
- Ube
- Ultimate Peanut Butter Made With Oreo
V
- Vanilla
- Vanilla No Sugar Added Ice Cream
W
- Watermelon Ice
Reference for BusinessBruster's Real Ice Cream, Inc.
A Bridgewater, Pennsylvania-based private company that operates and franchises a chain of more than 215 walk-up ice cream stores located in the eastern United States. Half a dozen are company-owned units. Bruster's prides itself on making fresh ice cream at each of its stores and baking its own waffle cones and bowls on the premises. Each Bruster's store offers as many as 38 rotating ice cream flavors from a stock of some 150 recipes.Flavors include Chocolate Lovers Trash, Stick in the Mud, Peanut Butter Puddles, Key Lime Pie, Lemon Meringue Pie, Peanut Butter and Jelly, Purple Dinosaur, and Cotton Candy Explosion. Seasonal flavors like Pumpkin, Caramel Apple, Peach, and Winter Wonder are also available.
In addition, Bruster's sells frozen yogurt, shakes, smoothies, Blasts (milkshakes with mixed-in cookies or candy), sundaes and banana splits, ice cream cakes and pies, low-carb and fat-free ice cream, and hand-packed takeout ice cream available in pints, quarts, and half-gallon containers.
Bruster's is also known for its lighthearted promotions, such as
- Free dog and cat sundaes
- Free cones for children under 40 inches in height
- Banana Thursday, when every week customers can bring in their own banana and buy a half-price banana split
- PJ Weekend, a March event when anyone who wears pajamas to the store receives a free single-scoop waffle cone
Bruce Reed, the founder of Bruster's, is a real ice cream guy. You can see it in his eyes and sometimes you can see it in his beard too! If you think real hard about it, you might be able to figure out where the name came from.
By the time Bruster's founder Bruce Reed opened his first ice cream store in 1989, he was already a successful businessman. He grew up in Chippewa, located northwest of Pittsburgh, and learned about the food service business and entrepreneurship at an early age. In 1947 his father, Jerry, returning home from a stint in the Air Force, became enamored with the drive-in restaurants he saw in Fort Wayne, Indiana. He and his wife, Donna, started a restaurant in nearby Bridgewater called Jerry's Curb Service, an eatery where carhop waitresses served burgers, fries, and milk shakes to customers in their vehicles on trays that clipped to the windows. In the 1960s the eatery introduced its signature menu item, the steak salad: thin steak, fries, and salad dressing, served on a bed of lettuce. Bruce Reed witnessed his parents devotion to the business, telling SBN Magazine Pittsburgh, "I was raised by babysitters."
In the late 1980s Reed's sister, Candy Young, was divorced, and to help her out he decided to launch a small business she could manage. He considered a TCBY franchise, but backed away because he simply did not like the chain's frozen yogurt product. Instead he decided to become a franchisee of Handel's Homemade Ice Cream & Yogurt chain, a popular regional chain founded around the same time as Jerry's. Reed estimated that the shop, which was located near Jerry's Curb Service, would generate about $200,000 in sales that first year. Instead, it did $600,000 in business, and he realized that the homemade ice cream was a concept worth pursing further. He elected not to sign the Handel's franchise agreement and changed the name to Bruster's, a play on his first name. His plan was to offer freshly made ice cream using premium ingredients, served in generous portions in a fun atmosphere.
The first Bruster's operation was so successful that it helped to spur Jerry's business, which increased 21 percent the first year and another 17 percent the second year. Reed explained to QSR how Bruster's boosted traffic for Jerry's: "You're standing there with an ice cream cone smelling fresh French fries from next door, or vice versa. I think they played off each other really well." During the summer months, business was so heavy outside Jerry's and Bruster's, that two traffic cops were needed seven nights a week. Jerry's was shut down in 1991 and a new 1,400-square-foot version was built to replace the 600-square-foot restaurant that had been in operation since 1964. As a result sales more than doubled at the revamped drive-in. During this time a second Bruster's store opened as well.
Reed quickly learned that ice cream was very much a seasonal business, with meager sales from Thanksgiving to Valentine's Day, but he found it was still cost effective to keep the stores open year round. To attract customers during the slow season, Bruster's began to conduct store tours so customers could see for themselves the fresh ingredients that were being used and how the product was made on site. In addition, the program promoted Bruster's hand-decorated cakes and pies that customers were more likely to purchase year round. The stores also began running some of their playful promotions, like giving out dog sundaes with a biscuit inside.
Bruster's added two more units in the early 1990s, and Reed found it increasingly frustrating to run a chain, even a small one. After seeing the manager's position turn over three times during the first year of operation of his fourth unit, he decided to investigate a franchising option...
In the 1950's, just outside Pittsburg, PA, the small town of Bridgewater had a diner called Jerry's Curb Service where Bruce Reed worked. He probably wasn't given a choice considering his parents owned it. It was through those childhood memories and learning the ways of the restaurant industry by his dad that inspired his restaurant, chain and ice cream that so many of us love. Bruce didn't stray far from his roots when he decided to open his first restaurant as the first location was next door to Jerry's. His very first restaurant was a franchise under Handel's Homemade Ice Cream and Yogurt. Over a year later he would take everything he learned and go out on his own creating the first Bruster's Ice Cream.