WESTBROOK — The vacant Dunkin' Donuts at 977 Boston Post Road recently got new life as Scoops & Slices.
And slices doesn’t mean pizza, but deli meats, the two business partners, Tejas Patel and Ankar Patel said. The ice cream and deli shop opened June 30.
While the two men share the same last name, they are not related, though Tejas Patel says his partner, “is like a brother.”
Tejas Patel was grinning minutes before they officially opened the doors.
“We just opened up, just put everything together," he said. "We just want to make everything ready.”
Both men have extensive experience in running delis as they are also co-owners of Krauser’s in East Haven and West Haven.
The air was celebratory as high school-age staffers hurriedly pulled on Scoops T-shirts with colorful logos while vendors added last-minute touches on the soft serve machine. One gave a careful demonstration on how to properly scoop hard pack ice cream.
This scene was different than the Friday before, when construction crews were finishing up and coolers stood empty.
Scoops & Slices serves a variety of ice cream flavors, including a pastel blue and pink frozen confection named “Cotton Candy.”
On the deli side there are hot and cold sandwiches including deli staples — steak and cheese, chicken Parmesan or the cold “Post Road Combo” grinder with London broil roast beef, turkey, Swiss cheese, lettuce, sweet peppers and Thousand Island dressing. Fresh-made salads are also on order.
Breakfast sandwiches made with two eggs are available all day, served on a hard roll, grinder or bagel.
All deli meats are Boar’s Head while the ice cream is Gifford’s or Leiby’s. The soft scoop ice cream is 10% milk fat, which meets the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s definition of “ice cream.”
Teja Patel noted that fast food places often sell soft serve, which usually is about 5% and not considered ice cream, according to America’s Test Kitchen.
Scoops also offers smoothies made-to-order, such as the fruity “Brainiac,” which includes mango, orange juice and nonfat yogurt. There's also milk shakes, including one called the “Nutty Professor,” a chocolate milkshake with peanut butter and caramel sauce.
The partners decided to open the deli-ice cream shop on kind of a whim. The pair was driving along the shoreline looking to buy a liquor store. But when they drove by the shuttered Dunkin' Donuts, they changed course, Ankar Patel said.
“So, we're just passing around and we just saw this abandoned property," he said. "And there's a sign outside, it's for space available.”
At first, they thought they’d build another Krauser’s, but somehow, they ended up with an ice cream shop and deli place.
“Food business. It's good. Serving community. It's good food.” Tejas Patel said.
James Crawford, the town's economic development commission chairman, said he is pleased the business took over that spot, which was vacant for about 18 months. He said many in town were surprised the Dunkin' closed.
“It was kind of surprising that location didn't work out for them,” he said, adding that he always saw cars in the lot.
But he is optimistic the new business will do well there as historically it was a commercial success.
“I think because of its location near not only the beach but right there on Route 1, I think they're going to do quite well,” Crawford said.