Some people may wonder why we are making “Boardwalk Pizza” in the middle of Falls Church, VA, miles from the nearest boardwalk. The reason has to do with the history of our two menus, frozen custard and pizzeria. Frozen custard first appeared in the US in 1919 on the boardwalks of Coney Island, NY. Since the custard was originally a boardwalk food, it’s only natural for a food also originating on the boardwalks of the Eastern Shore to go with it. The products offered through the Boardwalk Pizza menu are all items that can be found on any boardwalk from New York and New Jersey down to the Carolinas.
Hey!
What Happened to the old machines?
When the current ownership purchased the business in 2000 the old machines were not being used. In fact the previous owners were using a "Soft Serve" machine because the old machines had broken.
We acquired the broken machines with the business and attempted to get the machines repaired. The machines were shipped to the Mid-west for repair. Unfortunately, one machine was beyond repair,and the other was shipped back to us in 2001. When we attempted to use the machine to produce frozen custard in the summer, the aged parts just could not keep up with the high demand for the FDB.
We purchased a brand new triple head frozen custard machine in 2001, a machine that makes custard the same way the old ones did. Our new machine is the known as the “Rolls Royce” of frozen custard machines and produces frozen custard using the same method as the antique machines. The old frozen custard machine is now on display in our store.
Do the holes mean something? We'll never tell...
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Frozen Dairy Bar &
Boardwalk Pizza
Curious where we came from?
Read our history below!
The original Frozen Dairy Bar (first named simply Frozen Custard) was opened in 1950 by Guy and Walter Sponseller. The business was housed in an art-deco style road-side stand that was noted for its six-foot tall neon ice cream cone perched on top of the building, and decorative “wings” with large holes on the building’s side. The original building, designed by Ruth P. Eakin, was located in the parking lot of what is now the Sleepy Hollow Shopping Center, the store's current location. Serving freshly made frozen custard and soft serve ice cream, it attracted people from all over the Washington area. In the early days, the stand was home to DJs and live bands on weekend nights, and a line that would stretch clear across the parking lot.
Over the years, the business has changed hands, and the original building lost. During the late 1990s, the store was briefly relocated to a spot on Lee Highway, before returning to the Sleepy Hollow Shopping Center in 1997. In 2000, the business was in danger of being closed forever. Not wanting to see the frozen custard stand from their childhoods disappear, the current owners took control of the Frozen Dairy Bar, and have been continuing the tradition of producing the finest frozen custard ever since. Often, people will come back to the DC area for a visit after moving away and will make it a point to visit the Frozen Dairy Bar.
In early 2007, the Frozen Dairy Bar moved into its current, larger location, and added pizza to its existing frozen custard menu. In February of that year, we opened our doors as the new Frozen Dairy Bar and Boardwalk Pizza serving the Falls Church area the best in pizza and frozen custard. In the same tradition the original Frozen Dairy Bar started over 50 years ago, all our menu items are made fresh every day. There is no substitution for high quality food, and our staff is committed to giving each customer the best possible experience, just as they would have had back in the 1950s. Yes, the lines will get long on a hot summer night, but the wait for what Washingtonian Magazine has called “the best treat in town” has always been worth it.
Frozen custard is a premium ice cream treat which, according to legend, first originated in Coney Island, New York in 1919. While it is a frozen dairy product like ice cream, frozen custard uses more egg yolk, as well as a different freezing process, to enhance its flavor. Using our custom built frozen custard machines, our product is made at a slightly lower temperature than ice cream; however, our custard is never flash frozen like ice cream, except for use in our ice cream sandwiches and pops. Because of this process, the resulting product contains smaller ice crystals than ice cream, giving the product a velvety smooth texture and extraordinary flavor. In addition, frozen custard typically has approximately 20% air by volume, called overrun; ice cream will typically have 100% overrun. The increased amount of air mixed in ice cream causes the volume to double, lending to ice cream’s courser texture. Also, because it is a soft serve product, frozen custard must be served at 26 degrees, much warmer than the 10 degrees at which ice cream is served.
What do you mean,this isn't ice cream?
Everyone's favorite pizza...
Our Falls Church pizza is made in a style casually referred to as New York Style Pizza. Our pizza starts with fresh dough made from scratch in the store. We then cook our pizza in a genuine stone floor oven. In this oven, our hand tossed pizza is baked directly on a hot stone, kept at approximately 500 degrees. The pizzas are always dressed with the highest quality cheese, grated in our own kitchen, and a specially prepared sauce made from whole plum tomatoes. Our own special dough and baking methods provide for a pizza that is crisp on the outside, chewy on the inside, and smothered in the best toppings you can find.
Look, we're famous!
Did you know?
Even though the store first opened in 1950, the old machines were originally manufactured in the early forties and ran on highly explosive “Glycol” refrigerant. The machines were converted to a more modern, and safer, refrigerant a few years later.
although the original holes are gone, you can still find some in our store today!
Our History: Frozen Custard and Falls Church Pizza
Copyright 2010 - Frozen Dairy Bar & Boardwalk Pizza- All Rights Reserved | Falls Church Pizza
