At Sugar J’s, ice cream is handmade and flavors rotate every few weeks, but nostalgia is always on the menu. Business owners John Sobolewski and Jason Biga opened Sugar J’s in Corvallis three years ago and now have a second location in Albany at 214 Second Ave. Inside Sugar J’s on the first day of its grand opening, Friday, Aug.
23, customers lined up to try flavors using metal teaspoons and employees filled waffle cones with ice cream with names like “Cookie Monster” and “Fluffer Nutter.” A large mural of an astronaut holding an ice cream cone floats above the seating area, while another mural pop art pieces stands at the door in bright purples, pinks and greens. Biga curates the space thoughtfully.
Nathan Burns points out several of the current ice cream flavors, like Cookie Monster, Peach Balsamic and Madagascar Vanilla. Burns likes to dream up different flavors to switch up the menu and keep things fresh. The paint colors he chose have fun names, like "grape soda," while the benches and woodwork are made of walnut because the warm tones and texture remind him of chocolate ice cream, Biga said.
“We just wanted to bring something we love to Albany,” Biga said. Sobolewski first entertained the idea of opening a second location in Albany after seeing some changes the city was making downtown, he said. The sidewalks were widened and plans were in place for the waterfront project , the city’s multimillion-dollar project to connect downtown to the river, prov.