Gastonia ice cream shop recognized in national magazine

Chloe Collins, Gaston Gazette
Updated ·1 min read
Christine Pasour takes a bite out of her black cherry milkshake as her friend, Ali Pizza, takes a lick of her black cherry cone during their lunch break at Tony’s Ice Cream Tuesday afternoon, July 19, 2022.
Christine Pasour takes a bite out of her black cherry milkshake as her friend, Ali Pizza, takes a lick of her black cherry cone during their lunch break at Tony’s Ice Cream Tuesday afternoon, July 19, 2022.

Gastonia’s longest-standing ice cream shop was recently named one of the most iconic old-school ice cream shops in the South by Southern Living magazine.

Here are four things to know about Tony’s Ice Cream.

Beginnings

Tony’s Ice Cream was started in the 1920s by Carmine Coletta, who immigrated to the United States from Glasgow, Scotland, in 1911.

The business was initially just a pushcart. Coletta made and sold his ice cream from horse-drawn wagons and carts, according to information from the Gaston County Museum of Art and History.

Expansion

In the late 1940s, the first two physical locations of Tony’s Ice Cream were constructed.

One shop opened on West Franklin Boulevard and the other opened on East Franklin Boulevard.

Ownership

Maria Coletta and her husband, Antonia Janetta, operated Tony’s Ice Cream with the assistance of Carmine Coletta’s youngest son Anthony - also known as Tony - Coletta until their passing in 1971.

Anthony Coletta died in 1976, and his sons, Robert and Louis, assumed ownership of Tony’s Ice Cream.

Visiting

Tony’s Ice Cream, located at 604 E. Franklin Blvd in Gastonia, is open 7 a.m. - 8 p.m. Monday through Friday, 7 a.m. - 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday, and 10 a.m. - 10 p.m. on Sunday.

This article originally appeared on The Gaston Gazette: Gastonia ice cream shop recognized in national magazine