New ice cream shop is moving into old Doc Burnstein’s spot in Arroyo Grande. Here’s when

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A new ice cream shop is set to open in the Village of Arroyo Grande this summer, taking over the spot vacated by Doc Burnstein’s Ice Cream Lab earlier this year.

Rori’s Artisanal Creamery is in the process of transforming the business at 114 West Branch St. into the Santa Barbara chain’s newest scoop shop, owner Rori Trovato told The Tribune.

“When we found out that (Doc Burnstein’s in Arroyo Grande) was closing, it was like, ‘Oh, my God,’ ” Trovato said. “AG ... is like a step back in time, especially in the Village. ... We fell in love with it.”

The shop is currently under renovation but is expected to open sometime in either late May or early June, depending on when the work is completed.

Once completed, it will be the eighth location for Rori’s Artisanal Creamery, which includes shops in Santa Barbara, Carpinteria, Santa Monica, Montecito and Camarillo.

Ice cream chain started in Santa Barbara County

Trovato said she was first inspired to get into the ice cream business because of her grandmother.

“My grandma made us homemade ice cream every Sunday,” Trovato said. “Way down the line, I became a pastry chef, and I realized, you know, nobody really has any idea what great ice cream tastes like.”

So the idea for Rori’s Artisanal Creamery was born.

Specializing in small-batch ice cream, Trovato’s business started as a wholesale ice cream company in 2010, with its first retail store opening in Montecito in 2012.

“My goal was to always just to show people how wonderful small-batch ice cream can really taste,” she said. “So that was my concept from the first pint I ever made to now — we still do everything in the exact same way.”

In the decade since the first store opened, Rori’s has grown to span Southern California, with new locations set to open soon in Los Angeles and Ventura.

What’s on the menu at Rori’s Artisanal Creamery?

At the shops, employees scoop out a wide variety of flavors ranging from lemon curd and milk chocolate chunk — two personal favorites of Trovato’s — to milk and cookies, serious dark chocolate and honey lavender.

Almost all candies and additional ingredients for specific flavors are made in-house, Trovato added, including the almond brittle and peppermint patties.

The one caveat is the Whoppers in the malted milk ball ice cream, she said.

“I just really wanted Whoppers,” she said.

Beside the tasty flavors, Trovato said she feels the business’s commitment to customer service sets it apart.

“I’m a firm believer (in the idea that) nobody wants a snobby scooper,” she said. “When you walk into an ice cream store, our customer base are family. ... We just want to enhance that, and so that’s how our staff is trained, to be knowledgeable and friendly.”

Along those lines, Rori’s is currently in the process of a launching a kids menu that would feature not only smaller sizes, but also a selection of the most popular ice creams for children so that families don’t have to read out the entire menu when they bring their kids in to get treats, Trovato said.

Rori’s also has a daily kids happy hour from 3 to 4 p.m. “When the kid buys an ice cream, we give his parents one for free,” Trovato explained.

“That’s immensely popular in all of our stores,” she said. “Especially during the school season, right after school. We get bombarded.”

Business moves into former Doc Burnstein’s spot

Trovato said the new Rori’s shop will keep some of the beloved signatures of Doc Burnstein’s, a longtime Arroyo Grande institution that closed suddenly in February amid accusations of mismanagement.

Most notably, that means the trains are staying.

“When we launched this on Instagram, that was like my No. 1 question,” she joked, noting that the business has already hired a special “train guy” to come in and fix up the model trains that chug along rails suspended above customers’ heads.

Overall, Trovato said the response she has gotten from the community has been overwhelmingly positive, with dozens of folks stopping in each day as crews work on renovating the shop to ask questions and welcome Rori’s to the neighborhood.

“We are so excited,” she said. “It’s just such a great welcoming community.”