An ice cream shop that got its start in Ohio has officially made its Johnson County debut.
Handel’s Homemade Ice Cream celebrated its opening on Thursday, near the Oak Park Mall — with one year of free ice cream up for grabs for the shop’s first 100 customers.
Handel’s opened at 11885 W. 95th St.
- The ice cream shop took over a space on the southeast corner of 95th Street and Quivira Road, where Overland Park meets Lenexa.
- Freezing Moo, a shop serving rolled ice cream and other treats, previously occupied that space.
- Handel’s is open from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily.
Handel’s offers “handcrafted” ice cream in lots of flavors
The ice cream shop offers ice cream in 48 different flavors — from cotton candy and frosted animal cookie to pistachio and key lime pie.
Brendan Mauri, franchise owner of the new Overland Park shop, said one of his family’s first favorite flavors was “Monkey Business” (banana cake batter ice cream with caramel and brownie pieces).
All of the shop’s ice cream is made in house.
“That’s a key differentiator — we made nearly 100 batches of ice cream the last two days, just to get ready,” Mauri said. “We offer 48 flavors at all times, and we’ll rotate them, so that’s pretty much more (variety) than you’ll get just about anywhere else.”
This marks the first Handel’s shop in Johnson County
Handel’s was founded in 1945 in Youngstown, Ohio, by Alice Handel. The shop worked up a following at its sole Ohio location for four decades before the company began expanding across the country.
Today, the company has locations in several states. Mauri and his family became interested in opening a Handel’s shop of their own after trying its ice cream while living in Dallas, Texas, in 2019.
“We just thought it was the best ice cream we’d ever had,” he said. “We were hooked.”
The Mauris are Kansas City area natives themselves, and upon moving back to Overland Park, Mauri said they were eager to bring the ice cream they’d come to love back to their home turf.
Mauri said his family is looking forward to introducing Handel’s to Johnson County — both through the ice cream itself, and through community partnerships with local schools.
Since signage has gone up at the new shop’s window, Mauri said many curious people have stopped by while visiting the nearby mall or nearby restaurants. Though Handel’s is new to Johnson County, many people seem to know it from other states where it already has a strong following, like Ohio and California.
“It’s been fun to have people reaching out, either in person near the store or through social media,” Mauri said. “We’re just excited to bring a brand we love so much to Kansas, and to let others get to try it.”
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