Mister Softee opens storefront in Center Moriches
A rendering of what the Mister Softee sign will look like when it's up in Center Moriches. Credit: Sign Design; Antonio Guler
Summer may be over but Mister Softee is giving Long Islanders a reason to extend the season with the opening of the ice cream vendor's second storefront, in Center Moriches.
The first brick-and-mortar Mister Softee on Long Island opened in East Islip in March. The vendor took over the space that housed Ultimate Ice Cream & Ice at 252 Montauk Hwy as of Sept. 19, according to co-owner Antonio Guler, 26.
The interior of the store will "mimic" the ice cream truck, Guler said ahead of the opening, with the familiar Mister Softee blue as well as photos and other memorabilia, according to Guler.
The store offers 24 flavors of hard-scooped ice cream and four of the iconic soft serve. They also partnered with a Queens staple, Lemon Ice King of Corona, to offer eight Italian ice flavors.
It took co-owners Antonio and John Guler, 31, about three years to purchase the Montauk Highway space from the previous owner, Bernadette Kosinski. Kosinski didn't respond to a request for comment before publication. The sale was finalized Aug. 20, Antonio Guler said.
The siblings have a deeper connection than most to the ice cream industry, as their grandfather Giovanni DiGristina was a Mister Softee franchisee since 1968.
"We did it for my grandfather," John Guler said. "We’re going to keep his name alive forever."
The siblings took over DiGristina’s route in 2017 after he retired in 2016. They expanded from the Shirley/Mastic Beach area into Moriches in 2020.
"He’s very excited, very proud," Antonio Guler said. "He actually used to have an ice cream store back in 1995; it wasn’t a Mister Softee, it was a regular store, but when my grandmother passed away, they had closed the store, so I guess this is like his revival in a way."
Mister Softee, 252 Montauk Hwy., Center Moriches, mistersoftee.com. Open 11 a.m. to 10 p.m., Monday to Thursday, 11 a.m. to 11 p.m., Friday and Saturday, 11 a.m. to 9 p.m., Sunday.
Melissa Azofeifa is a restaurants reporter with Newsday's FeedMe team. Having grown up on Long Island, she loves talking about food and its impact on culture. A graduate of Stony Brook University, she joined Newsday in the fall of 2024.
