Sweet-toothed Gainesville residents have had frozen yogurt, ice cream and gelato to choose from. But a new restaurant will give them a fourth option to settle their cravings.
SweetBerries Eatery & Frozen Custard, a family-owned restaurant that specializes in frozen custards and homemade foods, will have its grand opening Friday.
The restaurant, 505 NW 13th St., is owned and managed by sisters Jane Osmond and Janice Easton.
Before Osmond followed her passion for food, she was a respiratory therapist for about 15 years.
She left her job to attend culinary school.
SweetBerries was established 15 years ago by Osmond and Easton’s family. The Gainesville location will be the third restaurant in the state.
The restaurant replaces Books Inc. and Book Lover’s Cafe. The owners retired in January 2012, according to Alligator archives.
Although Osmond stressed the family aspect of SweetBerries, she said the real story is the restaurant’s food, which is homemade and comes from years of family recipes.
“We’re not a chain,” she said. ”We pride ourselves on quality, and we feel like we have a really good product.”
SweetBerries offers sandwiches, salads and soups along with frozen custards. One of the restaurant’s signature desserts is its concretes, which are frozen custards blended with fruits, nuts and other toppings.
Osmond said she looks forward to doing business with UF students because her restaurant is close to campus.
However, Osmond said she faces the challenge of having ingredients delivered to Gainesville from major food distribution companies in Orlando and Tampa.
She added that running the restaurant will be a new experience for her and Easton.
“The biggest challenge is getting over our learning curve,” Osmond said.
As for people who may be unsure about the new restaurant, Osmond said once they give it a try, they will be convinced.
“If they’ve never had frozen custard, they’re going to be wowed — they will have a hard time going back to regular old ice cream,” she said.
