Michael Manfredi only had time for dark chocolate.
As the owner of Sweet Dreams of Gainesville, he originally only had time to make the single chocolate flavor of ice cream, which was easily the most popular flavor among 11 others.
But, to try something different, he coordinated a day when his shop sold only chocolate ice cream.
"There is no vanilla going out that door on Chocolate Night," Manfredi said. "Nothing but bowls of chocolate ice cream."
That first Chocolate Night in Spring 2005, a night when Manfredi and his staff sold 12 varieties of chocolate ice cream, became a tradition each Fall and Spring semester, and Sunday the shop will host its 10th annual Fall Chocolate Night.
Manfredi said Gainesville is what makes the event successful.
"This is a town that appreciates really interesting, good stuff," he said.
This year’s event will last from 1 p.m. to 10 p.m. and include 36 flavors of chocolate ice cream.
Customers can only purchase mini scoops of ice cream Sunday, with options ranging from two scoops to 30 scoops.
The flavors will not be released until the night before the event on the Sweet Dreams Facebook page, but Manfredi said some of the most popular flavors in the past have been chocolate bacon, chocolate baklava and chocolate whiskey.
"A lot of it is what I want to eat," he said. "It’s all imagination."
Manfredi, who makes all the ice cream himself, first started Sweet Dreams after he wanted to open his own ice cream shop and noticed Gainesville did not have a homemade ice cream store. Now, the Chocolate Night serves as a way for Manfredi to remind locals Sweet Dreams is "Gainesville’s best ice cream shop."
"No other ice cream shop can compete with us," he said. "This is our way of flexing our ice cream muscles."
The event is specifically held the Sunday after Homecoming because, Manfredi said, it’s the best time.
He expects about 1,000 people to attend, an average attendance for the Chocolate Night event.
Phyllis Chovoor, 19, plans on attending despite her lactose intolerance. The UF biochemestry sophomore previously attended a National Ice Cream Day event at Sweet Dreams during the summer.
"I want to see what they’re going to do with all the chocolate flavors," she said. "I’m going with an open mind."
