The Abridged version:
- Vic’s Ice Cream has been closed for more than a year. It will reopen Saturday morning with new owners.
- Vic Zito and Ash Rutledge founded the Land Park ice cream parlor in 1947.
- Vic’s is joined by Brew Bird, an adjoined cafe and pottery studio.
Vic’s Ice Cream, the charming dessert destination home to decades of Land Park family memories, will reopen Saturday morning. Half of it looks the same; the other half represents something new.
The ice cream parlor at Riverside Boulevard and Eighth Avenue still has the black-and-white checkered floor, the old-timey counter and the same menu — minus a few items for now. But look closer, and you’ll see new stools, tabletops, paint, freezers and other background details fixed up during Vic’s 13-month shutdown.
New owners Carlo and Samantha Grifone splashed their creativity in the adjoined cafe, now called Brew Bird Coffee & Creative. Modern, minimalist decor leads customers to Camellia Coffee Roasters brews and Bella Bru pastries, plus a paint-your-own-pottery component to be fired in an on-site kiln.
A new class of neighborhood kids will make the jump from Vic’s loyalists to employees Saturday morning. General Manager Dave Gilson was in their shoes when he began scooping ice cream in 2001. Now, he’s the parlor’s longest-tenured employee, and the bridge from old Vic’s to new.
“Obviously the equipment, visually, it’s all new and updated,” said Gilson, who makes Vic’s ice cream. “But really, the feel is the same, and that was really important to me.”
Ash Rutledge and Vic Zito founded Vic’s Ice Cream in 1947 and grew it into one of Sacramento’s most beloved culinary institutions, a place where multiple generations of Land Park residents gathered for ice cream, phosphates and tastes of nostalgia at the counter. Zito died in 1966, but Rutledge continued working at Vic’s into the 21st century, even after passing it to his son Craig.
Vic’s future became uncertain after Craig’s death in March 2024. In stepped the Grifones, a Land Park family who spent many summer evenings inside Vic’s walls. They closed the business that November to begin the remodel.
Vic’s and Brew Bird will both open Saturday with a shared beer-and-wine license and entryway, though both have separate outside entrances as well. Samantha Grifone had been looking for a space to launch a paint-your-own pottery business, she said; Brew Bird’s options range from $35 mugs to $45 planters, with materials and studio time included.
Gilson will still make ice cream like the best-selling mint chip with 14% butterfat, a smidge less than some competitors. Turkey will still be carved up and roasted in-house for sandwiches, which some customers will dip in Vic’s red sauce, a mixture of ketchup, mustards and Worcestershire sauce.
It’s the same taste, entering a new era.
“It’s the experience when you walk through the door, just what it brings you back to,” Gilson said. “A lot of your happiest memories were growing up coming here, whether it’s (after) a sporting event or a school play or musical performance. Families just come together (at Vic’s), and generations are going to keep doing that.”
Vic’s Ice Cream
Address: 3199 Riverside Blvd., Sacramento
Phone: 916-448-0892
Hours: 11 a.m.-8 p.m. daily
Website: vicsicecream.com
Vegetarian/vegan options: Mango and watermelon Italian ices are dairy-free. Savory items include egg salad sandwiches, veggie burgers and salads.
Drinks: Beer, wine and Coca-Cola products.
Reservations: None
Benjy Egel is the senior food editor at Abridged. Born and raised in the Sacramento region, he has covered its local restaurants and bars since 2018. He also writes and edits Abridged’s weekly food and drink newsletter, City of Treats.