McConnell’s Fine Ice Creams is coming to downtown SLO

One of the Central Coast’s favorite ice cream shops plans to open a San Luis Obispo location — possibly by the end of November.

McConnell’s Fine Ice Creams — a Santa Barbara-based frozen treat purveyor — is hiring employees for a new scoop shop at 868 Monterey St., between Williams-Sonoma and Junk Girls boutique.

Meghan Schoneberger, McConnell’s marketing director, confirmed the news to The Tribune on Monday in a phone interview.

Schoneberger said no opening date has been set, but the San Luis Obispo shop will ideally be open by the end of the month.

McConnell’s opened in 1949 in Santa Barbara, which is home to two locations, according to its website. Additional scoop shops are located in downtown Los Angeles, Studio City, Los Feliz and Pacific Palisades.

The ice cream-maker already has two San Luis Obispo County connections. Mike Vierra, McConnell’s longtime production manager, is a Cal Poly graduate, and McConnell’s ice creams are made with R.R. Lochhead vanilla beans from Cook Flavoring Co. in Paso Robles.

McConnell’s joins a downtown area rich with frozen treats, including Doc Burnstein’s Ice Cream Lab, Batch, Nite Creamery, Roll’d and Yogurtland.

This story was originally published November 5, 2018 at 5:26 PM.