Batch Microcreamery, a locally owned and operated ice cream shop known for its signature “Ice Cream Nachos” is set to open at Saucon Valley’s Promenade Shops within the first few months of 2023, pending construction delays and the sourcing of necessary equipment, according to co-owner Rick Pongracz.
When it does open, however, this Batch Microcreamery outpost will enable Pongracz and co-owner Manny Rodriguez to do more than ever before.
“We’re going to offer more variety than what we currently do at the Trolley Barn Public Market in Quakertown,” Pongracz tells What Now Philadelphia. “We’re going to have 32 flavors of handcrafted ice cream, everything will be made on-site at the Promenade. We’re going to have cakes, pies, and pints to go as well. Just a lot more variety because it’s our own store, rather than in a public market.”
Inspired by the wave of microbreweries that have swept the country over the past decade or so, Pongracz and Rodriguez regularly rotate their flavors, in the same way, a brewery will rotate its beers.
In a 2021 interview with What Now Philadelphia, Pongracz explained, “Once a flavor is finished, just like when a beer is tapped, we won’t have it. Once one is done, we’ll pull up a new flavor.”
Similarly, as its name implies, Batch Microcreamery makes its products in small batches using locally-sourced ingredients, a testament to the company’s ethos of “small businesses helping small businesses.”
The result is an impressive array of traditional ice cream favorites as well as more innovative creations such as balsamic honey with fig and apple cinnamon streusel. The duo’s creativity really shines, however, with their Ice Cream Nachos – a bed of waffle chips with three scoops of ice cream and choice of three toppings. The menu is rounded out with decadent sundaes, an ice cream flight – cue the microbrewery inspiration – ice cream sandwiches, and milkshakes that come in both “hard” (i.e., spiked with alcohol) and regular.
Batch Microcreamery currently operates the Quakertown location, as well as a seasonal outpost at Shepherd Hills Golf Club in Wescosville. Its Allentown location unfortunately closed this past summer, but the upcoming Saucon scoop shop will mark a sort of homecoming for Pongracz and Rodriguez.
“Having grown up just 20 minutes away from the Promenade Shops at Saucon Valley, we couldn’t be more excited to provide our friends and neighbors in the Center Valley area with our distinctive brand of ice cream and the fun-filled experience they will have in our store,” Pongracz said in a statement. “We selected the Promenade Shops at Saucon Valley for our newest location because of the center’s upbeat atmosphere and exciting events and activities that include everything from holiday tree lightings to wine and craft beer pop-ups.”
