Dublin Core
Title
Trowbridge's
Subject
Locally Owned Businesses; Foodways; Florence, AL; Lauderdale County, AL
Description
Trowbridge’s Ice Cream and Sandwich Shop (nee Bar), located at 316 North Court Street, is a truly a Florence, Alabama landmark. Opened in 1918, Trowbridge’s is the oldest business still operating in its original location in Florence. Still owned by the Trowbridge family (third generation, Paul’s grandson, Don), the shop seats fifty, and the menu features sandwiches, chili, ice cream, milkshakes, and Wednesdays are bean day.
An unassuming building and restaurant with large windows that face Court Street, the eight stools at the food counter allow customers to watch their sandwiches being assembled or their ice cream being dipped. Booths line the wall on the left and various artworks (photographs, newspaper clippings, and a few original pieces by local artists) are hung around the restaurant giving the customer an impromptu history of place; both Florence’s and Trowbridge’s. Locals of a certain age will recognize the waitresses of yesteryear in the oil painting on the back wall. Several small tables are scattered between the booths and the counter. The green vinyl padding on the stools and the chairs, alongside the 1950s style formica tables, give the place a completely unassuming retro feel.
According to the Official Travel Site of Alabama, in 1917 Paul Trowbridge, who was on his way to a dairy convention in North Carolina, stopped in Florence and liked the area so much that he returned to Texas, packed his family and moved to Florence. A year later, he opened the Trowbridge Creamery where he developed the recipe for orange pineapple ice cream. He added hot dogs and chili to the menu in the 1940s.
Trowbridge’s has long ceased making all ice cream by hand but the recipe for orange pineapple ice cream has become a Southern classic. It was named by Travel and Leisure magazine as one of “50 Reasons to Love the U.S.A. Now,” is included in the cookbook Alabama’s Historic Restaurants and Their Recipes (by Gay N. Martin, 2004), and is discussed and reviewed on websites as prosiac as Yelp, Trip Advisor, and Facebook; as Southern as Deep Fried Kudzu; and as commercial as Remax and Alabama Chanin’s Journal. Trowbridge’s, which has never been pretentious or had any aspirations to go more upscale, is a tradition for locals and a delight for visitors.
An unassuming building and restaurant with large windows that face Court Street, the eight stools at the food counter allow customers to watch their sandwiches being assembled or their ice cream being dipped. Booths line the wall on the left and various artworks (photographs, newspaper clippings, and a few original pieces by local artists) are hung around the restaurant giving the customer an impromptu history of place; both Florence’s and Trowbridge’s. Locals of a certain age will recognize the waitresses of yesteryear in the oil painting on the back wall. Several small tables are scattered between the booths and the counter. The green vinyl padding on the stools and the chairs, alongside the 1950s style formica tables, give the place a completely unassuming retro feel.
According to the Official Travel Site of Alabama, in 1917 Paul Trowbridge, who was on his way to a dairy convention in North Carolina, stopped in Florence and liked the area so much that he returned to Texas, packed his family and moved to Florence. A year later, he opened the Trowbridge Creamery where he developed the recipe for orange pineapple ice cream. He added hot dogs and chili to the menu in the 1940s.
Trowbridge’s has long ceased making all ice cream by hand but the recipe for orange pineapple ice cream has become a Southern classic. It was named by Travel and Leisure magazine as one of “50 Reasons to Love the U.S.A. Now,” is included in the cookbook Alabama’s Historic Restaurants and Their Recipes (by Gay N. Martin, 2004), and is discussed and reviewed on websites as prosiac as Yelp, Trip Advisor, and Facebook; as Southern as Deep Fried Kudzu; and as commercial as Remax and Alabama Chanin’s Journal. Trowbridge’s, which has never been pretentious or had any aspirations to go more upscale, is a tradition for locals and a delight for visitors.
Creator
Pam Kingsbury, University of North Alabama
Publisher
Alabama Resource Center Survey
Date
1918 to the Present
Contributor
Pam Kingsbury, University of North Alabama
Format
Photograph
Type
Still Image and Text