Ralph's Famous Italian Ices opens in Dix Hills

Ralph’s Famous Italian Ices is helping Long Island stay cool for the summer with the opening of a new Dix Hills outpost.

Owned by Nanci Lotvin, the popular Italian ice vendor reopened across the street from their previous location last month. "There’s not one thing in the store that’s not brand new," Lotvin said. "I wanted a walk-in store that was bright and happy."

The new vibrant and dynamic space includes a popcorn cart and a candy wall with sweet treats such as gummy worms, gummy bears, nonpareils and Swedish candy.

The walls are decorated with swirls and images of colored ice creams and fruits with happy faces.

Flavors of water ice include bubble gum, strawberry margarita, lemon, cherry cola and Caribbean splash. Sugar-free flavors include Java chip, cappuccino, and vanilla chip. Hard ice cream flavors include black cherry vanilla, Mississippi mud and vanilla graham cracker. There are 12 signature sundaes. Prices for water or crème ice include the kiddie ($4.50), the small ($5.50), medium ($6) and large ($6.50), or a full tub for ($80). Ice cream prices are kiddie ($4.75), small ($6), medium ($6.50) and large ($6.75).

Before working with Ralph's, Lotvin previously worked in finance. Her journey with Ralphs started in Greenport in 2014. After her first successful season on the North Fork, she decided to also open Ralph’s in Montauk with a business partner in 2015.

After her second year, she sold Montauk to her business partner and continued to successfully run Greenport for six years. In 2020, she sold Greenport and retired from the finance industry and spent that time with her family. Shortly after, she and a business partner started ThatSweetBox, an online ice cream and candy business which specialized in ornate ice cream sundae boxes that shipped nationwide. The company was acquired by an eCommerce gift basket company after one year, with Lotvin and her partner staying on as COO and VP of corporate sales respectively. The company was later acquired by a separate out-of-state eCommerce GiftBasket company and she decided not to stay on.

In 2022, she purchased the previous Dix Hills Ralph’s storefront and did a complete renovation, she said.

"After three years and thousands of dollars in renovations, the landlord wanted to sell the property and would not extend a lease other than month to month," she said. "We had a tentative agreement to purchase property, but he reneged on that saying he could get more money for the property than what he agreed on with me."

She found the latest property inside the Dix Hills Commons Shopping Center and worked on renovating the space. Lotvin said that the store will soon offer curbside pick up.

Ralph’s Famous Italian Ices and Ice Cream, 1740 E. Jericho Turnpike, Huntington, (631) 493-4444, ralphsices.com. Open 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday to Thursday, 11 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. Friday to Sunday.