NATIONAL CITY (CBS 8) - On May 14, 1948, Elmer Niederfrank and his brother Ed opened an ice cream shop on A Avenue in National City. Today, exactly 64 years later, nothing much has changed.
"The only thing I have to ensure my customers is that I haven't fixed a thing," Patti Finnegan said.
For the past 18 years, Patti Finnegan and her partner have stayed true to tradition.
"There's not an artificial ingredient in any of these ice creams," Patti said.
They handcraft their fresh frozen concoctions right on the premises.
"Every fruit you see is generally hand-cut and pureed right here," Patti said.
Old Elmer might recognize all of the flavors now offered at Niederfrank's. They now offer 48 variations on a creamery theme.
"I do all kinds of chocolate. This is our rocky road. We don't use marshmallows because they have chemicals. We go with white chocolate and almonds. Then we do a Mexican-style chocolate. We do a double-Dutch chocolate. I do German chocolate," Patti said.
And there's no way you get a fresher lemon sorbet.
"I picked these lemons about two weeks ago," Patti said.
And even though a half-dozen scoop shops around San Diego serve Niederfrank's, Patti has never thought of moving the original shop out of National City to a fancier ZIP code.
"The city has been good to us," Patti said.
So, 64 years later, Niederfrank's ice cream remains much the same as Elmer left it, savored in flavors and frozen in time.
