Mason’s Creamery is turning its Ohio City ice cream stand into a dog-days-of-summer hangout on September 5, teaming up with FrankieLynn Hot Dogs and Cult Craft Liquids for a Franks & Floats event that runs from 4 to 7 p.m. at 4401 Bridge Avenue. The Labor Day weekend gathering will pair hot dogs with root beer floats, and organizers are selling commemorative stickers with proceeds going straight to City Dogs Cleveland.
As reported by Cleveland.com, Mason’s Creamery is providing the ice cream while Cult Craft Liquids supplies the soda for the floats, with root beer and cream soda flavors on offer. FrankieLynn Hot Dogs, meanwhile, will handle the hot dog side of the menu. The event brings together three independent Cleveland businesses that have each built loyal followings in their own corners of the city.
A Cart on the Cusp of a Storefront
FrankieLynn started as a mobile hot dog cart in 2022, founded by husband-and-wife duo Rachel Ventura and Lloyd Foust, according to the same Cleveland.com report. The cart has become something of a cult favorite, crafting its menu with 100% all-beef wieners from Cleveland’s J & J Czuchraj Meats, paired with toppings from local producers like Cleveland Kitchen sauerkraut and POP Mustard, per Cleveland Scene. The cart even expanded its local supplier network in July by rolling out custom challah buns from Cleveland’s Stone Oven Wholesale Bakery for its quarter-pound hot dogs, according to the business’s Facebook page.
Ventura and Foust are now working to open a brick-and-mortar restaurant in Cleveland’s Old Brooklyn neighborhood, a transition Cleveland Scene detailed back in May when it reported plans for a permanent storefront at 2023 Broadview Road. Hoodline previously covered the cart’s big move into that neighborhood, where the new location is expected to feature counter service alongside a retail market showcasing other local food makers. FrankieLynn also turned up more recently in Hoodline’s coverage of the Witch Doctor Cocktail Lounge, cited as part of the broader commercial revitalization along Old Brooklyn’s Broadview Road corridor.
A Soda Brand Built Around Giving Back
Cult Craft Liquids describes itself as a family-owned, zero-proof craft soda brand from Cleveland, and it has picked up national recognition to match its local following. The company earned the Gold Medal for Root Beer at the 2026 U.S. Open Beer Championship, one of the nation’s largest beverage competitions, according to Forest City Food Collective. Cult Craft was founded in 2025 by Viv and Eric Kaizer following a cross-country trip, and the brand actively supports Road to Hope, a local sober-living community in Northeast Ohio.
Beyond the Franks & Floats event, Cult Craft’s sodas can be found around town at Ohio City Provisions, Lake Road Market in Rocky River, and The Wine Spot in Cleveland Heights, per Cleveland.com’s reporting. The brand’s emphasis on non-alcoholic craft alternatives has made it a natural fit for community gatherings like this one, where the root beer serves as the backbone of the event’s signature float offering.
A Storied Scoop Shop as the Backdrop
The host venue itself carries decades of neighborhood history. Mason’s Creamery operates out of a restored cinderblock ice cream stand that served soft-serve under names like Dari Delite for roughly 60 years before owners Jesse Mason and Helen Qin opened the current shop in October 2014, according to FreshWater Cleveland. Mason and Qin restored the boarded-up building before launching what has since become one of the city’s most recognized dessert destinations, a status Hoodline has noted in past roundups of top Cleveland sweet spots and Detroit Shoreway favorites.
The shop has built a reputation for culinary surprises beyond its ice cream case. Mason’s converts its Ohio City space into a dedicated seasonal ramen shop each winter, a tradition that began after initial 2014 pop-up experiments sold out within minutes, according to Ohio Magazine. The shop’s inventive menu, including items like Korean corn dogs and raclette ramen, even earned a visit from Guy Fieri for a segment on Food Network’s Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives.
Stickers That Support the City Kennel
The charitable hook of the September 5 event ties directly into Cleveland’s municipal animal shelter system. Proceeds from Franks & Floats sticker sales will be donated to City Dogs Cleveland, the official adoption and volunteer initiative launched in 2014 for the Cleveland Division of Animal Care and Control to increase shelter adoption rates. Its nonprofit counterpart, Friends of CITY DOGS Cleveland, funds essential medical care, spay and neuter procedures, enrichment items and behavior training for dogs at the city kennel.
The timing lines up with ongoing capacity concerns at the shelter. Hoodline reported in July that the city kennel was packed to the gills, with the shelter in need of more adopters and fosters. Franks & Floats joins a string of recent local fundraisers supporting the cause, including Riverfest at Collision Bend Brewing, and follows in the spirit of past community gatherings like the Cleveland Fire Department’s ice cream social that featured adoptable dogs from City Dogs Cleveland.
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