A food truck that started slinging scoops around Knoxville has finally put down roots in Fountain City. Irvey's Ice Cream opened its first standalone storefront at 3000 Tazewell Pike on October 9, following a three-day grand-opening celebration that kicked off Friday afternoon despite the threat of rain.
The new shop is the brainchild of founder and CEO Trent Sanders, who built the business from a single food truck into a presence at Kern's Food Hall in South Knoxville before opening this second storefront, according to The Knoxville Focus. The opening weekend featured a ribbon-cutting, bubbles, lawn games and chalk art in the parking lot, and the celebration continued through the weekend even as inclement weather loomed. Sanders said rain would not ruin the festivities, since activities could simply move indoors, and the shop has indoor space along with umbrella service to help customers get from their cars without getting soaked, per the same report.
Beyond the Fountain City storefront, Irvey's still operates at Kern's Food Hall, where Knox News has reported the ice cream is made daily on-site. The Knoxville Focus reports the company now runs three food trucks and a mobile ice cream van, though a separate account from Yahoo described the fleet as two food trucks. Those mobile units have reportedly traveled as far south as Georgia, as far north as Johnson City, and as far west as Cookeville, with a stop in Nashville planned for Halloween, per Sanders.
A Flavor Lineup Built Around Variety
Count is the name of the game at the new shop. The Knoxville Focus reports Irvey's offers 32 total ice cream flavors, split between 18 traditional options, 10 non-dairy flavors and four limited selections — one of which is a pickle-flavored scoop. Sanders pointed out that 32 flavors is one more than Baskin-Robbins' famous tally, and that the shop's 10 non-dairy options outpace the two or three typically found elsewhere, according to the same report.
Knoxtntoday.com, in its own coverage of the opening, put the Fountain City flavor count at 32 as well, including 10 dairy-free selections — matching the dairy-free figure cited by The Knoxville Focus, though a 2024 Knox News report on the Kern's Food Hall location had put the dairy-free count at 12. Knoxtntoday.com also detailed the weekend's schedule: a 3 p.m. ribbon-cutting Friday with bubbles and lawn games, chalk art Saturday, and music and children's entertainment Sunday, with announced hours of 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday and 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday.
Homemade Ingredients, No Shortcuts
Sanders has emphasized that everything served at Irvey's is made in-house using cream, milk and cane sugar, with no corn syrup or high-fructose corn syrup, according to The Knoxville Focus. He described the resulting product as clean and heavy. The Fountain City menu also includes four-scoop flights, 10-scoop share-a-bowls, shakes and floats, per The Knoxville Focus's earlier preview, and customers can buy tubs in one-gallon and two-and-a-half-gallon sizes to take home.
During the grand-opening run, customers who left a Google review and showed it to staff could enter a drawing for a $500 gift card or Irvey's merchandise, the earlier Focus preview noted. Looking ahead, Sanders said he hopes to use the Fountain City location for block parties and community forums, according to The Knoxville Focus.
Irvey's arrival adds another name to a Knoxville ice cream scene that a Knox News summer roundup counted at 13 shops, alongside newer additions like Cruze Farm's downtown Gay Street spot and Crispy Cones' planned move to Covenant Health Park. On Instagram, the brand's account describes itself simply as serving extra creamy gourmet ice cream handmade in its Kern's Food Hall shop — a description that, as of this month, now applies to a second Knoxville address as well.
