Introducing Sprinkles ice cream shop
Roseville’s Lexington Plaza Dairy Queen Renamed and Reimagined
Roseville’s historic Lexington Plaza Dairy Queen is no more. Rising in its place—in the same iconic building—is an independent ice cream shop with a new name and new owners. After months of waiting, Sprinkles is opening this weekend, serving up soft serve ice cream, flurries, snow cones, and slushies with sprinkles and toppings galore.
Roseville’s historic Dairy Queen closed-up shop in the fall of 2024 and never reopened. This spring, the vintage building went up for lease and local restaurateurs Timothy Hughes and Curtis Thompson leapt at the chance.
Hughes and Thompson rebooted Maverick's Real Roast Beef when they took it over from the original owners. But opening Sprinkles is a new kind of dream come true.
“This will be our first original concept together,” Hughes said. “This is all our own ideas. We’ve taken a lot of pride in it.”
The business partners have been friends since kindergarten. They grew up across the street from each other in the Lake Owasso neighborhood and graduated from high school together in Roseville. Now Hughes lives in Lino Lakes and Thompson in Saint Paul, but Roseville is still home.
“My grandfather built his house here after the war. I think he built it in 1946, so that’s a year before this [Dairy Queen] opened. So he definitely came here. My parents definitely came here. My mother came here when she was a kid. She’s from Roseville. So we have 3 generations. And my nieces and nephews come here, so that will be 4 generations. We want to keep that tradition going,” Hughes said.
Sprinkles offers vanilla, chocolate, and twist ice cream. Hughes is excited about their real soft serve ice cream—its 10% milkfat content meeting the legal definition of ice cream, unlike the “dairy product” served by Dairy Queen and McDonalds. You’ll also be able to enjoy vegan, fruit flavored soft serve, cold brew coffee, lemonade, and organic juices.
Since taking over management of the building on May 1 Hughes and Thompson have been pouring lots of love, sweat, and money into revitalizing the aging—and previously run down and dirty—ice cream shop building. The building has been fully cleaned and has new paint, tile, shelving, and finishes. They had to do a lot of plumbing work and update the HVAC, in addition to buying all new equipment.
“There’s been a lot of people coming and knocking on the door asking if we’re open,” Thompson said.
The original Dairy Queen neon-lettering has now been removed from the sign and carefully stored, in case a collector ever wants to buy it, Hughes says. The iconic ice cream cone will remain, alongside the new name Sprinkles emblazoned in a mid-Century font. Hughes did a lot of research on fonts and discovered one that came from a donut shop in 1945.
"I liked the story of that font and where it came from. It's a nice, vintage look," Hughes said.
The business has invested in high quality machinery that will deliver excellent products in a fast and efficient manner. New, sparkling white patio furniture with umbrellas stand ready to host neighbors on the patio and new planters help provide a cheerful barrier between the patio and busy Lexington Ave.
“This is a kid-friendly, family friendly environment. It’s going to be safe when people come here. There’s going to be proper service. It’s going to be nice. That’s what we want,” Hughes said.
He acknowledged the community’s frustration with the previous management and service in the last several years when it was still a Dairy Queen. He wants people to know that the same great service and environment they’ve come to expect at Maverick’s will be mirrored at Sprinkles too.
Sprinkles joins several great family-friendly retailers in the same strip mall, such as Bricks & Minifigs, The Café Meow, Neko Clawww, Namaste Brows & Boutique, and Poke House & Tea Bar. These newer stores join long-standing businesses like Bicycle Chain, the St. Paul Bagelry, and Key’s Café & Bakery. And don’t forget Mr. Zero’s and Music Go Round just up the block by Maverick’s.
This summer, Sprinkles will just be serving up cold treats. But over the winter, they plan to install a kitchen so that next year people can enjoy hot food too. The dream is for the restaurant to be open year-round, even in the winter for people to come and pick up a meal to go. They are considering pizza, burgers, or tacos. If there’s a type of food you’d love to see them offer, let them know! They are eager for the neighborhood’s input.
“I know the community will be happy with what we’ve brought in here. It’s not a chain. It’s an independent shop and those are rare and hard to come by these days. There’s a million Starbucks and Cold Stone Creameries. This is something different. They don’t have these in San Francisco or New York. This will be unique to Roseville,” Hughes said. “Hopefully the town will take pride and see the hard work we’ve done, and they’ll support us.”
Hughes and Thompson are training in their new employees this week and anticipate being ready to serve customers on Friday. A grand opening is planned for Monday, June 23.
Sprinkles is located at 1720 Lexington Ave. N in Roseville, MN.
Naomi Krueger
