Just in time for summer–a brand new ice cream and gelato shop opened up at Providence’s Fox Point neighborhood.

New owner, John Lanni, opened up Dolce Gelateria about two weeks ago at 270 Wickenden Street, and the local neighborhood couldn’t be more excited.

If you consider yourself to be an East Sider then you’d know how many restaurants are lacking in the dessert area, particularly in the summer and spring time when the concrete pavements are sweltering, and there aren’t any public pools in sight. Sure, you can dive into the muddy waters of India Point Park for some relief, but it’s a bit risky.

One of the greatest aspects of living on the East Side, particularly the Fox Point area, is actually being within walking distance to India Point Park. This waterfront park is most commonly used to host festivals and seasonal events throughout the year. At other times, East Siders roam the area to walk their dog, read a book, or play frisbee with their friends. And you know what their probably thinking: “Man, it would be nice for some ice-cream right about now.”

You may be thinking, “Oh, another ice cream shop.” Don’t get us wrong, there are many wonderful places in the area to buy tasty desserts. The Duck & Bunny, for example, is an amazing restaurant (a snuggery, in fact) where they specialize in creating delicious cupcakes, as well as special order cakes and pies. Then you have other local cafe’s like Cafe Zog and Coffee Exchange, both on Wickenden Street. Great coffee, but we don’t need more coffee, or more thrift shops, or antique shops. We need ice cream.

Interestingly enough, another business owner also got the memo. A new frozen yogurt place is setting up shop a few stores down from Dolce Gelateria.

I ask a young student on Wickenden Street what she thought of both new businesses opening up, and this is what she said: “I work on Wickenden so it’s nice to be able to go get some ice cream on my breaks, especially since there aren’t that many places like it around the neighborhood. There’s definitely a trend happening here, especially with frozen yogurts, as there aren’t that many around.”

Rivalry anyone?