Punk Rock and Rolled Ice Cream — Fat Lenny’s

People can end up in Erie, PA, for various reasons, maybe its their new job, their family, or they just really want Chik-fil-a and fresh Krispy Kreme donuts. The owner of Fat Lenny’s, Scotty, was not from Erie, but from a few different places in the United States including San Diego, California, Austin, Texas, and Tulsa, Oklahoma before landing in Erie where his partner is from. Scotty opened Fat Lenny’s by himself last summer and has been developing it since then, and he also owns the store next door. He came up with his restaurant’s name from a lyric that is in one of the songs by his favorite band, Ween. Twenty years ago, he worked at an amusement park and realized that he just wants to have fun with whatever he is doing. When he came to Erie and saw the area of where he was going to be opening up his shops, he said he wanted to “Revitalize the area, try to help change the image of this area so families can come and enjoy their ice cream.” 

In Erie, the only place you will find rolled ice cream and bubble tea is at Fat Lenny’s which gives them less competition, but his restaurant continues to evolve. Scotty wants to start introducing hot dogs and sandwiches to the menu, and is experimenting with those now. To come up with his crazy flavors and combinations, Scotty said, “I just think of what would be yummy and taste good in ice cream.” As for the day-to-day, he runs errands starting at eight in the morning, and then comes to his shops and has been training his employee to do the work, so he can operate. 

In the future, he plans on “world domination,” or create more and more of his ice cream restaurants, and give jobs to people who want a fun place to work. Scotty keeps the customers coming in by hiring employees that want to really work there and that also want to help change the image of the area. He said that “Making sure the employees are taking care of the customers in a correct manner followed closely by consistency and the product” are also apart of keeping his customers returning.

When I asked Scotty what his best experience was so far at Fat Lenny’s, he knew his answer faster than anything. “Watching a baby eat ice cream fr the first time, the look on his face and how it lit up like a Christmas tree, it was beautiful and brilliant!” Scotty said. Overall, what gives him the greatest satisfaction is when people notice the change of the neighborhood and realize that his shop is a part of it, recognizing their work, and the smiling kids and parents. Scotty is more than just a businessman, he said “Nothing I do is for business, I want to revive the area.”

Fat Lenny's address is: 2408 Peach Street Erie, PA
Their hours are:
Saturday - Tuesday 12p.m. to 9 p.m.
Thursday - Friday 12 p.m. to 9 p.m.
To contact them their phone number is 814-969-9166