A Pittsburgh Milkshake Legend Just Opened Its First Bergen County Shop in Ridgewood
A Pittsburgh Milkshake Legend Just Opened Its First Bergen County Shop in Ridgewood
Ridgewood Avenue just got a lot sweeter, and it only took 112 years to get here.
MilkShake Factory, the Pittsburgh dessert shop founded in 1914 as a soda fountain and chocolate shop, opens today, Saturday, October 10, at 63 East Ridgewood Avenue in downtown Ridgewood. This is the first MilkShake Factory in Bergen County, and only the fourth in New Jersey, following Jersey City, Florham Park, and Somerville last October. The brand has spread to 17 states without losing its Pittsburgh accent: handspun milkshakes made with house made ice cream, crafted fresh in store daily using the Edwards family’s recipe, plus small batch chocolates from generational chocolatiers.
The Ridgewood shop lands in the heart of the village’s downtown, which is exactly where this brand wants to live. East Ridgewood Avenue is one of Bergen County’s great walkable strips, families, students, neighbors, and a steady post dinner stroll crowd. A handcrafted shake and chocolate shop drops straight into that routine, the way an ice cream parlor used to anchor every town center in America.
The owners here are a real local story. Penn and Tara Miller-Jones are franchisees whose connection to the brand started when their son attended the University of Pittsburgh. Visiting him meant regular stops at the Forbes Avenue shop, and they became fans of the concept. Later, when friends and former colleagues became MilkShake Factory franchisees themselves, the couple started exploring bringing one home. Penn says they have loved the concept for years and are excited to make it part of Ridgewood. Tara points to the downtown itself. It has such great energy and really brings people together, families, students, and neighbors always walking around, shopping, dining, and spending time downtown. They wanted a piece of that.
If you have never had one, the menu is built to be explored. Shakes like Chocolate Dipped Strawberry and Campfire S’mores, handcrafted sundaes, molten chocolate cups, and house made chocolate goodies round out the lineup. The molten cups alone have a following. This is a dessert destination, not an add on counter, and every shake starts with ice cream made fresh that day.
Today is the day to go if you like a deal. The grand opening party runs Saturday, October 10 from noon to 4 PM. There is a buy one, get one free offer on shakes, sundaes, and molten cups. The first 100 guests get a free MilkShake Factory T-shirt. The very first guest in line takes home a gift basket, and there is a DJ and giveaways running through the afternoon. Ridgewood knows how to show up for an opening, and a BOGO shake line on East Ridgewood Avenue is going to be a scene.
Practical stuff. Get there before noon if you want the free shirt, and expect the BOGO line to build fast. Downtown Ridgewood parking fills on a normal Saturday, let alone a grand opening Saturday with a DJ. Park once, walk the avenue, eat lunch somewhere local, and finish at 63 East Ridgewood Ave, which is the correct order of operations anyway.
New Jersey has no shortage of ice cream, and Bergen County has no shortage of dessert options. What it does not have, until today, is a shop with a century of chocolate and shake craft behind it sitting on its best main street. A brand founded in Pittsburgh in 1914 just planted its flag in Ridgewood, and the first hundred people through the door today get the shirt to prove it.
MilkShake Factory Ridgewood is open now at 63 E. Ridgewood Ave, Ridgewood, NJ 07450.
KEEP READING: More New Jersey food news on KezusGuides.