Bellalicious ice cream shops in Oakhurst, Monmouth Beach, Ocean Grove

Seven-minute read

Susan Bloom
| Special to the Asbury Park Press

Kelen and Bella Alves opened Bellalicious, a popular ice cream shop at the Jersey Shore.
Bellalicious has expanded to three locations: Oakhurst, Monmouth Beach and Ocean Grove.
The shops offer a variety of classic and unique ice cream flavors, including vegan options.

As a mom to three daughters who love ice cream, Kelen Alves always savored family trips to their local ice cream shop, especially in the summer.

And she and her daughter Bella are helping to keep that iconic experience alive for other families throughout the Jersey Shore with their launch of Bellalicious, a popular ice cream shop they started in 2020 and which has grown to include locations in the Oakhurst section of Ocean Township, Monmouth Beach and Ocean Grove.

A native of Brazil, “I’ve lived in New Jersey for almost 30 years and my husband and I have been running a flooring and construction company, MJA Wood Floors, in the Wanamassa section of Ocean Township since 2008,” said Kelen, 49, an Ocean Township resident.

But ice cream has always held a special place in her heart.

“Summertime brings to mind ice cream, and every summer I used to take my daughters for ice cream almost every night,” Kelen recalled.

“When my oldest daughter Bella was in high school, she worked at a long-standing ice cream shop in Oakhurst called Sweet Delights and she loved the job and got to know a lot about the business. As someone who likes to build businesses, I told Bella to tell the shop owner that if she ever wanted to sell her business, we’d be interested in buying it.”

“Sure enough, a year later, the owner decided to retire and sold the business to us in late 2020,” Kelen said.

“I saw it as a great career opportunity for Bella, who graduated from Monmouth University in West Long Branch with a business degree, as well as for my two other daughters, Victoria, 21, and Geovana, 18,” Kelen said.

As someone who’d loved ice cream ever since she was little, Bella was more than willing to partake in the new venture.

“Ice cream is my favorite form of sweet treat and I always wanted to run my own business,” said Bella, 25, an Ocean Township resident.

As for the shop’s new branding, “I came up with the name Bellalicious,” Bella said. “I wanted to incorporate my name somehow, and ice cream is delicious, so I merged my name with the word ‘delicious’ for a catchy new theme.”

Within that first location, which had long been part of the fabric of the Oakhurst and nearby Deal, Elberon and Long Branch communities, the Alveses continue to maintain the shop’s ‘certified kosher’ status.

“But we changed the interior colors, brought in new machines and equipment, and upgraded the look and feel of the space to create a brighter and more inviting environment,” Bella said of the cozy 900-square-foot shop, which features pink and blue décor, two small tables inside and additional seating outdoors.

Growing the brand

Following the success of their first shop, the mother-daughter duo opened a second location in Monmouth Beach in spring 2024.

“We always wanted to expand because ice cream is so popular at the Shore,” said Kelen, who researched different plazas and assessed their foot traffic to determine where an ice cream shop could work.

“We saw a lot of potential in Monmouth Beach and ended up opening our second location there in a great 1,600-square-foot space that seats 20 people inside,” she said.

This April, the Alveses opened their third location in a 1,000-square-foot former real estate office in Ocean Grove.

“We’ve loved going to Ocean Grove ever since my kids were little and it’s a very special place in the summer,” Kelen explained. “Last fall, I saw a great space for lease on Main Avenue and I knew that we could successfully transform it into an ice cream shop.”

24 flavors and more

The Alveses noted that each of their shops caters to its local client base and is a bit different. “For example, our Monmouth Beach location carries the most flavors because it’s the biggest, Oakhurst and Monmouth Beach additionally carry Italian ices, and Ocean Grove offers vegan options,” Bella said. But every Bellalicious location offers up to 24 flavors plus soft-serve ice cream.

Among their biggest sellers, “our cotton candy ice cream is unique and reminds people of their childhood; kids especially love it,” Bella said. “We also sell a lot of ‘Monster Cookie,’ which features vanilla ice cream mixed with peanut butter, cookie crunch, chocolate chips and M&Ms, as well as classic ice cream flavors like cookies and cream, cookie dough, black raspberry, vanilla, chocolate and strawberry, and a soft-serve twist.

“Another popular item is our Bella Blend, which features soft-serve ice cream blended with the customer’s choice of any of our 20 different toppings, including Oreo crumbles, sprinkles, M&Ms, Kit Kat, Heath Bar or Butterfinger pieces, carob chips, peanuts, toasted coconut and more,” she continued.

According to Bella, a small cup or cone (containing one generous scoop of ice cream) sells for $4.95, while a medium cup or cone (containing two scoops) is $5.95 and a large cup or cone (containing three scoops) is $6.95, with an extra adder for large or dipped waffle cones. “Bella Blends are $7.50 for 12 ounces,” she said, “and we also offer popular new fruit parfaits.”

Among trends in the ice cream world, Kelen said that coffee-flavored ice cream is more popular than ever. “Since coffee shops have gotten so big in the last few years, we developed a delicious iced caramel cold brew ice cream flavor, which young people especially love,” she said.

At the same time, “people are increasingly health-conscious and like our sugar-free versions, vegan options featuring coconut milk, and banana and other fruity ice cream flavors.”

Regardless of what’s trending, “our customers say they feel great when they eat our ice cream thanks to the high quality of our ingredients,” Kelen said. “We use 2% milk in our recipe so that it’s less fatty and are vigilant about cleaning and maintaining our machines and running spotlessly clean shops that perform to the highest standards and deliver the best product.”

While rising food costs and the seasonality of their business can be challenging — “we’re slower in the winter, but the long lines can get overwhelming for our staff when it’s busy in the summer,” Kelen said — she said that Bellalicious isn’t threatened by the Shore’s many other ice cream shops.

“It’s definitely a competitive market, but we don’t see it that way,” Kelen said. “We all offer different flavors and there are plenty of customers at the Jersey Shore for all players. We support the other shops and focus on doing the best we can in our own business.”

Employing more than a dozen staffers across their three locations during the high season, “my mom and I often travel between stores to oversee things, and on other days we help pitch in alongside our employees,” Bella said. “My two sisters work at all of our locations as well and serve as our second pair of eyes helping to ensure that everything is running smoothly.”

Creating happy moments

Looking ahead, the Alveses will continue to introduce fresh new flavors — and possibly shops — to their line.

“We’re adding 12-ounce fresh fruit cups featuring items like mixed berries that you can then add ice cream or a topping to,” Kelen said. “We also hope to open additional locations so that we can extend this special experience and the joys of ice cream to even more people in the community.”

“I have so many beautiful memories of going to ice cream places with my kids,” Kelen said, “and it’s great to see the connections ice cream helps make among people of all ages in the community, whether it’s families coming out after dinner, couples out for a date night or friends catching up.”

“We enjoy building relationships with customers and treating them like family,” Bella added. “We have many regulars who come in every day, and we love getting to know their names, faces and favorite flavors. Our customers truly become friends.”

“We hope that our Bellalicious shops continue to be fun, friendly places where people can come with their families, hang out and have a great time with our staff members and each other,” Bella said.

“Ultimately, it’s wonderful to be able to be part of the happy moments ice cream creates,” Kelen agreed.