KEY WEST, Fla. – Wicked Lick is not your typical one-stop ice cream shop; it’s an experience for people. With music playing and the outer and inner appearance having a fun look, it’s the atmosphere that allows you to build memories.
The owner, John Smotryski, had been in the construction business for 35 years. After experiencing burnout, he was ready for his next adventure. This is when his wife, Amanda, an immigration lawyer whose clients reside in Key West, suggested the move south.
Since John enjoys fishing, he had hopes of opening a Bait and Tackle Shop when they moved to Key West, but it fell through. He instead found a storefront for lease that had been a soft-serve ice cream shop for 16 years.
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With no prior knowledge of an ice cream business, John still took on this opportunity, after he asked his sons for advice who previously worked in Nitrogen Ice Cream stores in Miami.
“I think it’s lack of knowledge in the ice cream business that enables us to be more creative, and to make things actually taste better because we’re not adding stabilizers to things,” said John.
When it comes to the production of flavors, which are about 10-12, Wicked Lick is all about keeping it real and keeping it fresh.
“Everything is real cream, and cane sugar. For blueberries, it’s real blueberries and we put a lot of them in there in order to make the flavor really good.”
For people with dietary restrictions, Wicked Lick also supplies sugar-free ice cream. Since the sugar-free ice cream is made with monk fruit sweetener, it’s not made often, but if customers ask, John delivers.
“We’ve had visitors who had been to the store before email me and ask me if I could make them sugar-free while they’re visiting for the week. So I put it on my calendar.”
So the next time you’re traveling down to Key West, make sure you take a stop at Wicked Lick, because as the slogan says, “If you don’t lick it. Someone else will.”
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