Seaside Creamery: Long Beach's New Custard Obsession

By John Grossi

“The secret is the custard. That’s why everyone loves it so much,” says Ismael Bermudez, owner of Seaside Creamery, Long Beach’s newest ice cream… oops, I mean frozen custard… shop on Palo Verde and Atherton. “Custard is so popular on the East Coast but when new customers taste our flavors here in Long Beach, they still can’t believe it’s so creamy and dense.”

Technically custard is ice cream, so it can be called either, but adding a certain percentage of egg yolk during the creation process makes Seaside’s product officially a custard and officially delicious!

Owners Ismael and Esmeralda with their son

Starting A Family Business

In 2022, Ismael’s wife Esmerelda, a chemical engineer, was attending UC Irvine enroute to an MBA degree. For one of her assignments, she had to create a hypothetical business from the ground up. Ismael encouraged her to use the “custard idea” they had talked about a few times before. Ismael was working for King’s Seafood Company at the time, overseeing their regional Water Grill restaurants. With that background, he was able to help her price out all the equipment, etc. through his restaurant-supply connections.

In truth, opening a frozen custard shop was more of a personal dream for the couple than a merely hypothetical project such as those Esmerelda’s classmates were submitting. Ismael bought a small ice cream making machine and began tinkering with ingredients at home, with his wife’s classmates acting as willing flavor samplers. Soon the couple not only had the “hypothetical business plan” but some absolutely delectable recipes.

When Esmeralda became pregnant in 2023, they decided it was time to take the entrepreneurial leap for their family. Ismael’s job had him traveling more than the young dad wanted. Having worked in the restaurant industry since he was 16, with a well-rounded knowledge of the food service business, he was finally ready to venture on his own.  Seaside Creamery was born!

With 16 rotating flavors to choose from served in a cone, bowl, or to-go pint, you’re sure to find something you love this summer. Top sellers include the Mallow Cookies and Cream; Bumbleberrry Cheesecake; and the Instigator, a coffee-flavored collab with local coffee shop CoffeeDrunk.

The store is open Monday-Thursday 2pm-9pm, Friday 2pm-10pm, and Saturday-Sunday 1pm-10pm. And is located at 1785 Palo Verde, Suite H, 90815.