BRONZEVILLE — A new ice cream café is serving up a unique blend of frozen treats and nostalgia in Bronzeville. Nitro Nostalgia, located at 4254 S. Cottage Grove Ave., opened its doors earlier this month, offering made-to-order nitrogen ice cream alongside a collection of old-school board games in a space designed for community enjoyment.
Co-owned by father-daughter duo Garland and Kamillah Lucas, the café has been a three-year passion project. Kamillah, a University of Missouri graduate, made a career pivot from working as a medical assistant to join her father in entrepreneurship. The idea for the café came from Garland Lucas, who has been inspired by his own entrepreneurial ventures, including a boat chartering business.
Kamillah Lucas credits her family for encouraging her to take the plunge into business ownership. “He’s had the entrepreneurial bug for maybe the past five years now. He decided to retire early, and we actually have a boating business, which was kind of the first start,” she said. Kamillah added that her stepmother, who works in real estate, also played a role in motivating her to explore new opportunities.
Though Kamillah has ambitions of attending medical school in the future, she is currently focused on running the day-to-day operations of Nitro Nostalgia with her father. “I said, ‘I’m gonna handle the product side, the people, and the employees, and you handle the infrastructure,’” Kamillah recalled. “We’ve been a team ever since.”
The menu at Nitro Nostalgia features a variety of nitrogen ice cream creations, each named after classic songs. Signature offerings include Express Yourself, a blend of espresso, chocolate drizzle, and whipped cream, and Strawberry Letter 43, made with strawberry, pound cake, graham crackers, and whipped cream. Prices start at $12 for a regular serving and $21 for a pint. Milkshake versions are also available, with indulgent options like Brownie Nights, featuring chocolate chips, brownies, and chocolate drizzle, and Papa Don’t Peach, made with peach cobbler, graham crackers, cinnamon, and whipped cream. Regular-sized milkshakes are priced at $14.
For customers seeking an adult twist, Nitro Nostalgia offers spiked milkshakes, with house liquor options such as bourbon, vodka, and Peppermint Schnapps for an additional $4, or premium spirits for $5.
In addition to its sweet treats, Nitro Nostalgia serves savory empanadas from local eatery Café Tola for $7, offering a balance to the indulgent menu. “We try to make our flavors familiar to our customers,” Kamillah said. “With the name being Nitro Nostalgia, we thought about flavors that make people feel like a kid again or bring back that Christmas time or Thanksgiving feeling. Our most popular menu item is Happy Feelin’, which has an apple pie flavor.”
To complement the nostalgic theme, the café has a bookshelf stocked with classic board games such as Monopoly, Sorry, and Uno, providing a fun and interactive experience for guests.
Creating a community-centered space was a key motivation for the Lucases. Kamillah Lucas believes that Bronzeville residents shouldn’t have to travel far for entertainment. The café recently hosted its first holiday event, where families took photos with Santa and danced to live old-school music. Future events will include Sunday football watch parties and other community gatherings.
Kamillah is also focused on creating job opportunities in the neighborhood and plans to expand her staff, which currently consists of two employees. Additionally, she envisions opening more Nitro Nostalgia locations in underserved neighborhoods in the coming years.
Reflecting on her entrepreneurial journey, Kamillah shared advice for her younger self: “The world is your oyster,” she said. “We don’t hear that enough, and we don’t always understand that as children who grow up in neighborhoods that don’t have all the resources. The world never seems like it’s on our side, but it is.”
Nitro Nostalgia is open from 3 p.m. to 8 p.m. Wednesday through Thursday and 12 p.m. to 8 p.m. Friday through Sunday.
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