Tucked back from one of the main intersections in Allendale, Michigan, Affogato’s Ice Cream & Coffee is located just northwest of Lake Michigan Drive and 68th Street. This locally- and veteran-owned shop is operated by husband and wife David and Shelley Anderson.
Sitting down for an impromptu chat with Shelley, I learned all about how they got started, where they’re going and how she has honed her skills—crafting the best espresso drinks for the residents of Allendale.
Navigating the skies and a business
David is a pilot. And Shelley used to work in healthcare. A few years back, they ran into the building owner who was also the then owner of the previous ice cream shop called, Get the Scoop. He told them that, at some point, he may want to sell the business. Excited about the idea, they thought the shop would be great to own someday—but not until they retired, of course.
They kept the idea in the back of their minds for the distant future. Those “future plans” quickly became a reality when the previous owner was ready to sell sooner than originally planned. The result? In 2021, David and Shelley became business owners of the local ice cream shop—whether they were ready for it or not.
Calibrating flavor
While working remotely or traveling to and from meetings, Affogato’s is always at the top of my list for a latte. Their rich and smooth espresso blend is unique and full of flavor. I have visited my fair share of coffee shops and still haven’t been able to find anything else quite like it. Sifting through their online menu I learned that their espresso is, in fact, their own proprietary “Affogato Espresso Blend.” I knew it. How does it have so much flavor?
“I'm very picky. And very particular about our espresso. A bad shot will never be served here,” Shelley said with a chuckle.
“A bad shot? I didn’t know there was such a thing as a bad shot,” I replied.
Shelley continued, “When you go places, sometimes their coffee can be bitter. If you get a bitter tasting coffee, it's because they're not calibrating or watching their shots. They're serving without looking or without doing what they need to do.
If you get one [a coffee] where it just kind of tastes a bit watery, it's short. I have parameters. I have a certain number. When that hits 30, you dump it in. That ’30 seconds and above shot’ is gonna taste bitter.
If it’s somewhere in between 16 and below, they’re not really going to taste your coffee. They're gonna taste milk and sugar. No coffee flavor. I'm very picky about balancing the amount of flavor with the espresso,” Shelley explained.
I inquired where she learned how to make this “close-to-perfect” espresso shot. “Well, when my kids were younger, I did open up a couple Starbucks. I have a lot of knowledge from there, but I am also mostly self taught."
Without skipping a beat, Shelley moved right along to explain their never-ending choices of coffee syrups.
“For the majority of our syrups there’s no artificial flavor and no artificial color. The only one that has red food coloring is the Red Velvet. The salt in the Sea Salt Caramel is a Hawaiian sea salt, so it naturally has a pink tint to it from the pink sea salt.”
Before sitting down with Shelley, I had no idea that the syrup flavors at Affogato’s did not have artificial flavor or coloring. This was amazing news. Shout out to all of you MAHA mom’s who love coffee. If you haven’t been here yet, welcome to your new favorite place.
Coffee flights make a smooth landing
Another major perk is the many different specialty lattes to choose from. Their website lists an overwhelming 42 kinds. 42! Which is unmatched in Allendale. You can easily do the math, but to put it simply, you could order one new specialty latte each day for one month straight and still have not tried them all. This is in addition to their 10 different cream and espresso frappes and variety of smoothies, teas, ciders, hot chocolates, frozen lemonade and traditional coffee/espresso drinks. The options are endless.
They also have a thoughtful selection of coffee flights in two sizes: either a two-flight or four-flight option. Each flight contains 6oz pours and can be made all hot, all iced, or half hot/half iced. These became widely popular when they launched a few years ago. If you're not big on decision making, like myself, a coffee flight is a great way to sample several of their specialty lattes in one sitting, either as a shareable or to enjoy all to yourself.
If you equally love coffee and ice cream, a must try is their namesake, an Affogato.
Namesake
The classic Affogato is an Italian dessert comprised of a hot espresso shot poured over a scoop of vanilla ice cream. It is known in Italian as "affogato al caffè, (drowned in coffee) and gelato.” If that isn’t decadent enough, they also offer four specialty Affogatos: Apple Crisp, Coffee Lovers, Peppermint Mocha or Turtle.
“Tell me more about your branding, or at least the concept behind how you came up with the name ‘Affogato’s,'" I said.
“We knew we would change the name once we owned the shop. We had the ice cream. And now we were adding in the coffee. So, we were blending the two together. Because the Affogato is an Italian dessert—with the espresso poured over the ice cream—it was just a really cool idea.”
“A lot of people ask me, ‘Are you Italian?’ Yeah, right. Ha ha. I can’t look any more Dutch than I do!” She said boastfully with a laugh. "I guess my husband could be [look] Italian?”
Shelley continued, “So anyways, for the logo, what I did was…” She paused and disappeared to grab a small espresso glass. Appearing from behind the barista, she proceeded to explain to me, “I got a little ball of vanilla ice cream and made it as perfect as I could and placed it into one of these espresso shot glasses. Then I took the other cup and poured the espresso over the ball of ice cream. I had a white piece of paper sitting behind it and took a photo. And that’s the concept behind how our logo was made.”
Nacho-average dessert
Not a coffee lover and came for just the ice cream? They also have a selection of 40 different flavors of Ashby's Sterling premium hard serve ice cream.
“Ashby’s ice cream is from the Ludington ice cream shop, called House of Flavors. Ashby’s is the best.” Shelley said, as she smiled.
Their ice cream is on full display and—of course—at just the right eye level for the little ones to press their nose against the glass as they take their time to decide.
In addition to their traditional vanilla, chocolate or twist, they also offer 18 different flavor options that can be added to your soft serve. Don’t forget about their flurries, sundaes, glaciers, shakes, malts and pints to go.
Kind Crumbs provides a wide selection of their baked goods that are all gluten, dairy and soy free (with the exception of donuts with rainbow sprinkles, which contain soy).
The newest addition to their menu will be “Ice Cream Nachos,” which will be available in two options: Regular Nachos (your choice of two soft serve flavors and two toppings) or one of their Specialty Nachos (names being announced soon).
Breaking (coffee) grounds
Their current space isn’t extremely large, but there are plenty of tables where you can work or even a cozy nook with a couch and lounge chairs to meet up with friends. But don’t get too comfy—they are starting on a new build right down the road!
Shelley explained the plans for their new space, “We are going to break ground in just a few weeks. We will have a rooftop patio. We’ll have a drive through. And our indoor seating will be right around 100 people. The new space will be laid out so that it’s much more functional, and the additional seating is going to be so much more efficient. The versatile garage doors will open up to the rooftop patio in the summer months and kept closed in the winter. Duke Construction is going be building it for us. So yeah, it's going to be exciting. We should hopefully be in sometime around December [of 2025].”
Shelley said that they feel so blessed to have been able to secure the plot of land next to Love INC (Lake Michigan Drive and Avery), “We really felt like it was a God thing.”
Supportive community
One thing Shelley has noticed, and is very thankful for, is that the Allendale community is very supportive of local small businesses.
“The community has been great! We are so thankful. We have a lot [variety of customers]. We have high schoolers. We have college students. We have our moms. We have older couples. We have parents and families. We even have regulars for ice cream. Which I knew we would get regulars for coffee because that's kind of a thing, but I didn’t know we would have regulars for ice cream."
David and Shelley are excited to break ground and can’t wait to be able to serve more people in the Allendale community—one espresso shot at a time.
For more information, check out their website or Facebook page.
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