Effee's Frozen Favorites

In Spring of 2003, a little red and white concession trailer appeared in New Baltimore, VA, in a small town located between Haymarket and Gainesville. It had a marquis letting all commuters, travelers, residents and passers-by know it was called “Effee’s Frozen Favorites”. From its tiny interior and through its tiny serving window, some of the best ice cream that Northern Virginia had ever tasted was served. The area would never be the same, and both Effee’s customers and Effee’s owners, never knew what was in store for them over the next 13+ years.

How it all began…

Effee’s owners Darryl & Roslyn Eadi and Mark & Leslie Farris are lifelong friends who dreamed of starting their own business; however they just hadn’t nailed down that one perfect idea.

There were so many things that this rapidly growing area just didn’t have. After Mark came across a little ice cream trailer up for sale in a nearby town, a light-bulb went off and he called Darryl to get a feel for any interests. Within only minutes, a virtual handshake was had, and the partnership was in motion. Both guys were in sync and were very inspired to head into the ice cream business together. In only a very short time that followed, both wives were also very supportive and excited too.

Originally from upstate New York, Darryl & Roslyn were very accustomed to corner ice cream stands embedded in their neighborhoods. Mark, who worked in an ice cream shop as a teenager, and Leslie who had worked in food service for years, jumped on the idea. Creating the name “Effee’s” from the two “F’s” in Farris and the two “E’s” in Eadi, they all started on an adventure, that still today, has no end in sight.

The Farris family have been long-time residents in the town of Warrenton and the Eadis reside in Haymarket. Conveniently located between the two towns, New Baltimore seemed like an ideal location to park the ice cream trailer and venture into business. With great visibility from the heavily travelled U.S. 29 and a vibrant color scheme to attract customers, Effee’s blossomed into what many would now agree, is a well-loved community staple.

The owners knew they needed to remain keenly focused on four specific areas to ensure success. Effee’s needed to provide a very high-quality product that tasted great and had a rich, dense & velvety tongue feel. They also knew to build a customer base, they needed to be family-friendly with price points staying as low as possible. Cleanliness and customer service also needed to be high on the list of priorities, for the customers to both see and experience . Over the years, all four pillars have been embraced, and are what Effee’s prides themselves on.

Effee’s decided to staff the business by hiring teenagers from the local churches, community groups and families. It became a great opportunity for high school kids, usually sophomores & juniors, who were ready for their first jobs. They entered the workforce as a big unknown, with big smiles on their faces to learn how to make and create ice cream. They just light up the place. The teamwork and the partnering between owners and employees kick-started Effee’s, as many lessons were learned on how to navigate and operate the business to the delight of its customers.

Effee’s began to LOVE its customers, and its customers began to LOVE Effee’s.

From its humble beginnings and a small simple menu of some great tasting ice-cream and ice-cream related products like cones, sundaes & shakes, the customers, now completely obsessed with Effee’s, wanted and began asking for more. Effee’s responded in real-time and began expanding its menu and its base ice cream flavors. By the end of its 4th season, Effee’s was busting out of the seams of the small concession trailer.

With the realization that a change was needed to continue growth, the owners decided to move Effee’s into a vacant and run-down structure, right next door to the lot that the trailer lived on for its first years of infancy. The owners had a vision that they knew they could bring to life. Build-out began in the first week of January, after many weeks of working with Fauquier County and their requirements. With a lot of TLC and a ton of sweat equity, the owners knew that the building, after being stripped down to its frames, could become the new Effee’s… in a bold new (and bigger) way.

When it opened for its 5th season in March 2007, Effee’s Frozen Favorites became a permanent fixture in New Baltimore, VA, and the rest of the story is now history.

Many fond memories of long summer nights, with Effee’s being the perfect place to meet and hang out with family, friends and neighbors, have been created year after year. Effee’s has become the perfect place to take kids day or night. Family pets now know what’s in store for them when they see the big red awning too. With its many outdoor tables and grass to run around and or sit on, Effee’s has become the kind of place that has something for everyone.