Asbury Park does summer like nowhere else on the Shore: boardwalk mornings, Cookman Avenue afternoons, music drifting out of Convention Hall at night. The one thing missing from that itinerary is a scoop worth a short detour, and that's where Ryan's comes in.
Our Oakhurst shop is about ten minutes from downtown Asbury Park, straight up Route 35 past Deal Lake. It's the move locals make when they want homemade ice cream at neighborhood prices: no boardwalk lines, easy parking, and a flavor board two dozen deep.
It's also the move for visitors who did the boardwalk right and still want one more stop before the drive home. Ten minutes puts you at a counter run by the same family since 1988 — long enough that some of the kids we handed cones to in our first summers now walk in from Asbury trailing kids of their own. Traditions here don't get invented; they accumulate, one summer at a time.
Why Asbury Park makes the trip
Everything at Ryan's is made fresh in small batches, from the classic flavors to rotating seasonal specials. After a beach day, the light stuff hits hardest: Italian ice and 100% dairy-free Dole soft serve were built for salt-air appetites.
Planning a birthday or a season-end team party? Our custom ice cream cakes just need 48 hours' notice. Order on the way home from the beach and you're the hero by the weekend.
And if you're the one hosting the beach weekend, two cheats worth knowing: a gift card left on the guest-room dresser beats another scented candle, and a round of thick hand-spun milkshakes is the fastest way ever devised to end a group argument about where to get dessert. Ten minutes up Route 35, everyone wins, and nobody had to compromise.
