Newport Creamery Turns Blue in Statewide Refresh

by Nancy Thomas

The Middletown restaurant, where Newport Creamery began in 1940, is the first stop in a year-long refresh of all eight remaining locations. The Awful Awful stays. So does Goldie.

At the sign of the Golden Cow, Newport Creamery is beginning its next chapter. The nearly century-old Rhode Island restaurant and ice cream chain has reopened its Middletown restaurant about a month ago, after a two-week renovation that brought a brighter dining room, new menu favorites, and a new brand color — navy blue replacing the familiar green.

But Newport Creamery is making one thing clear: this is a refresh, not a reinvention.

The Awful Awful is staying. So is Goldie, the golden cow.

The Middletown restaurant at 208 West Main Road is where Newport Creamery began in 1940. Today, it remains the company’s flagship location. It is also the first of all eight Newport Creamery restaurants in Rhode Island and southeastern Massachusetts to be renovated over the next year.

The relaunch comes during a period of visible change for the local institution. Newport Creamery has closed high-profile Rhode Island locations in Cranston/Garden City and Barrington, changed ownership, and is now operating with a smaller footprint than generations of Rhode Islanders remember.

The Cranston closing and eventual bulldozing of the iconic building across from the Gazebo was a kick in the gut to long time residents – many multi-generations – in Cranston. The damage done to the ownership of Garden City Center’s reputation is palpable and still talked about – all while waiting for a new – maybe Apple? – tenant to surface.

In March, Waterside Group purchased Newport Creamery from The Jan Companies, beginning what the new owners describe as an exciting new chapter for the brand. The company now has six locations in Rhode Island and two in Massachusetts, with new ownership focused on modernization, new locations, and an enhanced guest experience.

A Refresh, Not a Reinvention

New Newport Creamery owner, Mark Bogosian, who acquired the eight-restaurant chain earlier this spring, says the renovations are about care, not reinvention. Bogosian would be wise to take change slowly, one long time customer told RINewsToday. We’ll take a green to blue, but don’t mess too much with the menu or – the Awful Awful program.

“These restaurants needed some love. A lot of them hadn’t been updated in years, and we want them to feel fresh and comfortable again,” Bogosian said. “But the goal isn’t to reinvent Newport Creamery. It’s to protect what people already love about it. We’re keeping the heart of this place and bringing the rest up to date.”

The Middletown dining room has been brightened and updated, but the bones are the same. The booths, the counter, the family-restaurant feel, and the after-the-game, after-the-beach, Sunday-breakfast familiarity are intended to remain.

For Rhode Islanders, Newport Creamery has never been just another restaurant. It has been a childhood stop, a family meeting place, a first-job memory, a post-game tradition, and the home of one of the state’s most recognizable menu items.

New on the Menu

Guests visiting Middletown will find several additions to the menu, including breakfast served all day. The new items include the Newport Smashburger, a breakfast sandwich built for the all-day breakfast crowd, updated seafood options, and Snowy Owl Coffee as the new house coffee.

The seafood updates draw on Bogosian’s experience as owner of the Flying Bridge restaurant in Falmouth, a Cape Cod mainstay known for New England seafood.

Snowy Owl Coffee Roasters, also based on Cape Cod, will now be poured as Newport Creamery’s house coffee, alongside a full menu of coffee drinks including cold brew.

“Newport Creamery has almost a hundred years of history, and you can’t buy that,” Bogosian said. “What we can do is make sure the menu and the experience match how families eat today. That means a few new favorites alongside the classics people grew up on.”

The new menu items will be introduced at each Newport Creamery location as its renovation is completed.

What’s Not Changing

Some things are not on the list for change. “Some things you’d be crazy to touch. The Awful Awful is one of them. It isn’t going anywhere,” Bogosian said, referring to the thick frozen drink that has been a Newport Creamery signature for generations.

Goldie the cow, who has watched over Newport Creamery for decades, is also staying.

The company’s message is straightforward: the look is changing, but the identity is not.

From Green to Blue

Longtime guests will notice one change before they reach the door. The brand color from green to navy blue.

“After a lot of back and forth, we moved the brand from green to blue,” Bogosian said. “We wanted people to know right away that something here has changed for the better. But don’t worry. Goldie the Cow is staying right where she belongs.”

The new color will carry through signage, menus, packaging, uniforms, and restaurant design. It will roll out at each location as renovations are completed.

The new logo keeps the golden cow, but places Goldie against a deep blue background — a visual signal that the old Newport Creamery is entering a new chapter.

The Garment Architect had just announced his design of all new swag for Newport Creamery when – he posted this: “Had to go back and change all of my designs from the green to the navy blue. I’m excited for this new chapter!”

Soon new items will appear.

After Cranston and Barrington

The refresh also follows the loss of two familiar Rhode Island Newport Creamery restaurants. The Garden City/Cranston location closed after its lease was not renewed, ending a long run for one of the chain’s most visible locations. The Barrington restaurant also closed, leaving the East Bay without its longtime Newport Creamery stop.

Those closings raised questions about the future of the chain. The company’s answer now appears to be renovation first, one restaurant at a time, with Middletown as the model.

Newport Creamery is not describing the move as downsizing. But the company is operating with eight remaining restaurants, and the refresh comes after a period of contraction for a brand that once had a larger Rhode Island presence.

Why This Matters

For Bogosian, the renovations point back to a simple idea of what Newport Creamery has always been. “I grew up with places like this. It’s where you went after the football game, or on a hot summer night after a day at the beach,” he said. “We want to bring that back. A place your grandparents can come for breakfast, and a place you can stop with friends after a night out, without thinking twice about the bill.”

For Rhode Islanders, the question may be whether Newport Creamery can modernize without losing the memory.

Blue may be replacing green. The menu may be adding smashburgers, all-day breakfast, updated seafood, and Cape Cod coffee. But at Newport Creamery, the test may come down to something much simpler. What does it feel like when you walk in?  Is there a familiar slight scent of ice cream? Is it downhome homey? Familiar? Are people coming back repeatedly – and is that intergenerational mix of customers a hallmark – much like Boston’s Cheers – wherever everyone knows your name.

Change happened in Garden City – and it wasn’t easy to witness – but now change is happening along with a commitment to stay in Rhode Island and continue to serve people of all ages.

And that news isn’t that Awful Awful.