Sub Zero’s Hailey Arseneau makes ice cream using liquid nitrogen and a flash-freeze process that can virtually make any flavor ice cream for customers. (Telegraph photo by GEORGE PELLETIER)

NASHUA – Who knew that an element on the periodic table could taste so good?

Sub Zero, the uber-popular ice cream made from liquid nitrogen and fresh ingredients has opened shop at 83 Main Street, and business has been swift.

Franchise co-owner Rita McCabe said business has been great, having moved their Amherst Street location to the new digs on Main Street in the old Panagoulis shop, where Charles Panagoulis once cobbled shoes in the building that he erected in 1958.

McCabe said that their Amherst Street locale was the first location and initially was the only Sub Zero in all of New England.

“We just thought it was the coolest thing ever,” she said. “Pretty much like everybody else. Once you see the process and taste the product, you understand why it’s so different from every other ice cream. It’s just so smooth and creamy, which is the science of the liquid nitrogen process that makes that happen.”

McCabe opened their first shop in 2014. Today, Sub Zero offers presentations, teaching the science of liquid nitrogen at places like the YMCA, various summer camps, public and private charter schools and libraries. In addition to that, Sub Zero stays busy as a franchise with catering events.

“We do some fun, cool experiments with the liquid nitrogen,” she said. “By the time we’re at the end of the presentation, they understand the creaminess and density of the ice cream. People understand why we’re able to do what we do with the liquid nitrogen without gloves. Even the teachers learn things, they tell us.”

The process itself is rather simple. If you walk into a Sub Zero store, there is no ice cream. Customers select their own ingredients and select what type of “base” cream that they’d like to start with – which ranges from vegan to “no sugar added” to custards, yogurts and a lactose free option. They also make original ice cream with a premium base.

“After that, you mix your flavors,” McCabe explained. “So, if you want cinnamon pumpkin cheesecake, or if you want to put peanut butter and chocolate together, we can do that, too. People ask, ‘Can you do Rocky Road?’ Absolutely. We just put all the ingredients in separately and create the ice cream flavor. And from there, we flash freeze it right at the counter.”

McCabe said that the process creates what she likens to as ice on a pond. The layers are broken so the liquid nitrogen can freeze all the cream evenly.

“If you don’t do that, you have a block of cream,” she said. “The process is patented actually.”

The CEO of Sub Zero, Jerry Hancock, even pitched the idea to the masters on “Shark Tank” in 2014; that was the impetus, McCabe said, for she and her husband Mark to grab the chance to open a Sub Zero in New Hampshire.

“We actually saw it on a ‘Shark Tank’ rerun,” she said. “That’s how we learned about it. And we thought, ‘That is the coolest thing ever. We need to bring that to New England.”

Sub Zero was a busy shop at 495 Amherst St., but after seven years, McCabe said, especially after the pandemic, they had too much space.

“People weren’t coming in and eating anymore,” she shared. “Even before the pandemic, it was ‘grab and go.’ So, when things started taking off, we realized we didn’t need all that space for seating. Like everything else, you’re paying by square foot.”

The Amherst Street location was a 2100 square foot space. The new Sub Zero on Main Street is 900 square feet.

“This is a spot where there is a lot more walking traffic,” McCabe noted. “Nobody is walking down Amherst Street.”

The new store opened on July 19 and McCabe said the walk-in traffic has been “fantastic.”

“We’ve already doubled our revenues here in downtown,” McCabe said. “We’re doing exactly what we were hoping to do.”

McCabe said when they bought the New Hampshire franchise, they actually bought the franchise rights to New England. They are the area developers for New England. And she added they’re always looking for franchisees to expand the brand.

“We have a franchisee who bought last year,” she said. “They’re up in Ashland, New Hampshire. This is her second season. And we’re talking to a couple in Norwood, Massachusetts.”

Additional locations include at the Worcester Public Market and this year the McCabe Sub Zero franchise will expand into Manchester, Cambridge, Massachusetts, and a full-size store in Worcester, Massachusetts.

McCabe’s Sub Zero is a popular accoutrement for catering weddings and corporate events, as well as your variety mitzvah.

“I think we’ve found the right recipe for Sub Zero here in New England at this point,” McCabe stated. “Smaller spaces, better locations, and I think that will help us with growth.”

George Pelletier may be reached at 603-594-1245 or at gpelletier@nashuatelegraph.com.