Steve's Big At Colleges Across East

Steve's ice cream perennial recipient of the Best of Boston Award has become something of a tradition for university students in the Boston area.

But not content with this success, members of Steve's Ice Cream Inc., headed by President Joey Krugnale are pushing to spread their ice cream tradition to other colleges across the country.

So far the year-old expansion has resulted in stores near Georgetown University, the University of Maryland and Brown University campuses. Two weeks ago, a new Steve's opened in the Walnut Mall, near Philadelphia's University of Pennsylvania.

According to Krugnale, seven-year-owner of the original Steve's in Somerville, Steve's immediate successes across the country are largely due to its widespread reputation. "College-students know quality and Steve's ice cream is the best around," he said earlier this week.

Krugale attributes the high quality of his product to the fact it is made from scratch every day without preservatives. Due to special ingredients and a secret freezing process, Steve's ice cream is rich and thick enough to withstand the mix-in process, he says.

Particular care is taken, he added, that all branches serve the same product. In addition to identical freezers and ingredients, the stores follow the same processes in making their unique flavors.

Proof of Steve's popularity surfaced in Providence this February when more than 1500 students lined up in a driving blizzard to receive free ice cream at the grand opening of the branch there Owner Brian C. McLaughlin gave away 200 gallons of ice cream with mix-ins in less than eight hours.

McLaughlin is optimistic that once enough people try his ice cream and its reputation grows. Steve's will become as popular in Providence as it is in the Boston area. "People are just discovering us," he said this week. "Mix-ins are still a new thing here."

Paul Waxman, in charge of Steve's publicity, explained that advertising is "simple and non pretentious. Students were our first fans and our loyalty has always started in the colleges.

Owners of the Philadelphia-based chain specifically chose the Walnut Mall location because of its proximity to the University of Pennsylvania Said Paul Curry, one of the store's owners, "We want UP [University of Pennsylvania students] to refer to this as 'their Steve's'."

What's next? Krugnale plans to open a store in Greenwich Village in New York this summer. He hopes that, like the other colleges, New York University (which is located nearby) will provide its share of regulars.

"We just want to get people acquainted with our solid, wholesome product," Waxman said, adding, "then we'll leave it up to our customers to know it's the best."