Oakland, California · Founded 1894
An Oakland creamery founded in 1894, known for its disputed Rocky Road origin story and its animated appearance as Fenton’s in Pixar’s Up.
Elbridge Seth Fenton founded Fentons Creamery in Oakland in 1894 at 41st and Howe Streets. The company’s early business was a creamery and dairy enterprise; later histories date its first soda shop and ice-cream parlor to 1922. Fentons moved to 4226 Piedmont Avenue in 1961, where it remains a major East Bay ice-cream destination.
Elbridge Seth Fenton establishes Fentons Creamery at 41st and Howe Streets in Oakland.
Source: Fentons Creamery official history; LocalWiki, "Fentons Creamery"
A later historical account dates the Fenton family's first soda shop and ice-cream parlor to this year.
Source: Disney Food Blog, "Up in Oakland at Fentons Creamery"
Fentons moves from 41st and Howe to 4226 Piedmont Avenue, a former Safeway location.
Source: Fentons Creamery official history; Oakland Momma, "Celebrate Ice Cream at Oakland's Fentons Creamery"
Scott Whidden purchases Fentons Creamery from Foremost-McKesson and returns the business to family ownership.
Source: Fentons Creamery official history; Oakland Momma, "Celebrate Ice Cream at Oakland's Fentons Creamery"
A fire severely damages Fentons Creamery and forces the Piedmont Avenue business to close for rebuilding.
Source: SFGATE, "Fentons Creamery nears the end of a rocky road"; LocalWiki, "Fentons Creamery"
Fentons reopens after an approximately 19-month closure and rebuilding period.
Source: Oakland Momma, "Celebrate Ice Cream at Oakland's Fentons Creamery"
The Oakland parlor is represented as "Fenton's" in Pixar's animated film Up, which includes it in the story's final sequence.
Source: East Bay Times, "Business soaring at Oakland's Fenton's, thanks to Pixar hit Up"; SFGATE, "Oakland's Fentons Creamery in Pixar film Up"
Every claim gets rated. A business's own website can never earn "documented."
Fentons credits Melvin Fenton and, in another company version, candy maker George Farren with developing Rocky Road from a Fentons candy-bar idea. Dreyer's also claims invention of the flavor. The shared Oakland context is well established, but the documentary record does not support assigning exclusive invention to Fentons.
Fentons appears in Pixar's animated film Up under the name "Fenton's." It was an inspiration for the ice-cream-shop scene and is represented in the film's closing sequence; it was not a live-action shooting location.
Fentons has roots in an 1894 creamery and dairy enterprise, but the Piedmont Avenue location closed after the November 2001 fire and reopened about 19 months later. This review also did not complete a Bay Area comparison of older ice-cream businesses.
The business’s long history reaches to 1894, but the 2001 fire forced a closure of roughly 19 months before Fentons reopened. The proper description is a long-lived Oakland creamery business with a documented interruption.
Fentons Creamery has always stood at 4226 Piedmont Avenue since 1894.
Fentons began at 41st and Howe Streets in 1894 and moved to its current Piedmont Avenue location in 1961.
Source: Fentons Creamery official history; Oakland Momma, "Celebrate Ice Cream at Oakland's Fentons Creamery"
Fentons is proven to be the birthplace of Rocky Road ice cream.
Fentons has a major competing Rocky Road origin story involving Melvin Fenton and candy maker George Farren, but Dreyer's also claims invention. The exclusive inventor cannot be established from the sources reviewed.
Source: KQED, "How Rocky Road Ice Cream Got Its Start in Oakland"; Quartz, "Who invented rocky road ice cream? It's complicated"
Fentons was filmed on location in Pixar's Up.
Up is animated. Fentons inspired and is represented as "Fenton's" in the film, particularly in its ending sequence, but it was not a live-action filming location.
Source: East Bay Times, "Business soaring at Oakland's Fenton's, thanks to Pixar hit Up"; SFGATE, "Oakland's Fentons Creamery in Pixar film Up"
Fentons has operated continuously since 1894.
A destructive November 2001 fire forced Fentons to close for roughly 19 months before reopening after rebuilding.
Source: SFGATE, "Fentons Creamery nears the end of a rocky road"; Oakland Momma, "Celebrate Ice Cream at Oakland's Fentons Creamery"
Fentons has lasted by turning its local dairy history into a family-centered ice-cream institution. Scott Whidden purchased the business in 1987, returning it to family ownership, and the community rallied after a destructive 2001 fire. The rebuilding was a revival after interruption, while the company’s Rocky Road claim and Pixar association kept the creamery culturally visible.
Fentons Creamery began in Oakland, California, in 1894, when Elbridge Seth Fenton opened a creamery at 41st and Howe Streets. The business moved to 4226 Piedmont Avenue in 1961, and Scott Whidden purchased it in 1987. A destructive fire closed the parlor in 2001, but Fentons reopened after rebuilding about 19 months later.
No verified evidence establishes Fentons as California’s oldest ice-cream parlor. Its 1894 creamery lineage is important, but the business closed after the 2001 fire and a statewide comparison of older ice-cream parlors has not been completed. Fentons is better described as a historic Oakland creamery with roots in 1894.
Fentons is one of the major claimants in the disputed Rocky Road origin story. Company lore credits Melvin Fenton or Fentons candy maker George Farren, while Dreyer's also claims it created the flavor. The evidence supports Oakland as central to Rocky Road's history but does not prove a single inventor.
4226 Piedmont Ave, Oakland, CA 94611
(510) 658-7000
Confirm current counter, dining-room, takeout, and holiday hours directly with Fentons before visiting.