Article By: Zak Lodhi
Tucson's Scoop of Family Handel’s icecream
Some traditions begin simply like a scoop of ice cream on a warm evening. For Dave and Michelle Knittel, that tradition started six years ago when they discovered Handel’s Homemade Ice Cream as a young family.
Weekend nights soon meant piling into the car, laughter spilling from the backseat, and cones stacked, a scoopable version of pure joy.
Handel’s has been serving ice cream the old-fashioned way since 1945, starting from a single gas station stand in Youngstown, Ohio. So when life brought them back to Tucson, the Knittels decided to continue that tradition. Opening Handel’s was far beyond a business; it was about creating the kind of place they had once cherished together.
A space where people could gather after dinner, celebrate a birthday, or enjoy the perfect dessert.
From the moment you step up to the shop windows at Ina and Oracle, the atmosphere feels personal. The employees greet each guest with a smile and a warm welcome. The sweet aroma of waffle cones drifts out of the windows, kids’ eyes are peeking up from below the window counter trying to get a glimpse of the magic inside, and neighbors greet one another between scoops.
The Handel’s brand is a breath of fresh air to the Tucson business community. The brand itself is community-facing and quality-based. Dave and Michelle Knittel are committed to upholding these values at a local level.
Their focus goes beyond serving ice cream; it’s about building a team, a family, that treats every guest like family in turn. Employees are trained to the highest standard of service, and that care shows in every warm welcome and thoughtful detail.
The menu is a mix of nostalgia and discovery. Children light up at a swirl of Blue Monster or Birthday Cake, while classics like Black Cherry or Strawberry satisfy the purists. For those seeking indulgence, flavors like Graham Central Station and Chocoholic Peanut Butter Brownie hit the mark. And because everything is made fresh daily, from the dairy-based flavors to vegan sorbets, each scoop feels alive, rich with flavor and texture.
But what sets Handel’s Tucson apart isn’t just its 100-plus flavors or even its history stretching back to 1945. It’s the fact that here, in this corner of the city, ice cream has become a way to connect. Families gather on the patio, couples enjoy late-night sundaes, and friends drop by for a quick cone that turns into an hour-long conversation.
For the Knittels, that’s the mission: to make Handel’s Tucson a proper community gathering place. One scoop at a time, they’re building a local tradition born from their own family. And that’s as much about people as it is about ice cream.
