Meet the Owners of the New Ice Cream and Cereal Bar in Patchogue

PATCHOGUE, NY — A Long Island couple recently opened up a new ice cream and cereal bar in Patchogue. Lexi Balunas, 28, of Ronkonkoma and Matt Pesko, 27, of Sayville officially opened Cloud Nine Ice Cream and Cereal Bar and 38 S Ocean Avenue on June 27. The grand opening for the new business is set for this weekend.

This is the first business venture for the two, who got to idea for their business after coming across an ice cream and cereal bar in New York City for Balunas' birthday in 2018.

"We fell in love with the ice cream and decided that we needed to bring the concept out to Suffolk County so that our family, friends and community could experience and enjoy the ice cream just like we did," she told Patch.

Get to know the owners of the latest Patchogue business through the full Q&A with Patch below:

Patch: How would you best describe your business?

Balunas: At Cloud Nine, you get to create your own custom flavor of ice cream by choosing any cereals you'd like to blend into vanilla ice cream. Once the cereals and ice cream are blended into soft serve, you get to choose from all sorts of toppings and drizzles to add to it! You can choose from cups, flavored cones, milkshakes or our newest menu item- donut ice cream sandwiches.

P: What makes your business unique?

B: Cloud Nine is not like your normal ice cream shop. Instead of your regular, everyday ice cream flavors, you get to basically create your own flavor by choosing which cereals to blend into your ice cream. It's like the milk at the end of your cereal bowl, but frozen into delicious soft serve.

P: What's the best business advice you've ever received?

B: We aim to keep our staff happy. We believe that a happy staff makes for a happy business, which is easily contagious to the guest. Walking into a business where employees look like they are enjoying themselves and seem to love their jobs promotes a positive experience all around!

P: Why did you decide to open your business in Patchogue? Why is this a good place for your business?

B: We happened to find this location in Patchogue and knew it needed to be ours. At first another business was going to sign a lease here, but that fell through and we were contacted by the landlord. We knew it was meant to be! We have always loved the village of Patchogue and feel so lucky to have our business here. We think it is the perfect spot for our first store.

P: What makes Patchogue special?

B: Patchogue is special because the community here is wonderful. All local businesses support each other and all of the people of Patchogue are so nice and supportive. We feel lucky to be apart of this tight knit town.

P: What's one thing you want your customers to know about your business?

B: We want our customers to know that we aim to please! We want our guests to be walking out happier than they were when they walked in. If our product doesn't put an instant smile on your face, then the service will. Also, if anyone is unhappy at any point in their experience at Cloud Nine, we urge them to come talk to one of the owners. We want to do everything possible to make everyone feel happy and welcome when they are in our store.

P: What's one fun fact about you?

B: One fun fact about us is that we never pictured ourselves owning an ice cream store! Matt always wanted to be an entrepreneur and Lexi wanted to be a doctor. Shortly after we found out that we were pregnant, we discovered the idea of Cloud Nine and it feels like it was destiny even though it wasn't our actual life plan!