When visiting Papa’s Ice Cream at West Shore Road and Buttonwoods Avenue, you can smell the waffle cones being freshly made. On hot summer nights, you can expect the parking lot to be packed with customers pursuing cold, sweet treats.

Papa’s Ice Cream was founded in 2000 by husband and wife Paul Sr. and Addie Silva, and is now owned by their son, Paul Silva Jr. and his wife, Amy. This year, Papa’s celebrates its 25^th anniversary in August. It has been a cash-only establishment since its founding.

Jillian Walsh and Taylor Odell have worked at Papa’s for seven and eight years, respectively. They both grew up in Warwick and graduated from Toll Gate High School. Over time, they have grown to love the job and the customers.

“We have a lot of really nice regulars, and because we’ve worked here so long, we’ve gotten to know some of them,” Odell said. One customer who came into the shop on Monday said it was her third cone of soft-serve ice cream from Papa’s in a week.

Odell remarked that Papa’s has been busier than usual due the recent high temperatures. Walsh added that oftentimes the drive-thru line will extend out of the parking lot and onto West Shore Road.

The two workers said Papa’s most popular flavors are peanut butter cup and cappuccino crunch, in addition to the classic flavors such as chocolate and vanilla. They are also working on new flavors of waffle cones such as chocolate marbled, strawberry-lemon and cinnamon roll.

On Mondays, you can stop by Papa’s for their buy-one get-one free milkshake deal. Papa’s is located at 2987 West Shore Rd. in Warwick. Hours of operation are Sunday-Thursday, 2-9 p.m. and Friday-Saturday, 2-10 p.m. The shop is open for most of the year, closing for deep cleaning and restocking roughly from Christmas to February. Check out their Facebook page for more information.