Iconic Balboa Banana Stand Hits the Market for Millions

For anyone who’s ever been to Balboa Island in Newport Beach, the iconic fantasy of a Southern California beach day includes munching a frozen banana or ice cream treat to beat the heat. Now, the iconic Sugar ‘n Spice dessert stand has come up for sale. The World War II-era banana stand, which inspired a similar establishment on TV’s Arrested Development, is on the market. Asking price? $3.5 million, $5 million including the banana business.

Arrested Development creator Mitchell Hurwitz was born in Orange County and worked in a Balboa cookie shop as a teenager. His characters often boasted that “There’s always money in the banana stand,” but the “Bluth’s Original Frozen Banana” stand on the show famously burned down filled with cash.

“The island is mostly higher end boutiques these days,” says local historian Chris Jepsen. “The vibe has changed. So much of the fun stuff has gone away. These are the sorts of places that give a place personality and color and sense of history.”

The place opened as Dot & Bob Candies on Marine Avenue in 1945. Don Cook’s parents tasked their 11-year-old son with cleaning up the shop. “I had accidentally put (bananas) in the freezer,” he told KTLA News. “Why don’t we peel them and throw them in some hot chocolate?”

Today, the sweet treat is still handmade, affordable, delicious, and also available just a few yards away at a competing stand called Dad’s. The rivalry also includes the “Balboa Bar,” a slab of vanilla ice cream on a stick and also covered in chocolate. Sugar ‘n Spice owner Helen Connolly told the Los Angeles Times in 2005 that Dad’s was a copy. “I told the girls not to give away my recipe,” she said. “They sent a handsome boy over to chat up one of my girls and she spilled the beans.”

“While both claim to have been the first purveyors of the frozen banana in Newport,” says Jeff Delaney, author of Newport Beach's Balboa and Balboa Island. “It was Don Phillips who opened the first frozen banana stand, in 1940, across the bay on the Balboa Peninsula. For this he earned the moniker "the frozen banana king."

Both stands continue to churn out countless bananas and Balboa bars, but current owners Will and Courtney Alovis are ready to move on. “After 29 years, our family is ready to pass the banana (pun intended) to the next family to carry on the tradition of serving smiles and memories,” she said in a statement. “We look forward to coming back many, many times as customers, to continue to enjoy our favorite treats.”