Spring has hit Chicago, and with summer just around the corner, you’ll want to cool off with ice cream. Below, we’ve listed even Chicago ice cream shops where you can get classic flavors or try innovative creations.
The Original Rainbow Cone
South Side-Born: Opened in Beverly in 1926, The Original Rainbow Cone has expanded to the Mag Mile and West Town. During the summer, you can also find trucks and stands at Navy Pier, the Museum Campus and Lincoln Park Zoo. Its eponymous creation consists of slices of chocolate, strawberry, Palmer House (vanilla with cherries and walnuts), pistachio and orange sherbet ice cream. The shop also offers shakes, sundaes, donuts and ice cream cakes.
Cone Gourmet Ice Cream
Refined and Refreshing: Classic ice cream gets elevated at Cone Gourmet, a family-run West Loop establishment. Of particular note are its alcoholic flavors — including Bailey’s, Cognac gingerbread and Guinness — that contain no alcohol. Beyond ice cream, Cone Gourmet also offers Italian sorbetto, ice lollies and chocolate-dipped bananas.
Kurimu
Boba-Topped Ice Cream: Ice cream gets an Asian-inspired twist at Kurimu, which offers flavors like purple yam, Thai iced tea and pandan, along with inventive toppings like mini mochi, boba pearls and Pocky sticks. It’s grown to four locations in Lincoln Park, Wicker Park, Schaumburg and the Near West Side at UIC — the Lincoln Park shop also has a cafe with bubble tea and dalgona coffee.
Margie’s Candies
Classic Confections: Founded in Bucktown in 1921, Margie’s has served sweetness to Chicago for more than 100 years. It’s carved out a whole section of its menu for the turtle flavor — as in, chocolate, caramel and nuts — including the “world’s largest terrapin” sundae. From ice cream sodas and banana splits to shakes and sundaes, Margie’s has classic flavors along with innovations like mango dragonfruit and peanut butter pretzel. It’s added a location in Ravenswood and continues to act as a classic, old-fashioned candy store.
Lickity Split
Blast from the Past: From its pinstriped awnings to its shelves full of chocolate, Lickity Split in Edgewater and West Ridge commits to the retro aesthetic, with vintage and hard-to-find candies along with its classic, creamy custard. There are only three flavors — vanilla, chocolate and a flavor of the month — but you can create an infinite amount of possibilities with 30 toppings, plus more than a dozen concretes and sundaes. The Edgewater location is conveniently down the street from other vintage stores like the labyrinthine Broadway Antique Market.
Annette’s Italian Ice
Feel-Good Brain Freeze: Annette’s is a Lincoln Park institution serving homemade smoothies, ice cream, frozen yogurt and “Italian fro-yo” — a combination of Italian ice and frozen yogurt. Its brownie sundae was even featured on WGN’s Chicago’s Best. For furry friends in search of a frosty refreshment, Annette’s also has high-protein, no-sugar-added frozen dog treats.
Windy City Sweets
Pothole-Themed Flavor: Towering tubes of candy are priced by the pound at Windy City Sweets. The old-fashioned candy shop based in Northalsted also serves ice cream, milkshakes, malts and floats along with daily specials. One of its most eccentric flavors is the aptly-named Chicago Pothole — chocolate with thick fudge and chunks of chocolate “asphalt.”
