The Midwest is home to plenty of sweet treats, and ice cream is simply the cherry on top
Words by Maggie Dickman
Graphic by Emily VanSchmus
Life is sweet—especially thanks to ice cream. Whether you’re testing your tastebuds with a classic scoop of chocolate or an obscure nitrogen-based concoction, the options for delicious dairy treats are endless. Urban Plains has the scoop on a few of our favorite places to pick up your next ice cream cone, no matter where you are in the Midwest.
Illinois
George’s Ice Cream and Sweets—Chicago, IL
Must try: #YouSalty
George’s Ice Cream is a home away from home. Started by the Stotis family as a way to celebrate their father’s welcoming personality, George’s is meant to be more than just a shop—with cozy furniture and board games for entertainment, it’s a place for people to come, hang out and have good conversation over a delicious dessert. With 32 rotating flavors supplied by The Chocolate Shoppe in Madison, Wisconsin, this shop proves that home is wherever the ice cream spoon is.
George’s Ice Cream and Sweets
5306 N. Clark St.
Chicago, IL 60640
(773) 271-7600
Indiana
BRICS: Broad Ripple Ice Cream Station—Indianapolis, IN
Must try: Yellow Cake Batter
Formed as a two-family venture hoping to provide a sweet treat to their Indy community, BRICS has accomplished that and more with their environmentally friendly-mentality. Located in an old train depot, BRICS provides reusable metal sample spoons and desserts served in glasses. The shop, which carries 24 permanent and 12 rotating flavors all sourced from one hundred-year-old Sherman Ice Cream in South Haven, Michigan, is a thoughtful stop for a right-at-home experience as soon as you walk in the door.
Brics Broad Ripple Ice Cream Station
901 E. 64th St.
Indianapolis, Indiana 46220
(317) 257-5757
Iowa
The Outside Scoop—Indianola, IA
Must try: Goat Cheese with Cherries
The Outside Scoop is a central Iowa staple with a “craft ice cream” mentality. With 24 flavors in the store and seven on rotation in the ice cream truck, returning customers can always count on their favorite to be on tap. The Outside Scoop tries to locally source as many of their ingredients as they can, even their non-traditional ingredients. Take, for example, their Goat Cheese with Cherries blend—all the cheese is purchased from Iowa-based Reichert’s Dairy Air.
The Outside Scoop
602 N. Jefferson Way
Indianola, IA 50125
(515) 689-1890
Kansas
Churn & Burn—Wichita, KS
Must try: Tiramisu Churn & Burn
At Churn & Burn, you get a taste of ice cream turned science experiment. Ice cream is made right in front of the customer using liquid nitrogen. The shop uses all-natural, locally sourced ingredients, and because the ice cream is made right in front of you, you know that it’s fresh. The Churn & Burn, a fan favorite, combines their signature coffee and cream base with your choice of mix-ins, creating thousands of cool combinations at your fingertips—pun intended.
Churn & Burn
548 S. Oliver St.
Wichita, Kansas
(316) 425-7766
Michigan
Moomers Homemade Ice Cream—Traverse City, MI
Must try: Cherries Moobilee
Since 1998, Moomers has taken pride in their cow-to-cone mentality. With over 160 flavors made right from their on-site dairy, the entire production process is as homemade as it is homegrown. Their staple flavor Cherries Moobilee—with black cherry ice cream, cherry chunks, brownie pieces and a fudge swirl—might just send you into a creamy coma. The shop was dubbed the best ice cream shop in the U.S. by Good Morning America back in 2008 solidifying the dessert shop’s place in history.
Moomers Homemade Ice Cream
7263 N. Long Lake Rd.
Traverse City, MI 49685
(231) 941-4122
Minnesota
Sebastian Joe’s—Minneapolis, MN
Must try: Raspberry Chocolate Chip
Featuring kosher ice creams and sorbets, Sebastian Joe’s has been making homemade ice cream using all-natural ingredients for over 30 years. The Minneapolis shop’s local focus is what has kept them relevant for so long. With classic flavors made every day, from the fan-favorite Raspberry Chocolate Chip to the iconic Minneapolis-inspired Nicollet Avenue Pothole—chocolate, caramel, Heath bar, fudge truffle and sea salt—the shop has more than one way to keep ice cream aficionados coming back for more.
Sebastian Joe’s
1007 W. Franklin Ave (Uptown)
Minneapolis, MN 55405
(612) 870-0065
4321 Upton Ave (Linden Hills)
Minneapolis, MN 55410
(612) 926-7916
Missouri
Glacé Artisan Ice Cream—Kansas City, MO
Must try: Fleur de Sel Caramel
Founded by Kansas City chocolatier Christopher Elbow, Glacé Artisan Ice Cream uses hormone-free milk and cream from cows right at home in Missouri. Their six core flavors, along with their 14 additional rotating seasonal flavors, do not use anything artificial. From Butternut Squash & Brown Sugar to Fleur de Sel Caramel, a sea salt caramel with Christopher Elbow chocolate pieces, there’s a unique scoop that’s sure to satisfy any sweet tooth.
Glacé Artisan Ice Cream
4960 Main St.
Kansas City, Missouri 64112
(816) 561-1117
Nebraska
Ted & Wally’s Ice Cream—Omaha, NE
Must try: Salty Seahorse
What’s cooler: the fact that Ted & Wally’s Ice Cream has invented over 2,000 flavors of ice cream or that the two Omaha locations call revamped gas stations home? Urban Plains votes for both. Whether you stick to the more traditional, caramel-based Salty Seahorse, or you want to go all out with Reel Fish—made with real salmon and cream cheese—there is something for the adventurous and the people who prefer to play it safe. Bonus: All of their ice cream is made without preservatives.
Ted & Wally’s Ice Cream
1120 Jackson St.
Omaha, NE 68102
(402) 341-5827
6023 Maple St.
Omaha, NE 68104
(402) 551-4420
North Dakota
Dakota Drug—Stanley, ND
Must try: Peanut Butter and Dill Pickle WhirlaWhip
A step into Dakota Drug is, in its truest form, a blast from the past. The drug store has been open since the early 1900s and serves ice cream using a 1953 Whirla-Whip machine—one of the only left in the United States. The perks? After you watch the ice cream made in front of you, the concoction building begins. Whether you want peanut butter or pickles (or both), the shop gives customers a one-of-a-kind experience.
Dakota Drug
107 S. Main St.
Stanley, ND 58784
(701) 628-2255
Ohio
Aglamesis Bro’s Ice Cream and Candy—Cincinnati, OH
Must try: Chocolate Chip
This four-generation, family-owned and operated shop is all about history. Located in its original 1913 parlor, Aglamesis makes its own ice cream and chocolates following the original family recipe. With around 17 flavors of premium French ice cream, along with a small batch of European Ice—a sorbet made of frozen sweet water flavored with fresh fruits and fruit extracts—as well as homemade chocolates, it’s clear that these homemade confections can satisfy any kind of sweet tooth.
Aglamesis Bro’s Ice Cream and Candy
3046 Madison Rd.
Cincinnati, OH 45209
(513) 531-5196
9899 Montgomery Road
Cincinnati, Ohio 45242
(513) 791-7082
Wisconsin
Purple Door—Milwaukee, WI
Must try: Brandy Old Fashioned
Purple Door Ice Cream is all about the process. Every ice cream flavor is made and packaged by hand right before your eyes, with glass windows showing the sweet treat being made by the ice cream makers themselves. Try their signature Brandy Old Fashioned ice cream—made with brandy, bitters, cherries and oranges—for a spin on a Wisconsin classic. And whether they’re using whiskey from the local Great Lakes Distillery or caramel from Becky’s Blissful Bakery for their Salted Caramel, the brand tries their best to source locally. With 130 flavors and counting, Purple Door shows no signs of slowing down.
Purple Door
205 S. 2nd St.
Milwaukee, Wisconsin 53204
(414) 988-2521
