Soft serve is lighter and creamier than ice cream, which tends to be richer and denser with a higher fat content. Also, frozen custard contains egg yolks, so you can’t compare the two.
The problem I had with some legendary spots was the soft serve just had a very artificial sweetness, with a texture that was, um, lacking. These five all not only taste great, but the first two also offer vegan options.
The ice cream and novelties at Dairy Star – a legendary soft serve temple in Lincolnwood – have fed generations on hot summer days. The store went completely kosher in 1999, and more recently, added a vegan option.
“We think there should be something here for everyone and there’s a lot of people who don’t eat dairy, so we have a delicious vegan soft serve,” said Chris Kersten, one of the owners at Dairy Star.
Using soy milk, the soft serve can be topped just like any other cone, or turned into a shake.
Over in Wicker Park, the two year-old Vaca’s Creamery is a 100% vegan creamery, making sundaes, cones and shakes that get some customers - like this mom and her kids - to drive down from Palatine.
“We use an oat milk base for our vanilla and chocolate then we have a seasonal flavor which we use a different base – we make our own tahini milk. And then we flavored it with orange blossom,” said co-owner Dylan Sutcliff.
The Food Guy
In the West Loop, Cone has an Irish theme to their malts and sundaes, but in addition to their hard ice cream, their soft serve has just the right amount of sweetness. And while the chocolate-vanilla swirl is a reliable option, the orange-vanilla dreamsicle combo is just delightlful.
Down the block, VietFive is known for their Vietnamese coffee, but they also have a stellar soft serve, currently featuring ube – the purple yam – as well as vanilla. As good as the swirl is, it’s really the icy-creamy texture that lures me back again and again.
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And the Asian influence is taken to another level at Kurimu, which now has three locations in the city – including in Lincoln Park – as well as Schaumburg. Their Asian affogato is irresistible.
“We start with the whipped Dalgona coffee on the base and we put our Hokkaido milk ice soft serve on top, and then we put the mini Stan’s donut and then top it off with chocolate hard shell,” said Ming Ng, Owner of Kurimu.
Flavors rotate among the four stores. On a recent day, it was either the Hokkaido milk or Nutella – or both, which is great – and then you have to choose which type of cone to have it in.
“Matcha flavor, lavender, chocolate, red velvet; all the kids love the color cones,” he said.
Here are a number of soft serve joints you can check out:
3472 W. Devon Ave., Lincolnwood
847-679-3472
1436 W. Blackhawk St.
2324 W. Giddings
1047 W. Madison
312-666-5111
1116 W. Madison
312-929-4732
1632 W. Division St., 773-687-8710
1159 W. Taylor St., 312-877-5227
2668 N. Halsted St., 773-360-1656
601 N. Martingale Rd. #165, Schaumburg, 630-283-0782
Honorable Mention:
1381 W. Grand Ave., 312-733-3285
132 E. Golf Rd., Arlington Heights, 847-258-3736
