Pilgrimage to Mitchell's Ice Cream - 12/29

Since reading about the imminent demise of Mitchell's Candies and Ice Cream, I can't get past the need to make one final pilgrimage before the curtain comes down on New Year's Eve. I'm planning on going tomorrow, Friday 12/29 at approx. 1:00 P.M.

The more I think about this, the more I hear the words of Pink Floyd echoing in my brain, “If you don’t eat your meat, you can’t have any pudding. How can you have any pudding if you don’t eat your meat?”, so I propose we meet at Pop's for one of the better Italian Beef sandwiches in the Chicagoland Area at noon and head over to Mitchell's, which is just a few blocks away, for desert.

If anyone is interested in meeting up with me at Pop's, or joining us a Mitchell's afterwords, please reply to this message or send me a P.M.

Pop's Beef
18328 Governors Highway
Homewood, IL
708-647-9999

Mitchell's Candies & Ice Cream
18211 Dixie Hwy
Homewood, IL
708-799-3835

I'm bumping my own thread because I originally put the wrong date in my posting. The event is Friday 12/29, not 12/28 as originally posted.

I would join you, but I'll be at work. I would, however, encourage others to go. Get the hot fudge sundae with chocolate chip ice cream. It rocks!!

Suzy

We're going to head there, whether or not anyone else is.

I'm just home from what was my last trip to Mitchell's. There was a line out the door, mostly familiar faces, of people trying to get their ice cream before they close. We were limited to take-out from what was left in the freezer case, and they were out of most everything. We nabbed some pistachio, some vanilla, some strawberry and I got a half pound of the dark chocolate orange peel. A friend of mine was sitting and waiting for a fresh batch of turtles and told me George said he has had more business in the past few days than in the previous three months put together.

I'm just devastated that I won't be able to run to Mitchell's whenever I get the urge. This is truly a premium ice cream. What a shame.

Suzy

sdritz wrote:I'm just devastated that I won't be able to run to Mitchell's whenever I get the urge. This is truly a premium ice cream. What a shame.

Suzy

I can't understand why the notice of closing was such a small time window. Maybe they'll pull a "John's Pizza" where after the huge rush of business they decide to stay open for a little while longer.

Artie

I heard from someone in the store that the long-time manager wants to buy the business, but George does not want to sell it to him. Since George owns the building, I can't see how it would hurt him to stay open a little longer and see if his customers come back. He had the whole family working there today, including his wife, local kids and grandkids. They still couldn't keep up with the demand. It reminded me of the day they opened in Homewood. I still recall standing in line with my family, impatiently waiting for our turn to slide into a booth and order. The place was jam packed with former customers from the South Shore store.

HI,

I couldn't attend Friday's wingding, though I did go on Thursday evening. Yes, a mere 50 miles from home and with the holiday's reduced traffic, it took just over an hour to get there.

We ordered the sdritz recommended Hot Fudge Sundae with chocolate chip and toffee ice creams. I might have been willing to pay for an additional scoop if black walnut ice cream had been available:



The hot fudge was really quite the star of this sundae with a nice bitter sweet taste and dense texture. There were no jars of hot fudge by the ice cream case, though the pricing signage was there. I had heard various people ordering candies, which they had run out of some varieties with a hint they might be available on Saturday. When I paid the bill I speculatively asked for a jar of hot fudge. I was rewarded with a pint jar pulled from under the counter at just over $8.

While Mitchell's had been on my to-do list, I was glad to have had an opportunity to go just this once:



I thought Homewood was a pretty nice town. I was intrigued by Bogart's Steakhouse next door with an image of Bogart himself on the signage. I was also lost for a while, I saw a place called Beggar's Pizza that was teaming with people. I also found a stretch of Dixie Highway dedicated to a sidekick of Frank Sinatra:



By the time I got home, I had put 130 miles on the car. A member of my family saw the fudge jar and take-out menu, then made some comment like, "You sure do go far for a little fun." Little do they know!

Regards,

Lucky you, Cathy! I was hoping to get some of that fudge, but it's all gone now.

For those of you living north, I heard George made his final run to Sunset Foods with ice cream on Thursday. Get it now before it's gone.

Suzy

I made the pilgrimage to Mitchell's along with the entire Gebert Clan on Friday. We started off with a lunch at the Homewood Pop's and then moved on to the main event at Mitchell's.



On Friday afternoon Mitchell's wasn't all that busy, with only a few people buying candy (the woman in front of me bought out the last few caramels, which would have been my order, damn her). All of the tables were unoccupied, so we settled in and ordered some ice cream. Miles & Liam each had a cone and the Geberts and I each ordered a hot fudge sundae. I'm a purest of sorts when it comes to my hot fudge sundaes (with apologies to sdritz), so I ordered my usual hot fudge with vanilla ice cream and whipped cream. Despite the insipid, airy, straight from the can whipped cream, the sundae was delicious, thanks mainly to the excellent hot fudge.

Hot Fudge Sundae Feeding Frenzy


While Mitchell's isn't a place I visited all that often, due to the 45 minute drive to get there from my house, I'll miss it nonetheless. It's yet another of the vanishing treasures of the Chicago dining scene.

photos courtesy of Mike G

stevez wrote:While Mitchell's isn't a place I visited all that often, due to the 45 minute drive to get there from my house, I'll miss it nonetheless. It's yet another of the vanishing treasures of the Chicago dining scene.

Very well put!

A Homewood institution, Mitchell's Ice Cream & Candies, has begun selling its frozen treats in grocery stores around the Chicago area.

http://www.chicagobusiness.com/article/ ... e-near-you