HI,

Last night I stopped by Mario's for a lemonade before heading home. The manager advised they are closing this year on September 17th. They don't yet have peach, though he hopes it will be available the last two weeks. This suggests this might be available on Labor Day weekend.

Regards,

just got back into town and stopped @ marios on my way home from the airport. spoke w/skip. i tried guilt tripping him a bit about the old days and he says he's going to try to have the peach "very soon". i even offered to help prep. have to wait and see. won't hold my breath though.

hate to say it but today i was informed there will be no peach in mario'sland this season. skip the owner seems down for it, but last pm on my daily visit, bill the manager told me it wasn't going to happen. no amount of pouting seemed to help or reminiscences of the late great honeydew and mango, nothing. nada. mario sr. would be rolling in his ice bucket.

hopefully they'll have a change of heart.

Well, I don't know from peach at Mario's, but it'd be hard to imagine peach ice much better than what I just had from Anthony's on Southport, full of little bits of peach skin and rich with succulent, juicy high peach season flavor. Get yourself some and get over Mario's coquettry.

Mike G wrote:Well, I don't know from peach at Mario's, but it'd be hard to imagine peach ice much better than what I just had from Anthony's on Southport, full of little bits of peach skin and rich with succulent, juicy high peach season flavor. Get yourself some and get over Mario's coquettry.

On the same vein, petit pois and I recently stopped at Homer's Ice Cream and had a terrific scoop of peach ice cream which also was full of little bits of peach.

Homer's is short on atmosphere, but their ice cream is pretty darn good. I don't know how much longer they'll have peach, but it's worth trying if you have the chance to check it out.

Homer's Ice Cream
1237 Green Bay Rd.
Wilmette

HI,

Tomatoes early in the season are expensive relative to tomatoes at peak season. I have always thought Mario's waits until there is a plethora of peaches dirt cheap to make their peach lemonade. If the cost doesn't reach a point they are comfortable with, then they don't offer peach. When you sell something relatively inexpensive and in high volumes, then you do watch your price of materials.

Homer's is serving a different market who will gladly pay for more. I had their peach ice cream back in July, so they will acquire peaches to meet market demand rather than wait for the peach prices to drop.

I bought a bushel of peachs at the State Fair for $40. with plans to can them. Never did because my family raced through them in fairly short order. Next year I will buy two bushels, which I was tempted to do this year but wasn't too thrilled about the related work involved. Now I know better: one bushel for eating and one for canning.

Regards,

it seems to be more of a prep issue than a price issue. skip seems cool w/it but he (bill) just doesn't seem to want to take it on. i even offered to help prep w/skips son's mario jr and marco, who do the majority of the lemons. that idea was met by bill's glare so i backed off. i don't want it to become uncomfortable.

who knows what the real reason is. it is a shame though to disappoint loyal customers. i doubt they have any clue that it's absence is being discussed and mourned on the internet.

HI,

I talk to Bill also when I am there. Last year it was an issue of cost and availability, which was largely due to the drought.

I've talked to Bill about LTHforum a few times and he has a card. While they may be ignoring, they are aware at some level. In fact Bill marvelled a few years ago how he heard people anxiously waited for the peach via internet, which I affirmed.

I am completely satisfied with the lemonade all by itself. Peach is just a bonus.

Regards,

while i agree that the other flavors are a bonus and that the lemon would suffice, i can't help but long for the peach, nectarine, mango and honeydew that was available throughout the 70's and 80's when mario was still alive.

i've been on a banana/tutti frutti kick lately w/a cantaloupe/pineapple thrown in for good measure this season. i've found the watermelon to be very inconsistent. and as stated above, lemon is always a pleasure.

I'd like to officially begun Peachwatch 2007... none today.

i just got home from there myself. cantaloupe/lemon. spoke w/skip regarding peach and says he'll have it this season. wouldn't hold my breath though. dare i remember the days of mango and honeydew as well?

So my 2-year old thread still lives!

My semi-annual trip to the Chicago area comes up 8/15-23 and I plan to overindulge in as much pizza, italian beef/sausage and italian ice as I can handle. I'm hoping to get the elusive Mario's Peach!

I was there on Sunday (7/26/07) - no Peach! We had the lemon - fantastic on a hot day, and the pineapple which was delightful with little pineapple bits. but no peach...

Hi,

Peach, if it happens, comes in late August. The last two years there has been no peach.

Regards,

Boo hoo the peach was fabulous I remember it from my days as a student at UIC. But....I find Johnny's lemon on North Ave is very refreshing. Its not quite like Mario's but it is very intense like a lemon orgasm. Perfect for the upcoming heat wave. Try it you will like it.

peach is in the house for a "limited engagement". just had some and brought way to much home as well. could stand to be a bit more ripe but this works great after nearly 20 yrs (for me) w/o it.

jazzfood wrote:peach is in the house for a "limited engagement". just had some and brought way to much home as well. could stand to be a bit more ripe but this works great after nearly 20 yrs (for me) w/o it.

Mario's had peach today?!?!?

that would be a yes. for a couple of days.

Went to Mario's last night - peach was still there. I don't have much of a standard of comparison, having missed it the last few years, but it was still quite excellent (e.g. most of the pieces were perfectly ripe).

HI,

I was there last night, too. It was a better peach than when I had it several years ago. How fresh was the fruit? I recovered a stray piece of peach steam in mine. It doesn't come any fresher than that.

On the peach front, I heard there was an ill timed frost in the peach growing regions of southern Illinois. As of now, my downstate connections have not seen one local peach. I will be at the State Fair next week, I hope they might have Illinois grown peaches. I bought a bushel there last year, which were consumed immediately by my family.

Regards,

On my bike ride back from the farmer's market in the loop (getting MI peaches & blueberries, natch!) I stopped at Mario's and they still have the peach...what a refreshing cool-down on a warm afternoon.

This may have been mentioned elsewhere, but Mario's currently has peach (at least as of yesterday -- I did not have a chance to inquire as to how long the run will be). While the fruit pieces themselves could have been slightly more ripe, the whole of the ice was really delicious.

A bit al dente but the ice is right on the money.

Thanks for the report. Mario's peach is a highlight of Chicago summer.

Agreed. I'm eating some as I write this. The peach is riper today and w/a tutti frutti extra large combo, all is well and my thirst has been quenched.

LAZ wrote:Thanks for the report. Mario's peach is a highlight of Chicago summer.

Missed Peach at Mario's last year, did not make the same mistake this year, truly a Chicago summer highlight.

Hi,

I was at Mario's just before closing time last night. The peach was exceptionally good with a really ripe peach flavor. It made the traffic jam on the Edens a bit more bearable.

Regards,

Cathy2 wrote:Hi,

I was at Mario's just before closing time last night. The peach was exceptionally good with a really ripe peach flavor. It made the traffic jam on the Edens a bit more bearable.

Regards,

You'll be happy to know that as of tomorrow, the Edens will be completely open in both directions, except for overnight hours and weekends. It will be a much easier trip from now on.

Get it while you can. Mario's closes this yr on 9/14.

As with Cathy's yesterday, peach today is fantastic. Much more ripe than last weekend; none of the more al dente peach bits that characterized the batch last weekend (which was still very good).