Homer's Ice Cream

I took my 3 year old son to Homer's today. It was his first trip. When I got home I searched LTH and was stunned to see that Homer's doesn't have a dedicated thread. Surprising, considering their ice cream (especially peach) has been mentioned many times in various threads over the years.

Perhaps people don't realize that before Homer's started wholesaling their ice cream to the potbelly's of the world, they were, and still are, a stand alone operation on Greenbay Road in Wilmette. My own history with Homer's goes back almost 40 years--we celebrated every little league win at Homer's for years (of course it helps that Dean Polous's son was on my team which was coached by Charlie Trotter's dad) Homer's, according to their website, has been around since 1935. As far as superpremium type ice cream, I think they are easily the best on the North Shore and one of the better shops/brands in Chicago. I know that people love what they grew up with but the more opportunities I have to sample other iconic ice cream places, like the Original Rainbow Cone which is drek in my opinion, the more i appreciate Homer's.

Anyway, the reason for my post is to mention that they are serving fresh peach ice cream at the moment, which is a seasonal offering. It is absolutely fantastic.

Homer's Homemade Gourmet Ice Cream
1237 Green Bay Road
Wilmette, IL 60091
Phone: (847) 251-0477

Homer's is definitely worthy of it's own dedicated thread. BTW - in regards to your comment about Rainbow, it's dreck, not drek.

I'm a big fan of Homer's. My history with it is much more recent. I went to college in Evanston about 10 years ago, and a good friend and I made routine ice cream trips up there. More recently, I thought it no less than auspicious that I found myself doing yoga teacher training for 22 consecutive days immediately next door to Homer's. I don't think I would have made it through those grueling three weeks without their ice cream.

And it's funny, iblock9, that you created this thread just yesterday, as I am back next door to Homer's starting today for several days of continuing (yoga) education. Though, with much sadness, I must eliminate dairy from my diet, so I can only walk out of yoga and glance longingly at Homer's with peach ice cream in mind. That is fantastic stuff, and Homer's is a gem.

It's funny you should start this thread. I visited Homer's for the first time in aobut 30 years last weekend. I like their ice cream a lot, though I think it's overshadowed by their hot fudge.

Homer's eggnog ice cream, available around winter holiday time, is really wonderful. It's flavorful and aromatic, with a perfect density. I too, am a big fan of their peach.

The place itself is classic 'old skool' and there are far too few like it left.

=R=

Their hot fudge does, in fact, rule.

In my experience, everything on the menu that isn't ice cream related is just okay, at best. Hot dogs, fries, burgers... whatever, is just taking up valuable stomach real estate that would be better used by ice cream.

ChgoMike wrote:. . . Hot dogs, fries, burgers... whatever, is just taking up valuable stomach real estate that would be better used by ice cream.

I find this to be generally true in life, too; not just at Homer's.

=R=

Dave148 wrote: it's dreck, not drek.

I think drek is the yiddish, dreck is the german. Either way I think Rainbow Cone is Sh*t!!

I agree on all counts.

Homer's is about 9 blocks away and it is the lure of the peach ice cream that keeps me coming for more. It's burgers and dogs are fine-really. The folks are friendly as Hell as they let me keep something in their freezer for a week that would not fit in mine-no questions asked. A true local place. BTW- The Works (my fave gyros place) in Morton Grove serves Homer's.

Used to go to Homer's every 3rd of July after the fireworks at Gillson Park. Definitely an institution on the northside.

Growing up, I always went back and forth between Homer's and Peacock's, both of which had outrageous ice cream, including the seasonal fresh peach. As a kid, I think I preferred Peacock's just because the shop was right on the lake, in an area known at the time as No Man's Land (now part of Wilmette). Through high school, I ate both, but probably ate more Homer's because it was a not unreasonable detour from the walk home from New Trier. Later, when Peacock's opened a location in Skokie and became the ice cream served at Ravinia, it again became my ice cream of choice. But then Peacock's vanished. I switched back to Homer's until their Glenview location closed. I haven't been to the Wilmette location in decades, and had almost forgotten it existed. Thanks for the reminder. Maybe it's time to visit the old stomping grounds -- especially if peach is in season.

Cynthia wrote:Growing up, I always went back and forth between Homer's and Peacock's

Peacock's, that brings back memories. Remember Dr. Jazz in Evanston? BTW, second trip to Homer's tonight in as many days with my son. Thank you stevez, i forgot how could the hot fudge is.

I think they still serve Homer's in the Bloomingdale's in the city & Fox & Obel. Fox & Obel used to, I suspect they still do, use it for the pie a la mode as well.

Peach ice cream & lemon ice cream are my all time favorites. They are hard to find anywhere.

Long live Homers.

Just a slight detour but the new Peterson's Ice Cream in Elmhurst had Peach last night. Very tasty.

I'm a Homer's fan too, but living so far west I'm rarely in striking distance and I miss the place.

Lot's of New Trier alumni here....

Thanks for bringing back the memory of Peacock's and Dr. Jazz

As far as Homer's goes, I have always thought that their chocolate ice cream was unique.

Does anyone remember the Crystal Palace ice cream parlor in Marshall Fields? They had the most wonderful apple cinnamon ice cream. I thought I'd never have anything like that again--until I moved to Evanston and found one just as good at Homer's!

lnasreen wrote:Does anyone remember the Crystal Palace ice cream parlor in Marshall Fields? They had the most wonderful apple cinnamon ice cream.

I am a huge fane of cinnamon ice cream but have not seen a plain cinnamon at Homer's. The closest I have found is Hartigan's in Evanston. I think they use ice cream from The Chocolate Shop, but I might be wrong.

Hartigan's Ice Cream Shop
2909 Central St
(between Lincolnwood Dr & Reese Ave)
Evanston, IL 60201
(847) 491-1232

lnasreen wrote:Does anyone remember the Crystal Palace ice cream parlor in Marshall Fields? They had the most wonderful apple cinnamon ice cream. I thought I'd never have anything like that again--until I moved to Evanston and found one just as good at Homer's!

Oh, man -- the Crystal Palace was the first place I ran into a soda I couldn't finish -- ultra-rich Frango mint ice cream in a chocolate soda. They were so generous with the ice cream that they served additional soda water on the side, so you could refill the glass as you made room for more liquid.

pairs4life wrote:Peach ice cream & lemon ice cream are my all time favorites. They are hard to find anywhere.

Sidebar:
Pairs4life--Where have you been able to find lemon ice cream in the Chicago area? I look for it every summer without much success. I did find lemon custard at Scooter's last month , but other than that, I struck out.... It's one of my favorites also.

iblock9 wrote:

lnasreen wrote:Does anyone remember the Crystal Palace ice cream parlor in Marshall Fields? They had the most wonderful apple cinnamon ice cream.

I am a huge fane of cinnamon ice cream but have not seen a plain cinnamon at Homer's. The closest I have found is Hartigan's in Evanston. I think they use ice cream from The Chocolate Shop, but I might be wrong.

Hartigan's Ice Cream Shop
2909 Central St
(between Lincolnwood Dr & Reese Ave)
Evanston, IL 60201
(847) 491-1232

Oberweis has cinnamon ice cream on their rotating menu right now. I'm not sure for how long, but if it's gone it will rotate back again eventually.

I could swear that Homer's has cinnamon around Christmastime along with eggnog. Thanksgiving season usually brings pumpkin - yum. I'm a NT alum too (who knew there were so many of us on this forum?) and have fond memories of eating sundaes at Homer's.

The apple cinnamon I mentioned earlier was available at Homers last year, in early Fall . . . hope it comes back.

I just noticed the other night that Bo-Bo's in Vernon Hills, in the same Dominick's shopping center with Saffron, serves Homer's ice cream.

(p.s., haven't yet checked out the new Tagine Casablanca in the same strip, has anyone else?)

FYI when my wife was last pregnant we discovered the huge Homer's selection available at the Glencoe/Hubbard Woods 7-11.

Katie wrote:I just noticed the other night that Bo-Bo's in Vernon Hills, in the same Dominick's shopping center with Saffron, serves Homer's ice cream.

(p.s., haven't yet checked out the new Tagine Casablanca in the same strip, has anyone else?)

About half of the ice cream canister's at Bo-Bo's are labelled Homer's and half are labelled Ashby's Sterling. We wanted to try Homer's ice cream, but did not notice that the canisters for the ice creams we ordered were labelled Ashby's until too late.

Hi- I was in Homer's a few days ago9, and I want to remind people that their peach ice cream is on the menu again. I highly recommend it. It has been rated the best peach ice cream in the country. I try to make it there at least once during peach season. It won't be around much longer. Hope this helps, Nancy

NFriday wrote:It has been rated the best peach ice cream in the country.

Had the ultimate peach day on Friday. Mario's peach lemonade for lunch and took the kids for peach ice cream at Homers on Friday night. I also grilled peaches over the weekend. Love this time of year.

Returned to Homers a few weeks back and it's still chugging along like always for the most part. I've always been more partial toe the food as opposed to the ice cream. The food seems to have slipped a slight bit in recent years. However, the ice cream is still as good as ever. I still argue, undoubtedly, that Homers has the best peach ice cream I've ever had, and some of the best sherbets and sorbets. Still good, though, are the unforgettably delicious and creamy shakes and malts. I could easily have one a day.

Homer's is still an excellent place to grab an after dinner snack. Ironically enough, the holiday season is one of my favorite times of year to go there, too. There's something about that place that rekindles memories of childhood so quickly and easily. There aren't many places quite like Homer's left in Chicagoland anymore. There are a few, but not many. Can't wait to go back around Christmastime.

Peach is ne of my favorite flavors and I agree that Homer's is one of the best I've ever tasted.