Shake Crawl

A friend of mine is trying to put together a milkshake crawl (great activity for October, right) and has asked me to suggest some places to include. Other than The Brown Sack, I'm at a bit of a loss trying to think of places in the city that have really great shakes.

So...suggestions? I'd like to keep this in the city to the extent possible.

Potbelly's doesn't count.

Off the top of my head, Irazu comes to mind, and it's not too far from the Brown Sack.

I'll add:
Margie's Candies
1960 N Western Ave.
Chicago, IL 60647
(773) 384-1035

I'm getting brain freeze just thinking about a shake crawl, but I'll throw in Susie's. 50 flavors!

Susie's Drive Thru
4126 W Montrose Ave
(Btwn N Elston & N Keeler Ave)

Scooter's Frozen Custard may still be open. Not sure how late in the season they close. (According to the Website, they observe have modified Fall hours until Dec 2.)

Not strictly ice-cream shakes, but fantastic. The Boston Milk Shake is fantastic.

1658 West Belmont Avenue
773-244-6415

Photo courtesy of G Wiv

Top Notch Beefburgers
2116 W 95th St
Chicago, IL 60643
(773) 445-7218

I want in. I think the 2nd best vanilla shake in the city, Brown Sack is my 1st Choice, is Samuelson's custard one on the 7th floor of Macy's.

That's quite a bit of traveling for shakes.

Count me so in.

I'm also willing to try White Palace Grill, after seeing the results on TOC. I've never been to the place in my life. Weiner Circle used to have an amazing vanilla milkshake. But that was back in the Jurassic period.

PS Can the next annual Shake Crawl be in 2010 on the Summer Solstice ?

No, not in the city, but I just love the shakes at GNR Paradise Pup . . . too bad they stopped making pumpkin because that was my favorite. In any event, if you're near the highway around Bucktown, you can get to the Pup on a Saturday in about 30 or so minutes.

I'm not sure whether there are any within the city limits, but I would think Steak 'n Shake should make your list if you can find one that's convenient.

BR wrote:No, not in the city, but I just love the shakes at GNR Paradise Pup . . . too bad they stopped making pumpkin because that was my favorite. In any event, if you're near the highway around Bucktown, you can get to the Pup on a Saturday in about 30 or so minutes.

Yeah, Paradise Pup is somewhat distant based on the location desire, but they do make a great shake. I was actually talking about shakes for a bit at the GNR dinner last night, and mentioned that the craving that conversation was bringing on would have me at Paradise Pup sometime this week. Their chocolate banana shake is a thing of beauty. With a whole banana sliced into the shake, the resulting flavor is a perfect match for a chocolate and banana crepe on the streets of Paris. Worth the extra drive, in my opinion.

oberweis makes the best shake I've had in this town. Ask for extra thick.

ucjames wrote:I was actually talking about shakes for a bit at the GNR dinner last night, and mentioned that the craving that conversation was bringing on would have me at Paradise Pup sometime this week. Their chocolate banana shake is a thing of beauty. With a whole banana sliced into the shake, the resulting flavor is a perfect match for a chocolate and banana crepe on the streets of Paris.

Wow. That is high praise. I'm not really a milkshake person, but you may have just convinced me to make a visit to Des Plaines some time soon.

happy_stomach wrote:

ucjames wrote:I was actually talking about shakes for a bit at the GNR dinner last night, and mentioned that the craving that conversation was bringing on would have me at Paradise Pup sometime this week. Their chocolate banana shake is a thing of beauty. With a whole banana sliced into the shake, the resulting flavor is a perfect match for a chocolate and banana crepe on the streets of Paris.

Wow. That is high praise. I'm not really a milkshake person, but you may have just convinced me to make a visit to Des Plaines some time soon.

That's my go to shake at PP as well...except I always get it as a malt.

Oh boy, this sounds like a lot of fun!
Though I never had the shakes here, you may want to try Village Creamery since they have a lot of unusual flavors. It's a bit out of the way though (Niles and Skokie).

http://www.villagecreamery.com/index.html

Cupid's shakes have been great for 50 years. My Dad used to take me to the one at 63rd and Kedzie next to the Marquette Theater.....both long gone. The store on 95th in Oak Lawn and one on 143rd St in Orland both still have full soda fountains.

Cupid Candies
4707 W. 95th Street
Oak Lawn, IL 60453
Phone 708-423-2729

Staying in the city:

Hot Chocolate
1747 N. Damen Ave.
(773) 489-1747
http://www.hotchocolatechicago.com/
A little more "upscale" shakes, including one with Brooklyn Brewery Caramel Stout

Chicago Diner
3411 N. Halsted St.
(773) 935-6696
http://www.veggiediner.com
Vegan Peanut Butter Cookie Dough milkshake

From the guy running the crawl:

These are all great suggestions! Thanks Steinf for starting the thread. I will be using many of these on the trip. I am setting up a plan now, and will ppm a link to anyone who wants to come.

PS - I lurk LTH because occasionally you send traffic to my website.

Please add me to your list! This sounds delightful. Thanks!

I used to like the shakes as Superdawg but it's been a looong time.

Drinktown wrote:From the guy running the crawl:

These are all great suggestions! Thanks Steinf for starting the thread. I will be using many of these on the trip. I am setting up a plan now, and will ppm a link to anyone who wants to come.

PS - I lurk LTH because occasionally you send traffic to my website.

Bah! My worlds are colliding!

It was a few years ago, but I remember
having a shake at some diner, I believe
on Broadway in Lakeview (Lakeview Diner?),
that was a house-special shake (called
“Somebody’s” Elixir) with an incredible
chocolate and coffee flavor. Worth
tracking down if it still exists.

I have a hyperglycemic friend who shouldn't have anything to do with shakes, but he swears the ones at Ghiradelli are worth the $6.


Ghirardelli Chocolate Shop
www.ghirardelli.com
830 N Michigan Ave
Chicago, IL 60611-2167
(312) 337-9330

Huey's Hot Dogs in Andersonville does an excellent shake, especially the chocolate. It's thick, so thick that sometimes you have to stir it up a bit so it will get through the straw. Plus, they'll split a shake into 2 cups for your kids which I like a lot.

bjt

It's been a while, so I don't know if they even still offer it, but I used to enjoy the Haagen-Dazs chocolate chocolate chip milkshake at Caffe Florian in Hyde Park.

The Mexicana shake at Medici on 57th is also quite tasty, while you're down there.

And I heartily agree with both the Brown Sack and Chicago Diner recommendations...

Caffe Florian
1450 E 57th St
Chicago, IL 60637
773-752-4100

Medici on 57th
1327 E 57th St
Chicago, IL 60637
773-667-7394

In addition to the Mexicana (chocolate cinnamon), the Mocha Malt and the Banana Fudge Nut (with optional Malt) shakes at the Medici are fantastic.

Another South Side place to try is my little fave Taqueria San Jose. They make the best fresh licuados de platano - not rich, just horchata-smooth milk, banana, cane sugar, and a tap of canela. Inexpensive and you get get 'em fresh at 3:30 in the morning if you like. In general, the Mexican licuados and batidos should not be ignored.

Taqueria San Jose
3253 S Halsted St
Chicago, IL 60608-6605
(312) 225-7386

Irazu
1865 N. Milwaukee Ave.
773/252-5687

Strat's Hamburgers
231 E. North Ave., Villa Park
630/832-0435

Santander wrote:In general, the Mexican licuados and batidos should not be ignored.

I like a good licuado as much as the next guy, but they are a different animal than a good ole' American shake or malt. It's probably fair to compare them in the same crawl.

It's been since summer of 2008 since I was there, but that summer I made it my business to do a personal survey of chocolate malts, and the best one I had was at Cameron's, Diversey and Southport.

I agree the ones at Oberweis are good, too.

So the shake crawl went down today. We hit 4 places (tried for 5 but The Brown Sack was closed due to illness). Here's how I scored it:

Golden Nugget
Shake - Chocolate
Score - 2/5
Comments: Run of the mill diner shake. No actual chocolate harmed in the making of this shake

Margie's Candies (Montrose Location
Shake - Chocolate
Score - 4.25/5 (additional 0.25 points awarded for free side cookie)
Comments: Intense chocolate flavor (this shake was made with chocolate ice cream, not vanilla ice cream with chocolate syrup added). Not quite the perfect balance between ice cream and milk.

Portillo's
Shake - Chocolate cake
Score - 1/5
Comments: Absolutely terrible. Mushed up chocolate cake mixed with some milk. Type II diabetes in a cup.

Irazu
Shake - Oatmeal/banana
Score - 5/5
Comments - Fresh banana, perfect consistency. Definitely the best shake of the day.

Good times, but not something I'll do again for a long long time (the crawl has been over for about 7 hours and I still feel pretty crummy from consuming that much milk).

I bet that Custard shop somebody mentioned is great. The best shake I've ever had, and I like them 'blizard style', is from Culver's because it's frozen custard instead of ice cream. I'm a vanilla guy, so the vanilla with PB cup is simply incredible. I'm sure a more mom and pop that does frozen custard has to be amazing.