They've owned it for nearly 25 years now, unbelievably. Last year we stumbled upon Graeter's ice cream, which we found was much better, in both flavor and texture, than most other super-premium ice creams out there. Their peach and black cherry chocolate chip flavors are to die for!

Cherry Garcia for me.

Bookwoman -- Thanks for the tip about Graeter's -- Peach sounds especially enticing, but can you get that in winter?

Elmer -- Is that like Bing Cherry ice cream? The waiters at my father's club automatically gave me that for dessert when we had lunch there. (I was always waiting for them to refuse service because he was so behind in his dues.)

Our fave is Phish Food!

chisue, no, the peach is seasonal. It's also difficult to find around here; Whole Foods occasionally has it. https://www.graeters.com/ And they have stores in Chicago!

Not exactly, chisue, but maybe you're thinking of the same thing but with a different name. Cherry Garcia is vanilla ice cream, red maraschino cherries, and chocolate hunks. Bing cherry ice cream is usually cherry ice cream with cherries, whether purple or red.

Baskin Robbins 31 Flavors, and some others (like Thrify and Carnation in my area), used to have a Cherry Vanilla ice cream which was like Cherry Garcia but without chocolate hunks. The Cherry Garcia name is a takeoff on the name of the Grateful Dead's now deceased leader and lead guitarist, Jerry Garcia.

Not exactly, chisue, but maybe you're thinking of the same thing but with a different name. Cherry Garcia is vanilla ice cream, red maraschino cherries, and chocolate hunks. Bing cherry ice cream is usually cherry ice cream with cherries, whether purple or red.

Originally vanilla. Cherry Garcia is cherry ice cream with bing cherries and chocolate.

See the photo? Maybe it varies regionally but out here I think it's vanilla ice cream. Cherry ice cream is usually a medium pinkish.

Signed,

EF Fudd, veteran of 3 years in HS working at a BR 31 flavors.

https://www.benjerry.com/flavors/cherry-garcia-ice-cream

https://www.benjerry.com/whats-new/2016/cherry-garcia-fun-facts#:~:text=Eventually%20we%20got%20it%20just,ice%20cream%20rather%20than%20vanilla.)

I rarely eat ice cream, but a favorite is B-R Jamocca Almond Fudge. Cherry Garcia is also a fav. And I love a good raspberry ice cream, but all those I've had in recent years have been a pale imitation of what I remember from the Ho-Jo's of my youth.

Graeter’s has a delicious black raspberry chip. It is located out of Cincinnati so I believe it’s available in Kroger or equivalent stores (also Cincinnati). Fry’s in AZ has it.

food, it may be that if I mistook the ice cream flavor for vanilla, it's because of how rich this brand's ice cream is. In the interest of science and integrity, I'll try to get some to sample and will report back my findings. Any ice cream remaining in the carton after my sampling will of course be discarded.

Elmer -- You do have a dog, right? What better use for a long tongue than preparing a cardboard ice cream carton for recycling?

Our dog gets no human food, other than an occasional lick of peanut butter or small hunk of carrot. Dog trainer advice, a dog should know its food is what's in its dish or from the treat box only. What else may smell interesting isn't for it. That way, no begging, no parking under the table for dropped morsels, and no grabbing anything on a plate.

My fave is also Cherry Garcia. I’m sad to learn the base is cherry ice cream because I always thought it was vanilla and usually don’t care for other base flavors. I haven’t bought any lately and found i actually liked their Frozen Yogurt version of Cherry Garcia, which may in fact be a different base.

I also like Talenti Gelato Layers, especially Vanilla Fudge Cookie.

I know I've seen Graeter's advertised here and will be on the lookout for it.

I don't buy brands of 'ice cream' that come in big cartons where the cream is milk and the bulk is explained by all the air pumped into the mix. (The 'pound of feathers' look.)

I'm having trouble picturing Elmer as a soda jerk, or were there no sodas involved, just scoops? I bet he was *very popular*.

It's hard to remember, being so long ago, but I recall there were two "soda" spigots, both for floats - root beer and carbonated water (to be flavored with a few fruit syrups). These were not so popular.

Mostly cones and cups, some milkshakes, sundaes and banana splits. It was a great job, customers in an ice cream store are happy and complaints were rare and could be easily resolved with a free item. This particular location had a steady clientele of entertainment industry people and that was added fun for the job.

Elmer, that was so long ago that your name was Snidely.

Haha. Actually, it was so long ago, my name was something else for every purpose under the sun. As it mostly is now. I almost said it was before there was any EJ Fudd but that's not the case, I'm not THAT old.

Ben and Jerry's chunky monkey is my fave

Oh, great. Now I want a root beer float! (Called something else in the East?)

Nope, called the same thing as far as I know. What's different in New England is that what much of the country calls a milkshake, they call a frappe.

Thanks. Got it. I recall Woody Allen movies talking about 'egg creams'. (Some fussy old man -- Allen himself? -- would be ordering these.)

My DM was from Providence, but I don't remember hearing about frappes. (Mom was so homesick here on the flat Chicago prairie that she'd drive back and forth over the RR embankment crossings just for the change in elevation.)

On my first trip to NY many years ago, my NY Jewish friends who live here now, really promoted my trying an egg cream, as they weren’t ever seen around here. So I did. Didn’t sound that great because I assumed it would have raw egg in it, so was pleased that wasn’t true.

I've never heard of an egg cream, it must be a regional thing.

Growing up in NYC my favorite soda was an egg cream. Anyone outside the City had no idea what they were.

Bookwoman, you got my taste buds going. I might make one myself.

So...carbonated chocolate milk? I'll pass on that. Are they always chocolate?

I wonder why I never got sick from the "Egg 'n Orange" served for breakfast at my pal's home. (Raw egg blended with orange juice and some sugar. Orange Julius with an egg.)

Not a big ice cream fan but can’t resist this.

Very nice, chloebud. I think we've done enough here to keep our dentists in business! Remember to brush off the 'sugar bugs' after indulging.

There's more than just chocolate egg cream - there's vanilla and strawberry too. My dad was from NY and introduced us to them when we were kids. It's like an ice cream soda without the ice cream.

Mmm - rootbeer floats - I loved those as a kid! There was an A&W pretty close by, and we used to go there often. Theirs were served in a frosty glass mug.

They're a.k.a. black cows. Howard Johnson's were served with whipped cream and a cherry on top.

I've found Graeter's stores not too far from me, in Winnetka and in Northbrook, and supposedly it's carried by three grocery stores in my town. I didn't find any at the Jewel this afternoon, but I bet I will see it at Heinen's or Fresh Market. Their ads make a big deal about 'small batches' and 'hand packed'.

Hmm...I'm thinking they may have taken over Homer's Ice Cream, but I thought it was just over the line from Winnetka in Kenilworth. That was a go-to spot. We used to take the baseball teams there after games.

carolb -- Oh, my, Howard Johnson's. I haven't thought of that in ages! That and Stuckey's (sp?) were pit stops on our car trips from Chicago to Providence.