Scooter's [Frozen Custard]

My vote goes to Scooter's for its delicious frozen custard. Custard tastes better than ice cream and, in my view, Scooter's butterfat content is just about right (Kopp's to me is too over the top). Furthermore, it is truly a great neighborhood restaurant because the owners, Denny and Mardi Moore, are so friendly to everyone. Mardi knows my kids and even chided me for sneaking in there without them one day recently. One small example that is indicative of the atmosphere is that this season they put the free water dispenser down at a lower level and were so happy that this allowed the young kids to fetch their own water. They are also equipped with kid-necessary wet wipes for those messy ice cream faces.

http://www.lthforum.com/bb/viewtopic.php?p=3670#3670

http://www.lthforum.com/bb/viewtopic.php?p=28573#28573

http://www.lthforum.com/bb/viewtopic.php?p=31907#31907

http://www.lthforum.com/bb/viewtopic.php?p=77453#77453

Scooter's Frozen Custard
1658 W Belmont Avenue
Chicago, IL 60657
773-244-6415
http://www.scootersfrozencustard.com/

Susan

King's Thursday wrote:My vote goes to Scooter's for its delicious frozen custard. Custard tastes better than ice cream and, in my view, Scooter's butterfat content is just about right (Kopp's to me is too over the top).

Susan,

What a great nomination, I'd like to enthusiastically second Scooter's for an LTHForum GNR.

One small note, while Scooters is great, I, being a proud Milwaukee native, disagree Kopp's is over the top. At the top, absolutely, over?

Enjoy,
Gary

This hasn't drawn any additional comment, though I doubt it's very controversial either, but since I just brought half of a Scooter's sundae home to the original poster, I suppose I ought to say something nice about it.

Some may like Kopp's better, and it's a big wide world of many opinions, but I admire the fact that as a new place, before it opened Scooter's went about it the right way, tasting famous custards from Milwaukee, St. Louis and elsewhere before concocting their own recipe, which tastes like something you grew up on it even though you couldn't have. (Well, I suppose our younger son actually has by now, but few others could have.)

Do one thing well. (Okay, plus hot dogs. I must admit I've never tried those, though I hear they're pretty good.) It's a good policy and Scooter's proves the wisdom of it.

G Wiv wrote:[
One small note, while Scooters is great, I, being a proud Milwaukee native, disagree Kopp's is over the top. At the top, absolutely, over?

Enjoy,
Gary

Iam far from being a Milwaukee native - but I agree with GWiv, in my personal
view there is little comparisoin between Kopp's and Scooter's.

Actually, in the couple of times Ive been, Ive not been a huge Scooter's
fan - it offered just an ok product, to me. Id rate Kopp's and Leon's far
over it (but both are in Milwaukee, and presumably not eligible for GNR's).
I think, on the basis of only one visit, Id rate Gramp's over it too (Gramp's
is far far away though, in.. somewhere a bit away from Elgin, right by
the river, a nice place to eat a pretty good frozen custard). Gramps
is also a very cool place, with owners that pay a lot of attention to
their product and have learned from the best.

Still, on the theory that all frozen custard is superior to icecream, the
only independent provider of it within city limits probably deserves
a third from me, I think (Gramps, while it may well be better, has
received almost no press on this forum, as is true of most good
places in the burbs. I think I only ever saw a post on it from Cathy2,
which is what led me to it in the first place).

c8w

c8w,

I remember Gramps. Is it under the same ownership? The people were hoping to move to Arizona, then develop Gramps as a franchise.

Regards,

Cathy2 wrote:c8w,

I remember Gramps. Is it under the same ownership? The people were hoping to move to Arizona, then develop Gramps as a franchise.

Regards,

That was the very post that led me to Gramps, BTW

I made it there a couple of months ago now - was near Woodstock, and
it didnt seem that far away I suppose. A very pleasant area it turned out
to be, and some pretty good custard (though, it must be said, custards
are far more expensive in Chicago than in Milwaukee - a sundae consisting
of a couple of scoops costs as much in Chicago as one with 4-scoops
does at Kopps).

The same couple was still running Gramps two months ago. They are
still hoping to move to Arizona and developign it as a franchise - they
had even bought a home in Arizona by the time I met them 2 months
ago. And Gramps was on the market in St Charles, but had not found
a buyer yet - it could take an indeterminate amount of time, I suppose.
There was at least a chance it would still be around over the
summer - I had planned on calling before visiting again, if I was in
the area at all. Its a nice spot, and the owners are very friendly
people - the custard is good too, and is obviously quite well-known
and very popular in the area, there were quite a few customers
while I was there. (I told them I thought theyd do very well in
Arizona, if they retained the same product - as they intend to
do. In that heat... I cant help thinking anyone who is ever exposed
to frozen custard would love it


c8w

Does anyone else find Scooter's prices a little outrageous? Don't get me wrong, when it comes to the goods, I like Scooter's. My choice is usually chocolate with heath bars and pecans mixed in. Mmmm. But my complaint is that we can't walk out of there without dropping something like $10 on 2 treats. And I thought Cold Stone was a rip off...

On a side note when it comes to other cities' custards, anyone ever had Wild About Harry's in Dallas, TX? Now that's good custard, priced reasonably.

HI,

I went to Scooter's last night, where my friends and I ordered three small chocolate cones for around $8. These small cones were double scoops at other establishments, which if you stick to those cones, the price was reasonable.

We were there around 8:30 at night, we saw only one child and all the other clients were young adults. I am used to a higher kid ratio, which I attributed to the neighborhood's population.

While I agree with c8w, Scooter's ice cream parlor is not in the league of quality and attention given to Gramps. Unfortunately this gem seems to be known almost only to c8w and I. People going through St. Charles really ought to visit and write the place up.

We might have had the flavor of the day, something call Royal Cake Batter, if anyone could explain what that meant. We enjoyed our cones, though truthfully I like Kopp's better. Yet I can see its' appeal as a narrowly focussed specialized food vendor. If you like that, then you should try to all bubble tea joint up the street from Burt's (in the strip mall at Dempster) for another narrowly focussed food vendor.

Regards,

I was there last night around 7:30 and there were about 4 kids at the time. I think the reason there are few kids at 8:30 p.m. is that sugar that near bedtime will keep the youngsters wired until all hours of the morning.

HI,

By contrast on warm summer nights in Highland Park, the ice cream store is loaded to the gills with families until closing time around 9 or 10 PM.

Regards,

We just got back from a pleasant visit to Scooter's. We had been once last summer.

The Turtle Sundae was great! Fresh toasted, salted pecans. Plenty of Caramel and Fudge. My husband enjoyed the White Mint Chip on a fresh waffle cone. And how can you beat a place with free toddler cones?! (doggy cones too, bubt we left her at home) It looks tiny from the front, but there is a pleasant large space to sit in the back as well as chairs outside (too chilly tonight though).

I love my neighborhood, but it's short on ice cream places to walk to (Frappucinos are NOT ice cream! *shudder*)

Scooter's is doing a good job and is a blessing to the neighborhood it is in.

You know, it's funny, as I read through all the Scooter's praise on the board, my thought is, Couldn't people say this about any ice cream spot? I mean, people just like ice cream. But the thing is, they don't (say it about anyplace that is). Chocolate Shoppe gets some love on the board, and there is the massive cataloging of ice cream places post. Penguin gets a lot of love, but also some mixed reviews. Anna Held? Bobtail? Australian Homemade? People don't seem to be flocking to these places, or more to the point, mentioning them in passing as they do with Scooter's.

Which isn't to say that GNR is a best in category award. Just that Scooter's seems to generate a lot of "I stopped here after dinner at ... and it was delicious" or "Scooter's is a great ice cream option", in contrast to the hyperbolic encomia bestowed on some places. And I find myself using it in much the same way. I don't rave about Scooter's. I like it a lot, but I don't crave it like, say, Graeter's. I won't necessarily miss it when I'm gone. But when I go out for ice cream, it's right near the top of my list. And that seems to be true for a lot of people here. And you can't argue the dedication and care of the owners. I'll admit to some hesitation, but this is a nomination I can heartily support.

I regret that I did not make my personal view explicit. I do rave about Scooter's. I don't just like it a lot, I love it a lot. I crave it, I crave it every hour of every day. I will definitely miss it when I am gone. And when I go out for ice cream, it is right at the top of my list.

Vanilla custard still delicious.

My family and I can speak from entirely too much recent experience on that topic.

Scooter's reopens March 7, which just gives you time before the renewal period if you want to go. I recommend a turtle sundae. So do Myles and Liam.

I like the Chocolate Boston Shake which others believe is too much, but I heartily concur on this renomination (see comments supra).

Scooter's is the place we head on a warm evening when we need to get out of the house after dinner. I love the brownie sundae - my daughter gets a chocolate cone.

I wish we could walk there.

Scooter's is open.

Scooter's was packed on Friday night.

If an ice cream place that can pack 'em in on a cold night in March isn't a neighborhood favorite, what is?

P.S. Vanilla custard still delicious.

Mike G wrote:Scooter's is open.

Scooter's was packed on Friday night.

If an ice cream place that can pack 'em in on a cold night in March isn't a neighborhood favorite, what is?

P.S. Vanilla custard still delicious.

Yeah, I was there for opening night on Friday, too. The vanilla custard was a little creamier, richer and denser than I remembered. I'm not sure if Scooter's has tinkered with its recipe or not, but to my taste buds at least, its product rivals the custard made by Milwaukee giants like Leon's and Kopps. And the service is always friendly and efficient.

Love Love Love.

Kid friendly, dog friendly, high quality, worthy of political uprising.

I had an extra-thick, extra-malty pistachio malt last week, complete with at least a half dozen delicious whole pistachios. That's about as good as ice cream/custard gets for me. This is destination ice cream!

It's cold but I rose to the challenge. I consumed a small concrete yesterday.

I hate being cold. I hate cold food when it's cold outside. I frequently use these feelings for not consuming salad during the winter (I'll admit that I leave my salad greens & tomatoes out during the winter months so that they aren't refrigerator cold) so you can understand how uncomfortable I was eating that concrete right?

Scooter's GNR should be renewed.

LTH,

While I don't share the unbridled love for Scooter's, I am a Kopp's custard man, I recognize its place in the hearts of LTHers and support GNR renewal.

Enjoy,
Gary

Sorry to double post - but we visited Scooter's last night after a nice dinner at Goose Island Wrigleyville (thank you Restaurant.com)

My husband described my strawberry shake as "The best Strawberry Shake he's ever had". I have to agree. High quality and generous strawberry topping. Chunky, but able to get through the straw. It was beyond good.

Free toddler cones, and good Turtle custard were also enjoyed, but that Strawberry Shake - seriously destination worthy.