The Sundae Stop is located on 931 W Belmont Ave, Chicago, IL in between the neighborhoods of Lakeview and Lakeview East.

 

Steps from the Belmont red line station, the Sundae Stop is a local ice cream shop in Lakeview, Chicago where homemade ice cream is the focus for owner Jimmy Cohn. They opened in January 2020, just 60 days before COVID-19 shut them down. 

 

Although the Sundae Stop faced hardships such as the pandemic and bad weather after opening, the history and the ice cream itself has made a name for this store. 

 

When walking into the Sundae Stop, it looks like a typical CTA train station. The previous store, which was a yogurt shop, left décor that resembled a train station. This consisted of station names on the wallpaper, train seats and a large silver model train car that the employees work in. 

 

Making their product is expensive, especially since it is all made from scratch. “It takes a lot of time, we take a lot of love,” Cohn said. But the customers they have gained, especially over the pandemic and harsh weather, makes it worthwhile. “We’re not in the business just for the money, it’s more of a sense of keeping smiles,” Cohn said.

 

Cohn and his partner Jay began making homemade ice cream and sorbet using a small machine. While testing out the flavors, friends told them to get into the ice cream business. Using Cohn’s experience working in ice cream shops and owning his own business, they set out to pursue this dream. “It has always been in the back of my mind,” Cohn said. 

 

Originally, the shop was supposed to be called Chicago Sundaes, but after getting their store in November 2019, seeing the décor and noticing how close they are to the station, they decided to name it Sundae Stop. 

 

“We created this brand from scratch about the location,” Cohn said. 

 

But when the Sundae Stop entered quarantine, they didn’t know what to do with the ice cream. So, they partnered with Big G’s Pizza in Wrigleyville to sell their ice cream. As well, they donated ice cream to hospitals and first responders. 

 

“We looked at the situation and thought, you know what, it could go to better use somewhere else at this point,” Cohn said. 

 

Although the pandemic had hurt the business for two full years, they officially reopened this past April. “We came back full force and now we’re ready to rock ‘n roll and make a lot of ice cream,” Cohn said. 

 

Jackie Baranski, who has been working as a scooper at the Sundae Stop for about a month, says working here means a lot to her. “I really enjoy it. It means coming to work every day with a smile on my face, and being able to provide well for customers,” Baranski said.

 

The changing weather has also affected the Sundae Stop. They had a decent turnout when they first opened because people were excited to see homemade ice cream. “They thought we were absolutely crazy to open up in the wintertime,” Cohn said, but “even in the middle of the winter, people came out and they definitely supported us.”

 

Their biggest challenge has been trying to gain momentum after the winter with no summer to compare. Their sales projection, which combined the number of people in the store compared to driving, walking and using the train station, did not come to fruition due to no summer momentum. 

 

Luckily, last year the Dine Out on Broadway initiative helped the Sundae Stop to get some exposure. They took their pushcart out and gave samples and sold mini sundaes. They will be participating in it this year, as well as hopefully seeing an uptick in customers during Pride month and on Memorial Day. 

 

Cohn wants his ice cream shop to be a part of a routine or a good memory. There are no local ice cream shops in the area, and Cohn says that many parents don’t bring their children to this part of Lakeview. 

 

“Even though everybody equates ice cream, summer and kids, in reality adults consume like 90% of [their] ice cream,” Cohn said. 

 

He wants their ice cream to be a twist on classic, popular flavors. They didn’t want to do a lot of flavors due to having a lack of room, since the store wasn’t designed as an ice cream shop.

 

Cohn also wants bold and fun flavors. Using their flavoring company, which is all natural, and name brand items like Ghirardelli chocolate, this makes their ice cream stand out from grocery store pints. 

 

Janet Segura, the ice cream maker, says that they have the recipes on cards. When making their ice cream, for example the classic Oreo, they grind up Oreos and mix it into the vanilla ice cream, making the Oreo flavor stronger. 

 

The most difficult ice cream Segura makes is their vegan products. Cross contamination is tricky, so they have “bags that already has the powder in it. We mix those in and any additional flavoring” to lower this issue, Segura said.

 

“It's an amazing feeling every time I hand somebody a spoon to taste something, and they've never been here before. Their eyes just light up and they go, oh my God, this is so amazing. That, to me is one of the biggest rewards.” Cohn said.