For those who’ve been living under a rock, I might mention that Crown Candy is one of the oldest soda fountains in the country. (Started in 1913 by two immigrants.) The vintage juke box, candy jars, Coke memorabilia, and spiffy wooden booths give the North St. Louis icon the charm of yesteryear.
Sipping on Memories
One of my fond memories of childhood is sitting on a red, swivel stool at Peoples’ Drug Store soda fountain, slurping a chocolate ice cream soda. But most often I got only a small cone with the admonition from my mother not to eat it too close to mealtime and ruin my dinner.
A Sometime Treat
But occasionally Mama would allow me a special treat: a fizzy, frothy, chocolate ice cream soda that I could sip through a paper straw and stir with a long-handled spoon. It was heavenly. Since then I’ve found few that compare. (Though an old-fashioned soda fountain in a Chicago museum came mighty close.)
A Cozy Candy Corner
Red shoestring licorice is another childhood delicacy that brings back memories.
Oh, the joy!
A Step Back in Time
One of the best chicken salad sandwich I’ve found anywhere in these parts.
Last week Cyndy and I lunched at Crown. I was intent on enjoying one of their cold, creamy concoctions along with their heavenly, chicken salad sandwich.
But I was also on another mission. I was in search of an answer to the age-old question: “Why did the chicken cross the road?” Or, at least, a variant of that question.
Why?
I wanted to know why Crown only serves chicken salad sandwiches on Tuesdays and Thursdays. I have no idea why that is, so I asked our server. She said it was tradition and that lots of people ask the same question.
I suggested that maybe it might have started years ago, when the local chicken farmer only came to town twice a week. She said that was as good an answer as any. If there’s someone willing to do more research on this phenomenon, please post your findings.
Ice Cream, Straw, Spoon
But this particular day we warmed our hearts with Crown’s fanciful ice cream. Cyndy got a sundae. I went with the soda. When our server asked whether I wanted vanilla or chocolate ice cream. I timidly suggested a scoop of each. She said that was a good choice.
Crown Keeps You Smiling
The largest sign at Crown is next to the menu board. I suppose foot marks are a problem with white-painted furnishings. But while we were there, people were respectful of the request; no one was bounced for non-compliance.
This employee’s shirt references the “Heart Stopping BLT” made with 14 slices of bacon.
To salve your conscience, I guess you could take half this BLT home and divvy it up with Fido. But let it be know, that neither Cyndy nor I have ever indulged in this tower of porcine extravagance. Other decadence—but not this.
By the time you waddle out of Crown Candy, you’re vowing never to return. . . but you know you will.
Oh oh. What caught my eye was the Black Walnut Ice cream flavor posted on the board. Is this a regular flavor in Missouri? In North Dakota, road tripping with my sister to catch the solar eclipse back in 2017, we came across Huckleberry ice cream hand-made at the local store, that we’d never had before and was more delicious than any other berry ice cream we’d ever tasted. And now, here in Silver Lake, Los Angeles, CA, we’re trying to save the few black walnuts left in oak/ walnut/ elderberry habitat on the hill on the eastern side of our Reservoir. It is a rare and endangered species listed by the CA Dept of Fish and Wildlife, yet still, the design plan for the decommissioned Reservoir seeks to take out two mature ones, possibly replacing with 4 saplings each. With the no-maintenance given to newly-planted trees by the City, we know what will happen to those saplings….and to the wildlife who use the mature walnuts for living space and food. Anyway, much more pleasant to think about your black walnut ice cream!