Mystery Diner: Even the service is sweet at historic Frosty Tips

Some friends and I recently decided to meet for ice cream on a hot weekend afternoon.

The destination was Frosty Tips in Shorewood, a place I hadn’t tried because I’d never heard of it until recently. Apparently, I’m in the minority.

A 2007 Herald-News story said Frosty Tips dates back to 1949. It was created by Eldon Stroup, and located on West Jefferson Street in Joliet.

The Stroup family operated Frosty Tips for 24 years, the article said. In 1973, Chris Dragatsis purchased the store and property. The following year, a second store opened in the Shorewood Plaza at 700 W. Jefferson St., where Frosty Tips operates now. And the history has kept evolving until today.

Now, when we showed up at Frosty Tips, the place was deserted except for me and my friends. But by the time we had made up our minds and were placing our orders, car after car had arrived and lots of people were lining up for their ice cream, too.

Like other area ice cream venues, Frosty Tips offers an array of frozen treats: soft- and hard-serve ice cream, slushes, pops, and blitzes. This last is Frosty Tips’ variation of the frozen ice cream type of treat that incorporates choices of candy or cookie dough pieces.

A glance at a recent Frosty Tips Facebook post showed ice cream with “fixings” such as Snickers, Reese’s, Oreos, Heath and Butterfinger. A red, white and blue slushy drink was offered over Memorial Day weekend – as were red, white and blue toppings for ice cream.

Customers now can have peanut butter added to shakes, sundaes or blitzes.

Frosty Tips offers 10 different slush flavors that customers can mix to make a custom taste. And patrons even can have Nerds candy added to slushes.

Another new item this season is the S’mores Treat. This is twist ice cream covered in chocolate dip, mallo cream, hot fudge and graham crackers.

So what did we order?

One friend had this to say: “What a little gem. I didn’t even know that this ice cream shop existed. Ordering was incredibly easy, and the staff was super professional. I ordered a blitz with Snickers and waffle cone pieces. The waffle cone isn’t a normal inclusion, but the staff was more than happy to bust one up for me. Will I go back? Absolutely. The ice cream was smooth and creamy, with plenty of chunks of candy and cookie. Don’t be scared by the long lines if you see them. Long lines mean a place is worth the wait, and … the line moves fast due to a well-oiled back of house team. Stop reading this and go try it for yourself!”

One friend selected a “special blitz” with chocolate ice cream, peanut butter cups and cookie dough ice cream. The friend said, “For anyone who likes chocolate, this would be a great choice. The chocolate ice cream had a very rich flavor, and getting two flavors is the way to go.”

Another friend, who wanted something cold, ordered a watermelon slushy, and noted it is on the sweet side.

I was very happy with my ice cream and the service. You see, the only downside of ordering ice cream from an outside ice cream venue on a very hot afternoon is that it melts faster that you can eat it (as you can see from the photos).

Now, I’m the type of person who likes to eat ice cream slowly and savor it. But I’m also a great big kid. I like chocolate dip vanilla ice cream in large waffle cones. And it’s not the type of treat you want to eat super fast.

So, I asked if the cone could be placed into a blitz container. I ate part of the ice cream onsite, and then I came home and placed it in the freezer.

A few hours later, I finished it. A 10 out of 10 on the delicious scale, with zero waste. A win-win, for sure.

• The Mystery Diner is an employee at Shaw Media. The diner’s identity is not revealed to restaurant staff when ordering or picking up the food. If the Mystery Diner cannot recommend the establishment, we will not publish a story.

IF YOU GO

WHAT: Frosty Tips

WHERE: 700 W. Jefferson St., Shorewood

WHEN: 3 to 9 p.m. Monday through Friday, and 1 to 9 p.m. Saturday and Sunday

INFORMATION: 815-409-7424, frostytipsinc@gmail.com