The Original Rainbow Cone

The Original Rainbow Cone – website

Location: 9233 S. Western Avenue, Chicago, IL 60643

Phone: 773-238-7075

Hours: Rainbow Cone is open March – November.
Hours for April 2011:
Sunday – Thursday Noon – 7 pm
Friday – Saturday Noon – 8 pm

Hours get longer as the weather gets warmer so check out the website or call for updated hours. They also sometimes close early if the weather is bad, so call first to be sure.

Parking: There is free parking in the attached lot, as well as street parking.

Bathrooms: There are no bathrooms.

Nursing: The is no nursing area.

Handicapped/stroller accessibility: Rainbow Cone has no tables and is pretty large and open inside (the roped off line area is fairly wide too), so it is pretty accessible, but it can get very crowded inside during the hotter times of the summer, especially in the evening.

Menu: Rainbow cones consist of Chocolate, Strawberry, Palmer House (Vanilla with cherries and walnuts), Pistachio, and Orange Sherbet. (Odd combination, but it absolutely works together.) There are a variety of other flavors available if you prefer a more traditional single-flavor cone.
Cones are available in small for $3.05 and large for $3.99.
It’s not on their menu, but they also have a baby cone, which is less than $1.50.
You can get quarts or pints to bring home, as well as ice cream cakes (yes, they have rainbow ice cream cakes too). They also have shakes, floats, sundaes, and banana splits.

Seating: There is no seating inside. There is an outdoor area with picnic tables.

Special promotions:

• Rainbow Cone has been a Taste of Chicago vendor for more than 20 years; they were the #1 vendor in 2010.
• May 8 (Mother’s Day) – free small cone for mothers
• May 30 (Memorial Day) – free large cone for members of the military
• June 19 (Father’s Day) – free small cone for all fathers

Other locations for Original Rainbow Cones:

• Rainbow Cone at the Park Grill Cafe (open seasonally) in Millennium Park, 11 N. Michigan Avenue, Chicago, IL
• Rainbow Cone in the Loop: 177 N. State Street, Chicago, IL
• Creamery Ice Cream, 459 W. Nebraska Street, Frankfort, IL
• Creamery Ice Cream, 15112 S. Bell Road, Homer Glen, IL
• Creamery Ice Cream, 19000 Wolf Road, Mokena, IL
• Creamery Ice Cream, 399 Southcreek Drive, Mokena, IL
• Creamery Ice Cream, 9320 W. 171st Street, Orland Hills, IL
• Creamery Ice Cream, 918 Timber Place, New Lenox, IL
• Creamery Ice Cream, 525 W. North Street, Manhattan, IL

We paid: About $9.50. I got a small rainbow cone, John got a small Palmer House cone, Cooper had a baby rainbow cone, and Dexter got a baby orange sherbet. YUM!

Our experience: The picture pretty much says it all – we enjoyed ourselves! We visited on a chilly Saturday afternoon so there was no wait and no crowd. I love the plastic drip guards! They didn’t keep the kids from getting sticky (of course), but they sure did minimize the damage. I’m sure this will be the first of many visits for us this season.