Bobtail Ice Cream Company

Yum, yum, yum! When I lived near here, this was my morning stop for my caffeine jolt (medium vanilla latte, always). They have little cards where if you buy so many ice creams or so many coffee drinks, you get one free. Nice perk, especially if you were there daily as I was. In the summer, the glass doors open out allowing wonderful breezes to come in.
UPDATE: Where the heck did you go? Candiality or something seems to have taken your place. Very disappointed. :(

Went here on Halloween weekend. The deluge of children made the cranky old lady flare up in me a bit, but it was nice to see them give out free hot chocolates to all the younguns. I had the pumpkin pie ice cream — I was a bit scared that it was going to be too strong/​spicy, too heavy, or too sweet. Thankfully, it was none of those. Absolutely perfection. It actually tasted like pumpkin pie, unlike most foodstuffs proclaiming to be pumpkin flavored (I am looking in your direction, Dunkin’ Donuts). I’ve been here previously during the summer, as well, and I think I had the peanut butter which was also fantastic. It’s not often that I’m that far north/​east, so it’s a nice pit stop in nicer weather.

Cappuccino Crunch Yogurt gets 5 STARS! Out of this WORLD! Word of warning though, my friend – who introduced me to it – did so because she was lukewarm on it. It is not a strong coffee flavor, almost more of a cinnamon flavor with a hint of coffee, but whatever it is, it is FANTASTIC.
Bobtail is great on a lot of levels, great hours, great service… unfortunately NOT great ice cream. Overall (& factoring in the cappucino yogurt crunch) I give the ice cream a 3. I’ve sampled almost all their ice cream – Winter Commute, Signature Sunset, Lakeview Barhopper, Cubby Crunch, etc. The only one I’ve actually gotten is the cinnamon – which was pretty good. Most of their flavors, the specialty ones in particular, just fall flat. IMO there are 2 categories of great ice cream/​frozen products: 1. Excellent base ice cream – no toppings needed, creamy, smooth high-​quality stuff. If it’s flavored it’s subtle but deadly, authentic & not artificial. 2. A choc-​full-​of-​fanciful-​ingredients & toppings ice cream. Good ice cream but the focus is on the creative blend of cookies, crunchies, Combos ?! you name it. Ben & Jerry’s stuff. Bobtail’s ice cream falls short of both. The base isn’t strong enough to stand on it’s own, the topping not present or substantial enough to support the only ok base. Then again, most people probably don’t think about ice cream to this awkward degree of detail, so if your not too particular & just looking for something sweet & tasty, it’ll certainly do.
All in all, a trip to Bobtail is certainly worth it. Great hours, great service, AMAZING cappuccino frozen yogurt & decent ice cream (if your not ice cream obsessed like me ;-) They even have treats for your dog! & recently I walked by to find «people treats» in the form of rice krispie treats! Gotta love em.

The ice cream is grainy, not smooth. I even tried the Merlot Ice cream and was not wowed.
Once you’ve eaten Scooter’s how can you eat this?

Great food, great service, what more can you ask for?
Make sure you get whipped cream with your shake!

I love Bobtail when I am really looking to get something sweet. Their ice cream flavors are unique — Signature Sunset & Cubby Crunch are two of my favorites! I also love the Bobtail café with yummy hot chocolate and steamers.
Go to Bobtail’s website and sign up for «The Scoop.» They send out monthly newsletters with flavor updates & coupons — a great excuse to go & get ice cream! :)

Coffee Toffee, you were so very good in my belly. How I loved thee.
We tasted many flavors, but I settled on the Coffee Toffee, others had Cappuccino Yogurt and Cookies and Cream. Two people got Sundaes. Man, those were huge!
I got asked for one scoop, however their one scoop is QUITE large. They pack that ice cream on there, I couldn’t even finish it. It was very good, tho.
The place was nice and bright, clean and the staff was very friendly. Great spot for ice cream after dinner or the bar on Southport. We enjoyed.

After a horrendous dinner at Tango Sur (down the street), my companion and I went here, seeking comfort and relief from a long-​awaited and disappointingly tasteless meal. We were not disappointed.
My God this ice cream is good. I got the chocolate chip cookie dough, but I was very tempted by the merlot and dark chocolate chip. The waffle cone was even tasty! Companion got the peanut butter chip, which was peanut butter ice cream and chocolate chips. So, so good. Smooth, creamy, thick… just the right consistency. And they got the ice cream all the way down into the bottom of the cone!
The people behind the counter are friendly and efficient, and will allow you to taste, which I’m always happy to hear. ;) They have coffee here too — Intelligentsia, I believe — and, I saw a s’mores «steamer»!! Come October, that thing is going to have my name on it!
For the first time last night I was happy. We sat outside as the sun set and laughed in light-​hearted conversation. The ice cream was just perfect.

Oh man… when I want a fatty alternative to Treats I crave this place. Oreo Cookie Chocolate Shake. It’s so good.

I went to Bobtail after taking the afternoon off on a Friday afternoon to meet some fellow Unilocaler’s. I ordered the non-​fat yogurt– it was delicious and left me wanting for more. I hardly ever eat ice cream so that was means it must be good!
They have a great patio area as well as indoor seating.

Oh Yeah! I went to meet up with some Unilocalers this afternoon for some Friday afternoon ice cream. This is a very bright, clean place and the people behind the counter were very friendly and helpful but not over the top.
Now for the good stuff
I decided to get a scoop of peach ice cream after struggling over what I wanted to order. I was not disappointed one bit: very smooth, creamy, homemade goodness! I say that you need to get yourself over there immediately after reading this review and try some for yourself!

I searched all over Chicago (which really means all over Unilocal) for an ice cream store in Chicago that had wi-​fi as well. Probably would be easy to find such a place in more internet savvy cities like SF or Seattle, but this was a challenge in Chicago. And then my fellow Unilocalers led me to Bobtail Ice Cream Company, which has various locations in Chicago… all with wi-​fi! Whoo hoo!
Now the wi-​fi connection wasn’t exactly perfect (for some reason it doesn’t like yahoo email), but it’s free and gets the job done well enough.
And on to the most important part of Bobtail… the ice cream! Wow, this is some good stuff! I can’t judge the ice cream since I chose the cappuchino yogurt, but for being low fat this sure is good… I could almost be fooled into thinking I was eating real ice cream!
There were only a few other people set up with their labtops at Bobtail and I“m not sure why… this is far better working in any coffee shop. Nothing makes working go by faster than some ice cream!

I have been to Bobtail many times in the past, but last night was the first time I was struck with something unique enough to Unilocal about. After a quick dinner, I visited Bobtail for ice cream and had the Merlot ice cream. Wow! Seriously, this has to be one of the most tasty flavors of ice cream I’ve had in quite some time. Sprinkled with small chips of chocolate, there is a slight hint of merlot (yes, like the wine) throughout the flavor. Coupled with the vanilla bean in my waffle cone, this created a perfect heaven of pleasure for my taste buds.
The prices at Bobtail may be slightly high, but this is not a chain store, and there’s a wide variety of sweets and ice cream.
Tip: Get there, and try the Merlot ice cream.

Man, sometimes ice cream just gets such a bad rep.
All those cold-​hearted calorie-​counting Debbie Downers are calorie-​wise and pound-​foolish. If you take your dessert business to a Dairy Queen or a Coldstone Creamery, where flavours are, well, just plain vanilla, you’re not getting much slurp for your buck. When you actually have to pay to dress up mundanities like «chocolate» and «sweet cream» (fancy way of saying non-​flavoured ice cream), you must realise that you just helped up some Coldstone stock that led to its recent acquisition by the Kona Food Company.
(Disclaimer: I used to be a Coldstone fan until I discovered the joy of independently-​produced ice cream, such as in my kitchen.)
But if you visit your local Chicago ice cream parlour, it could warm your heart. Sure, I find Bobtail’s retro old tyme P.R. schtick somewhat eye-​rolling, considering the interiors are pristinely modern and Crate & Barrel-​invoking. But what it lacks in appearance, it makes up in spirit. The ice cream recipes come from co-​founderJeff Wilcoxon’s grandfather’s soda fountain in Ohio, so you know that family heirloom ice cream is the Big Dipper of home-​made hand scoops (all churned in the Broadway location daily).
More than that, in addition to far-​out flavours like triple bean vanilla, espresso cream and hand-​mixed chocolate, there’s SoPo Sunrise, Daley’s Addiction, Cubby Crunch, Lakeview Barhopper for the proud neighbourhoodie in all of us, and seasonal attractions like peach, egg nog, Guinness, and coconut. Every time I’m thinking up personal seasonal creations, Bobtail seems to match it, leading me to believe that this place is an ice cream parlour for ice cream fans (that means everyone). They also recently wrapped up a contest where you could design your dream flavour, and customers got to vote on the winners. Those are PB&J and Chicago’s Finest (coffee with donuts) — I had the opportunity to sample both yesterday, at Bobtail’s annual free scoop giveaway day benefiting area grade schools (as if I needed to feel more warmth on a sunny 80-​degree day!), and I gotta say, we have some great ice cream architects in this city.

It’s weird that two places can be so radically different. The Bobtail on Broadway, fine. Here… not so much. Not sure why that is. I mean, the ice cream is the same at both locations, and don’t get me wrong, it’s fantastic. However, the vibe at this one is just not nearly as comfortable, and the people behind the counter haven’t been as nice. Or compentent. The GF wanted a *extra thick* milkshake. She made that clear, asking if they can make it, emphasizing that she likes them thick, and so forth. It was like chocolate milk. I told her to take it back, but she ended up tossing it out. I ended up making her a shake at home to salvage the evening.
I guess if you’re on Southport and want some good ice cream, stop in, get a cone, and get out. Can’t really screw up an ice cream cone.

We were killing some time before going to a midnight movie and my sweet tooth demanded some ice cream. I was very excited to see that Bobtail was still open. I got a kiddie cone of the Cubby Crunch (Blue vanilla ice cream with toffee, chocolate chips, Oreo, and rainbow sprinkles) which really hit the spot. The best part is when the girl didn’t care that I didn’t have enough change for the tax and instead of letting me break a $ 20, she just said not to worry about it. Yum.

I like going to get ice cream after I eat at Rise, which is down the street.
Usually I get the brownie sundae, which is good.
This place is down to earth and a nice place to chill. The last time I came, I was on a double date and we ended up playing board games for 3 hours. Haha, good times. They have a pretty good selection of games.
What I don’t like is that they close early on weekends. I think it was either 11 or midnight. I know its a ice cream place, but it would be nice to have it open til at least 1am.

First I guess I should admit that I love ice cream. Don’t know exactly what it is about it, but I just find it very hard to pass up. That being said, I have tried a lot of ice cream in my day, and find Bobtail to be delicious. It is smooth and creamy, and full of flavor. My favorite is the mint oreo, but sadly that is not one of their staple flavors. But, every time I go there I find myself hoping to see it as the flavor of the day on the board. When it isn’t, the peanut butter chip is always a good back up. When I am in the mood to feel like a kid again, I order the root beer float.
I have also purchased an ice cream cake here before. Overall it was good (alternating layers of ice cream and cake makes for a good balance), but I didn’t care too much for the icing they used.

Bobtail is fun. I like this place a lot. They have a ton of great flavor options but I’m boring and stick with the same Lakeview Bar Hopper. It’s chocolate with some Bourbon in it. They also make pretty good breakfast sandwiches as well.
Bobtail is a great neighborhood ice cream shop and it makes me wish more stores were as cute as this one.

As I mentioned, I love ice cream. And this place fulfills my cravings a lot of the time! Bobtail has great flavors, from the Signature Sunset to the Sopo Sunrise (only at the Southport location) to the Peanut Butter Chip. Yum, yum! Great service, and great flavors! Anyone that can find a way to put wine and champagne into their ice cream is right up my alley!