Rainbow Cone scoops spot in Loop
South Side favorite set to open new store in August
Original Rainbow Cone Inc., a South Side tradition, is stepping out on State Street.
The ice cream store, a popular stop at 9233 S. Western since 1923, has leased 1,000 square feet at 177 N. State.
Scott Stewart/Sun-Times
The plan is to start selling its signature dessert, the five-layer rainbow cone, to the downtown crowd sometime in August, said Jason Berngard, an associate with Baum Realty Group LLC, who brokered the lease deal.
Berngard said the store will share space with the sandwich shop Halsted Street Deli. The arrangement reduces the rent for a business that depends on seasonal demand.
The space is in the landmark Page Brothers building near the Chicago Theatre and used to contain an off-track betting parlor.
The store had been looking for a downtown outpost to replace a Union Station store it closed a few years ago.
It also is a fixture at Taste of Chicago, which starts Friday.
The dessert that founder Joseph Sapp invented consists of chocolate, strawberry, pistachio and Palmer House ice cream -- vanilla with cherries and walnuts--and orange sherbet.