Crown Candy Kitchen

It is possible to have lunch at the Crown Candy Kitchen: all kinds of sandwiches, burgers, and zesty chili dogs. But the #1 reason to seek out this place is its soda fountain.

Punch up a tune on the jukebox in your booth, order a mile-high “Lover’s Delight” or a strawberry-pineapple-marshmallow-sauced French sundae studded with toasted cashews and chocolate sprinkles. Everything is served in its proper soda fountain serving glass, accompanied by long-handled spoons.

The turtle sundae is exemplary. Silken vanilla ice cream is shrouded with hot fudge, the fudge covered with caramel sauce, and the caramel sauce mounded with buttered and toasted pecans.

Specialty of the house is a malted milk shake. It is made the old-fashioned way, using malt powder, ice cold milk, ice cream (not too rich, not too sweet), and a choice of soda fountain syrups, including cherry, pineapple, marshmallow, strawberry, and, of course, vanilla and chocolate. Malts arrive in tall silver beakers, filled nearly to the top. Drink five in thirty minutes (that’s approximately one gallon) and you get them free!

The most unusual of the malted flavors is banana, for which a fresh banana is pulverized along with the ice cream and milk, dusted with nutmeg. If you want to gild this lily, ask for chocolate syrup, too. The combination of banana, chocolate, vanilla ice cream, and malt powder is like a supercharged banana split in a glass.