Taggart’s

Anatomy of a Blue-Ribbon Hot Fudge Sundae

Canton, Ohio: Behold one of the world’s great hot fudge sundaes. The hot fudge itself flows like chocolate syrup, not too thick. Nor does its sweetness dominate the chocolate flavor. The word that comes to mind is bittersweet. But bitter doesn’t fit this sophisticated super-fudgy warm sauce that serves as ice cream’s best friend. As custom demands, a bright red maraschino cherry nestles in the whipped cream on top. But its the spill of pecans is what I call the real cherry atop this soda fountain marvel. Taggarts roasts them to a crunch, which brings out the nuts essential buttery richness. And they salt these nuts with enough brio to provide a savory halo for the fudge and ice cream. The only possible improvement on one of these amazing ice cream concoctions is to make it a turtle sundae, which adds caramel sauce.

The Signature Bittner

Sundaes steal the show at Taggarts’ fountain. But when you come here the one other thing that you must have is a Bittner. Back in the 1930s, a customer dared the staff to make a milk shake so thick that a spoon would stand up in it. To make Mr. Bittner happy, the soda jerks combined 3/4 of a pound of vanilla ice cream with chocolate syrup, omitted the milk, and heaped those good roasted pecans on top.

Pre-Sundae Lunch

Taggarts offers more than its fabulous sundaes, shakes, malts, floats, sodas, coolers, and ice cream pies. Regulars come to indulge in a full menu of sandwiches, burgers, hot dogs, soups, and salads. We have tried a grilled cheese sandwich, which is swell. We were totally charmed by a retro olive-nut-cream cheese on toasted rye. If we lived nearby, we’d no doubt eat sandwiches here all the time. But when we think of Taggarts, we think primarily of ice cream concoctions.

This supremely charming place dates back to 1926. Its wooden booths are original.