History

Joe and Katherine Sapp opened the Original Rainbow Cone at 9233 South Western Avenue in Chicago's Beverly neighbourhood in 1926. The signature five-flavour stack of chocolate, strawberry, Palmer House (vanilla with cherries and walnuts), pistachio almond and orange sherbet was sliced from bricks with a flat paddle, an early-20th-century method the shop still uses today. Now run by third-generation owner Lynn Sapp, Rainbow Cone celebrated its 100th anniversary in 2026 and has begun national expansion, but the Beverly flagship and a Navy Pier outpost are the canonical Chicago locations.

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Common allergens: Dairy, Nuts, Egg

Make it at home

Yield 4Hands-on 45 minTotal 24 hrDifficulty Advanced

Ingredients

  • Use 4 commercial pints of premium ice cream (the Sapp family makes their own; home cooks borrow the format): chocolate, strawberry, vanilla with chopped cherries and walnuts (= Palmer House), pistachio, orange sherbet
  • If making Palmer House from scratch: 500ml whole milk
  • 250ml double cream
  • 150g caster sugar
  • 4 large egg yolks
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 80g maraschino cherries chopped
  • 80g walnuts toasted and chopped
  • 4 fresh waffle or sugar cones

Method

  1. If you are making Palmer House from scratch: whisk yolks and sugar pale. Warm milk and cream until steaming; pour over yolks slowly while whisking. Return to pan and cook over low heat, stirring with a wooden spoon, 8 minutes to a custard that coats the back of the spoon. Strain, cool, churn in an ice cream machine. Fold in cherries and walnuts. Freeze 4 hours.
  2. Soften each pint just enough that you can press it into a rectangular loaf tin: line 4 loaf tins (or any rectangular containers) with cling film and pack each flavour separately. Freeze overnight until very firm.
  3. Turn out each block onto a chopping board. Using a long sharp knife dipped in hot water, slice each block into 2cm-thick slabs.
  4. Build each cone in this exact order from the bottom (touching the cone) up: orange sherbet, pistachio, Palmer House, strawberry, chocolate.
  5. The slices are pressed together with a paddle; the slabs should be slightly soft so they bond, but not melting.
  6. Serve immediately, supported in a tall glass; the rainbow stack is too top-heavy to stand on a flat surface.

Tip from the editors. Stacking ORDER matters: orange sherbet at the bottom holds the structure (lowest fat, freezes hardest); chocolate goes on top because it softens fastest.

Where to eat rainbow cone

Rainbow Cone in Chicago

Featured by TableJourney as a signature dish of Chicago. See where to eat Rainbow Cone in Chicago or the Chicago signature dishes guide.

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