Crown Candy Kitchen

1401 St. Louis Ave., St. Louis, MO - (314) 621-9650

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Posted By Michael Stern on March 29, 2009 9:09 PM

The Crown Candy Kitchen makes its own ice cream and sauce, and still practices the venerable art of confectionery. Every holiday is cause for chocolate figurines, including Santas, turkeys, Valentine's Day hearts, and Easter bunnies.

It is possible to have lunch here – all kinds of sandwiches, including some mighty zesty chili dogs. But the reason to seek out this place is not the sandwich menu. It is the 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. The Crown Candy Kitchen's 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. Everything is served in its proper soda fountain serving glass, accompanied by long-handled spoons.

The specialty of the house is the malted milk shake. They make malteds here the old-fashioned way, using malt powder, ice cold milk, their own ice cream (not too rich, not too sweet), and the full repertoire of soda fountain syrups, including cherry, pineapple, marshmallow, strawberry, and, of course, vanilla and chocolate. The 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.

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Posted By Jeremy Raphael on February 7, 2008 4:36 PM

Crown Candy Kitchen is a diamond in the middle of the rough that is North Downtown. This classic is a holdover from the days of the soda fountain, with about a dozen wooden booths and a counter lined with fresh candy and chocolate in every shape and size you can imagine. Expect to wait a little while on weekends, but it's well worth it.

Shakes are thick and rich, served with the big metal mixing glass on the side so you can pour your own refills. I always leave with a mini-stomachache of joy. You'll be a real champion if you can finish any of the shakes or sundaes on the menu. Many also say that Crown Candy has the best BLT in St. Louis, but most folks stick to dessert.

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