Justin Synnestvedt operates Dairy Dream Drive-In in Libertyville with this simple philosophy: “Treat customers like the family you like and the ones you look forward to seeing.”
He should know firsthand what an ice cream shop can mean to the community. As a kid growing up in Glenview, he used to ride his bike to Glenview Dairy Bar, which opened in 1961. Now he is part of the family that bought Glenview Dairy Bar in 1990. His father-in-law, the late Chuck Boedicker, helped Synnestvedt finance Dairy Dream Drive-In in 2007.
“Generations come to us here and they remember the original,” said Synnestvedt, an Arlington Heights resident. “We sell delicious products, and everyone walks away with a smile.”
Synnestvedt started with burgers, malts and cones, and expanded the menu to include cheese curds and other items. But the biggest seller is the ice cream.
Dairy Dream Drive-In offers 28 different soft serve flavors in addition to the base flavors of vanilla, chocolate, twist and dreamsicle, a twist of vanilla soft serve and orange sorbet. Some of the 28 flavors include amaretto, blueberry, coconut, peanut butter, yellow cake batter and — for a limited time — cotton candy and watermelon.
Everything is made with either soft serve or frace, which is gluten- and dairy-free. And everything can be dipped in nine varieties of hard shell or four dry toppings.
“We get a request for favorites and we mix the flavors daily in microbatches. However the customer wants it,” Synnestvedt said.
Dairy Dream Drive-In offers specialty sundaes in flavors such as brownie fudge delight, turtle, Reese’s, banana split, s’mores, Oreo blast, funnel cake, caramel cashew and strawberry shortcake. And the Boston, a milkshake with a sundae on the side.
New this year are the chocolate chip cookie ice cream sandwiches, made with freshly baked cookies from Tag’s Bakery in Evanston.
“The grill closes at 6 p.m. because we would have a line out on the street for ice cream. Our kitchen is so small. We take four burger orders and our grill really fills up,” Synnestvedt said.
“I wish we could stay open all year,” Synnestvedt said, “but not enough people like ice cream like me.”
Pricing: Food served until 6 p.m.: Burgers from $3.89 for single hamburger to $7.99 for triple cheeseburger. Specialty burgers from $4.79 for specialty burger to $4.99 for mushroom Swiss burger. Hot dogs, Polish and brats from $2.39 for hot dog to $3.59 for chili cheese dog. Pizza puffs from $2.69 to barbecue beef to $7.19. Sides from $1.25 for small fries to $4.49 for large cheese curds. Mega Meals from $4.29 to $7.99. Desserts: ice cream cups and cones from $1.25 for kids’ cone to $4.75 for dipped double dream. Sundaes from $2.59 for a small to $3.49 for a baseball helmet. Cakes from personal-sized cupcake for $3 to $25.99 for a 10-inch diameter cake. Shakes, Bostons and malts from $2.59 for a kids’ shake to $4.99 for large Boston malt. Floats and sodas from $2.59 for small root beer float to $4.69 for large fruit smoothie. Slushies from $1.59 for small to $4.19 for slush shake. Flurries from $3.69 for small to $7.89 for giant. Pre-packaged frozen treats from $1.25 to $4.99. Bulk soft serve from $3.29 to $5.99. Chocolate chip cookie ice cream sandwiches for $3.
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Hours: Summer hours open 11 a.m.-10 p.m. Monday-Saturday, noon to 10 p.m. Sunday. Open starting in March and into October from noon to 9 p.m. Sunday-Thursday and noon to 10 p.m. Friday.
Dairy Dream Drive-In is at 1229 W. Park Ave., Libertyville. Call 847-362-8343 or go to dairydreamy.com.
Shonda Talerico Dudlicek is a freelance writer.