Message from The Plush Horse
The Plush Horse offers delicious homemade ice cream with a nostalgic flair. Made with only the finest and freshest ingredients available, we invite you to experience our legendary ice cream in charming Palos Park, IL. Nestled in a quaint tree-filled location just 20 miles southwest of Chicago, you'll enjoy a tasty selection of over 30 flavors in our newly remodeled historic store. Eat inside and experience the charm of yesteryear or stroll outside to our beautiful courtyard. Cones, shakes, malts, sundaes and banana splits are just a few of the delicious sweets and treats we offer. While inside, visit the coffee shop and discover an assortment of coffees and baked goods. Planning a party? Our delicious ice-cream cakes are ideal for birthdays, holidays and special occasions. We are also excited to present our Ice Cream Social Catering.
Editorial by Citysearch
In ShortSet in a 1893 home, the Plush Horse has just a few tables and serves everything with plasticware. Cones, sundaes, shakes and floats are concocted with your choice of more than 30 flavors. Banana splits get three scoops and three toppings; top flavor picks include rum raisin, Italian lemonade, amaretto almond and apple pie. Seasonal selections are also offered, like pumpkin pie ice cream in fall. A bakery offers coffee drinks, fresh-baked muffins and scones.
Key Points
- Ice Cream
- Catering
- Coffee and Baked Goods
The Inside Scoop
- Know Before You Go - Lines get so long on hot summer nights that police cadets are called to help direct traffic.
- The Extras - Ice cream is also available by the quart. Ask for it foil-wrapped and it'll be good for up to an hour for the ride home.
Insider Pages Reviews for The Plush Horse
The best ice cream I ever had!! Willing to travel the distance just have some. Perfect on a hot day. Kids love it only. Only problem is, I never know what to get, because they're all so good!!!
Posted 07/24/09 | Report Abuse
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Greatest ice cream in the south suburbs. In the summer, the line is almost always out the door, which can be a little annoying when you just want to get some ice cream. They offer many different flavors. It's a classic in the neighborhood.
Posted 10/10/08 | Report Abuse
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Latest reviews from Citysearch.
Sunday afternoons
by davesch
I grew up in the 60's and 70's in nearby Palos Heights. My Dad used to pile us all into the car on Sunday afternoons in the summer to go to the Plush Horse. Both of my older brothers worked there in high school and the lines were so long that they would wake up with a start in the middle of the night and say "Can I help you, sir?" and then go back to sleep. The lines didn't matter because you knew half the people and made new friends out of the rest. Usually the men waited in line while the women chatted on the back patio waiting for us to bring them their ice cream. Palos men were a chivalrous lot.
Back then we used to call it Sophie's amongst ourselves because Sophie (the original owner's wife, I think) was still with us. She was very elderly but had jet black hair and still worked in the day to day operations right up until she passed. She always seemed to find the extra scoops for the kids if Dad was digging for change to pay. She had special treats for the regulars. There used to be a merry-go-round horse in the window that had a plush velvet-like surface. Sophie would have my Dad put us up on it. The plush surface became worn, but she didn't care. She loved us kiddies.
The hand packed ice cream was the order of the day. It cost more but was a better value and made a better tasting cone. Folks in the know ordered it in advance. Since my brothers worked there, we always had hand packed in the freezer. Butter Pecan was my Dad's favorite.
I'm pleased that the things the made the Plush Horse great from the beginning hasn't been lost on her subsequent owners. The Plush Horse is a generational thing, with parents (and now grandparents) from this period making the pilgramage whenever they come back to where they grew up. I hope that my kids (now teenagers) can take their kids to have the same experience that we had.
Posted 11/17/07
South Side favorite!
by southside67
What can I say? My family and I have been going to the Plush Horse since my older brothers were small. This place is awesome! The homemade ice cream is extra delicious, the portions are huge, the prices are cheap and the look of the place and the atmosphere are reminicent of an olde ice cream parlor. What a great place to sit outside and chomp some on a summer night!
Pros: Great value, Great atmosphere, Great taste
Cons: long lines, long lines, long lines
Posted 04/18/06
Best Ice Cream In Chicagoland
by bluelightning42
The Plush Horse has been my favorite ice cream parlor since I was a child. I have been to many of the other ice cream parlors in and around Chicago, but plush horse is by far the best. It is a great value and two scoops will fill up anyone I have ever brang there. Oh, and if you like Cookies-&-Cream, it is the best ever!
Pros: Great Value, Great Enviorment, Tons of flavors
Posted 09/01/05
very delicious
by candibabi1188
If u want ice cream the best place to go is The Plush horse.. many kinda of ice cream and awesome cones.. also many things from a lil bakery are there liek scones and muffins !!!!
Posted 06/09/05
The REAL thing!
by taj1972
The Plush Horse is the definition of summer for me. Growing up not too far from the ice cream parlor, this was the biggest treat on a hot evening. They have the best mint chocolate chip ice cream I've ever had, and my Mom favors the Hawaiian Delight. Truthfully, you just can't go wrong with any selection here. Now that I live in the city, I have to make excuses to go back to the south side for this incredible treat. Keep it up Plush Horse - I can't imagine summer without you!
Pros: Great value, No small scoops here!
Cons: Long lines on weekend
Posted 06/09/05
The Best
by badkitty8277
Oh how I miss the Plush Horse. This is the best homemade icecream and its cheap too. Everyone is friendly, and its a great date spot
Do they deliver to Arizona?
Pros: Yummy, cheap, good varity
Cons: , Long Lines, Long Lines
Posted 05/19/04
Number one
by cartman_83
If you like homemade ice cream, make your way to the Plush Horse. Great Ice Cream and prices are very reasonable. Also, one scoop is plenty as they do not skimp. Great place to go on a weekend in the summer.
Pros: Tasty, Cheap, Friendly
Posted 03/26/03
BEST HOME MADE ICECREAM AROUND
by deigo
The finest home made icecream many flavors to die for.A place you must try if you have never had home made icecream.
Pros: Inexpensive, Friendly service
Posted 12/24/02
Best Place ever
by btlgurl17
I've been going to the Plush Horse my entire life. My family and I would drive there on warm summer days after dinner. Definitely expect a line during this time, but its worth it. My absolute favorite is a scoop of banana and a scoop of chocolate chocolate chip. Great value because you get HUGE scoops. Its also a fun place because it reminds you of an old fashioned ice cream parlor. Definitely worth the trip.
Pros: great Value
Cons: Crowded
Posted 12/14/02
Real Ice Cream
by wsoxman
You might have to wait in line, but its worth it. No little stinky scoops here. They left all the fat in this premium Ice cream.
Posted 12/04/02
Only the best
by occmed7
This is by far the best ice cream in the Chicagoland area. I have been going there for the past 40 years & it remains without peer.
Posted 11/20/02
The Extra Mile
by MDF3530
My friends and I are willing to go the extra mile to go to The Plush Horse for ice cream. We live in Chicago, with Rainbow Cone practically in our backyards. Yet when we want ice cream, we all pile into one of our cars and head on out to the intersection of McCarthy Rd. and 86th Avenue in Palos Park. Rainbow Cone is good; The Plush Horse is better.
Posted 11/13/02
the bomb
by UGOGOD
I bring my friends from all over the city here, just to have some ice cream. It's so good I don't even mind the lines!! And everyone is sooooo nice there!
Pros: too small
Posted 11/06/02
The Unique Taste of Ice Cream
by crazie4u2002
Plush Horse is the best ice cream I have ever had. There is no describing the unique taste that a person gets after eating their ice cream. They have great service. And the setting of the business is a cute, little quaint place. It takes you out of the modern day world to a new place.
Pros: Inexpensive, Good service, Good food
Posted 11/05/02
9
by wendella01
very good ice cream and they make it homemade in the back fo the store.
Posted 08/14/02
MAGNIFICENT!
by iamahungy1
This place brings back the kid in me! We went with a group of friends and sat outside in the courtyard with our ice cream. It was really was a great time to share some laughs and enjoy some honestly, at last, GOOD HOMEMADE ice cream! I will be back with my kids!
Pros: reasonable prices, great portions
Posted 08/14/02
Good Icecream
by jc00172000
Great Ice cream, Home made
Good Ice Cream NOT Whey! 14% butter fat its all good!
Pros: Cheap, Great Ice Cream
Posted 08/07/02
8
by pele
Great ice cream, lots of flavors to choose from! Be prepared to wait in the summer, but it is worth it!
Posted 07/21/02