Best Gelato in Downers Grove Township

"Bar Siena's walk-up dessert window, BomboBar, offers a riff on doughnuts - the "bomboloni" - an Italian hole-less doughnut Top Chef alum Fabio Viviani serves at his restaurants, Siena Tavern and Bar Siena. It's the specialty of the house at BomboBar and works wonderfully in the West Loop for dessert or post-party hunger pangs. Order one, four, six or a dozen and any of six rotating custard flavors that you inject into the doughnut."

"Bombo, short for bombolone, is an Italian doughnut filled with jelly or cream. With their cookies and cream bombo, you get the best of both worlds."

"A post shared by Original Rainbow Cone (@theoriginalrainbowcone) on Mar 18, 2020 at 2:16pm PDT. The Original Rainbow Cone knew how to make a beautiful ice cream combination long before Instagram rolled around. The signature dessert comes with five colorful flavors: Chocolate, Strawberry, Palmer House, Pistachio and Orange Sherbet."

"The Original Rainbow Cone is a popular annual attraction at Taste of Chicago and Lollapalooza. Nothing screams Chicago summer like ice cream that tastes as good as it looks."

"This candy shop and soda fountain looks a lot like it did when it opened in 1921, and they still serve a lot of the same treats. Order a sundae in a vintage clamshell dish, an extra thick milkshake (a Margie’s classic), or a box of homemade chocolates."

"Sit in the same chair where gangster Al Capone enjoyed homemade ice cream and toppings. Marshmallow is the best addition to any one of Margie’s 13 ice cream flavors. #SpoonTip: Try to avoid going on weekends where wait times can be over an hour."

"American , Bakery/Cafe"

"These ice cream flavors will blast you into a different world. Jeni’s is founded on the concept of creating a quality, delicious ice cream that keeps people coming back together for that nostalgic feeling. Ice cream should be the main attraction, not an after-thought."

"Jeni’s has expanded to being sold in many grocery stores, but nothing beats enjoying it fresh from the shop. Try one of their specialty treats like their ice cream cookie sandwiches."

"Order your favorite sandwiches from the nearly 20-year-old restaurant and dine on-site at one of five heated outdoor dining bubbles set up on Giddings Plaza in Lincoln Square. Seating up to six and warmed by electric heaters, the bubbles are available for 90-minute gigs, with a prepaid deposit ($100 minimum on weeknights and $150 Friday through Sunday). $1 mylar blankets available."

"This new spot in Mckinley Park has incredibly creamy soft serve, ice cream, melon pan ice cream sandwiches, and boba tea. The flavors change, but you’ll find not-too-sweet varieties like taro, red bean, sesame, milk tea, and earl grey. And one of our favorite things here is the messy boba - your choice of soft serve topped with boba in a cup."

"New to the dessert scene, the Little Italy shop serves aesthetically pleasing ice cream. Soft serve flavors are constantly changing and currently, the menu highlights Uji Matcha x Kuro Goma (black sesame). Your tweens and teens will love to take a photo for Snapchat or Instagram!"

"Always a big city staple, Pinkberry never fails to disappoint as a refreshing and healthy warm-weather treat. Their changing flavors allow you a slight variety throughout the summer."

"Another cooling dessert worth highlighting is the gelato at Black Dog Gelato, which the brainchild of crafty pastry chef Jessie Oloroso. Her offbeat gelato flavors are fascinating, not only in surprising ingredient combinations, but in silken texture and illustrious hue. You really can't go wrong with any of the them, from the rich malted vanilla to the goat cheese-cashew-caramel."

"Must Try: Mexican Hot Chocolate Black Dog Gelato has some of the most inventive and interesting ice cream flavors in Chicago. They make their gelato fresh every day in small batches with simple ingredients. They love to create new flavor combinations to keep up with the modern palate."

"A former pastry chef, Black Dog Gelato founder Jessica Oloroso now uses her knack for flavors to make artisanal gelato. Choose from favorites like goat cheese cashew caramel, strawberry balsamic, and chocolate coffee toffee, all handmade in small batches each day."

"The National Museum of Mexican Art in Chicago is home to more than 5,000 pieces by Mexican, Latino, and Chicano artists. It is considered the largest Latino cultural institution in the United States and the only Latino museum to have received accreditation from the American Alliance of Museums. The National Museum of Mexican Art is perhaps best known for its annual Día de los Muertos exhibit."

"Located in Pilsen, the National Museum of Mexican Art is the only museum dedicated to Latino culture that’s a member of the American Alliance of Museums. The museum has over 9,000 examples of Mexican art from ancient Mexico to the present as well as special exhibitions. While technically free, they do ask for a donation if you can spare it."

"Ongoing weekend programs at the museum include workshops for kids to learn about identifying rocks and minerals or learning how to make jewelry. Collections include gemstones, fossils and an ornate castle. Online activities include virtual jewelry classes and rock identification classes."

"Hyde ParkTucked away behind the Museum of Science and Industry, 57th Street Beach was designed by renowned landscape architects Olmsted and Vaux as part of the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition. Parking is fairly easy west of Lake Shore Drive, and the beach is accessible via the pedestrian underpass. Once the sun goes down, head on over to nearby Promontory Point and gather around a bonfire pit (reservations needed).What to know: While the criminally underrated Promontory Point is worth a visit to this beach alone, nearby (and always bumping) neighborhood music venue The Promontory makes the trip even more appealing."

"57th Street Beach is one of Chicago's most popular swimming beaches, located within Jackson Park at 57th Street's terminus at the Lake Michigan shoreline. Though developed beachfront has existed at the site since the park's original landscaping by famed park designers Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux in 1871, it was not renovated into a swimming beach until 1899, following the completion of Chicago's Drainage Canal. Today, it offers unprecedented views of the Chicago skyline for swimmers, along with a long-distance swimming area spanning between 55th Street and the beach's ADA-accessible pier."

"Oakwood Beach, also known as 41st Street Beach, is Chicago's newest public beach, developed in the late 1990s by the Chicago Park District and officially opened to the public in 2010. The beach, which is located at the terminus of 41st Street at the Lake Michigan shoreline within Chicago's Oakland neighborhood, spans 1,300 acres and is open to the public for swimming between Memorial Day and Labor Day, with lifeguards staffed on duty between 11:00am and 7:00pm. Environmentally-sustainable beach features include a bio-retention area intended to treat storm sewer runoff and a LEED-certified beach house with rainwater-harvested toilets, which received the Chicago Greenworks Award in 2010."

"OaklandOpened to the public in 2010, Oakwood—also known as 41st Street Beach—is both relatively new and still somewhat of a hidden treasure. Although it’s small in size, it manages to pack in a great beach house, a nearby picnic area, and volleyball courts. And, of course, you can’t beat the view!"

"Being “meat-free since ’83” makes The Chicago Diner early adopters of plant-based eating as well as one of the best restaurants in Chicago. Explore an enticing, evolving menu that includes tons of fresh salads, hearty soups and seitan- and tofu-based entrées, sandwiches and desserts — all vegan!. The Chicago Diner | 3411 N."

"Accompany your vegetarian or vegan breakfast, brunch, or lunch with one of the diner’s renowned vegan milkshakes and you’ll be wondering when you can come back for a second visit. And the Mac & Teese?. More like Mac & Please Bring Some More Of This."

"While not completely vegan (completely vegetarian though), the Chicago Diner has a ton of great comfort food options and they have a great brunch selection. Try the milkshakes, they’re vegan!. Location:3411 N Halsted St, Chicago, IL 60657"

"Everything from the spicy seitan to the hummus and vegan cheese is made in-house at Kitchen 17. Find the beloved seitan wrapped in fluffy Greek flatbread in the gyro or griddled with cheese and green peppers in the philly cheesesteak. The rest of the menu reads as vegetized versions of your favorite bar food, such as buffalo cauliflower wings, chili cheese fries, veggie burgers drenched in barbecue sauce and personal pan pizzas strewn with crumbles of soy sausage and vegan mozzarella."

"Kitchen 17, a completely vegan restaurant and bakery, is the type of place where time seems to escape you — before you know it, half of the day is gone because you’ve been having so much fun playing board games and hanging out with your friends and family. The food here is so good you might even surprise your meat-eating friends with vegan comfort food that they didn’t even know existed. Many of the dishes are created with house-made seitan, a product made out of wheat gluten."

"If you’re looking for vegan deep dish in Chicago, look no further!. Kitchen 17 near Uptown has got to be one of my favorite vegan restaurants ever. It’s a casual atmosphere with board games galore."