Best Ice Cream in Chicago

West Loop · Logan Square · Wicker Park · Pilsen · Lincoln Park

Chicago does ice cream in layers. Margie's Candies has been serving sundaes since 1921. Pretty Cool Ice Cream pushes the pop-art bar form. Jeni's brought Columbus flavors to West Loop. Black Dog Gelato innovates Italian-style. Conequest maps every shop across the city.

Map your Chicago scoopsAbout Conequest

All Chicago shops mapped

Margie's Candies in Bucktown. Pretty Cool in Logan Square. Jeni's West Loop. Black Dog Gelato. Annette's in Andersonville. iCream chemistry-fueled cones. The whole map.

Built for Chicago winters

Conequest is offline-first. Log a sundae at Margie's in a January snowstorm with no signal. It queues locally and syncs when you reconnect. No lost cones.

Track Pretty Cool bars

Pretty Cool's frozen pops rotate weekly. Conequest's wishlist feature alerts you to menu updates. Never miss the strawberry rhubarb again.

Classic + craft, side by side

Filter your Chicago scoops by 'classic' (Margie's, Annette's) vs 'craft' (Pretty Cool, Black Dog) to see your taste pattern over time. Stats reveal which side wins.

Frequently asked

What is Chicago's most iconic ice cream?

Margie's Candies sundaes — open since 1921, served on the same gold-rim glassware for over a century. The classic gold-rim sundae is one of Chicago's defining food experiences.

Are there good Chicago craft ice cream shops?

Yes — Pretty Cool Ice Cream in Logan Square (frozen pops + bars), Jeni's in West Loop, Black Dog Gelato, and iCream (liquid nitrogen scoops) are all standouts. Conequest maps them all.

How does Chicago compare to NYC or Portland for ice cream?

Chicago plays differently — fewer 'craft farm-to-cone' shops than Portland, more historic and modern-mainstream than NYC's experimentation. The pop-art form (Pretty Cool) is uniquely Chicago.

Can Conequest plan a Chicago ice cream crawl?

Yes — the multi-shop crawl tool lets you build a route across multiple Chicago shops in one trip. Perfect for weekend visitors.

Map your Chicago scoops

Free on iOS and web. Drop your email and we'll ping you when Conequest opens to wider beta.

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