Summer is over, but that doesn’t stop us from having our delicious frozen treats. If you’re like us, you probably crave ice cream even in the winter time! Hi, we’re John & Christina, siblings who run @WeEatChicago. Today we’ll all hop on the sugar rush express as we show you our “Top 5 Shaved Ice in the Suburbs!” We know, we know… good places in the suburbs? It must be a myth. Lucky for you, as your tour guides, we’ll be able to share some of our hidden gems that we found in the suburbs.
Shaved ice is a simple treat that has so many variations and forms such as Hawaiian shaved ice & snow cones in the U.S., kakigori in Japan, and patbingsu (bingsu for short) in South Korea. So what makes kakigori or bingsu different from the familiar snow cone? The major difference is the toppings such as the various types of fruit, scoops of ice cream, sweetened red beans, nuts, mochi, and cereal. If you’ve never had mochi before, imagine a soft, gummy marshmallow but made from rice. Another difference is the the texture of the ice. The ice could either be coarse and crunchy or fluffy and soft as snow, depending on the type of machine they use.
5. Caffé Bene
Our first stop is Caffé Bene, an international Korean cafe chain, located in Glenview. Caffé Bene is pretty spacious and is a great spot to wrap up some work or to hang out with friends. They offer a wide variety of desserts and beverages so if you’re indecisive like us, you may struggle with ordering from the menu.
Strawberry Bingsu at Caffé Bene // Photo: @weeatchicago
Caffé Bene serves 6 different kinds of shaved ice: red bean, green tea, coffee, mango, cookies ‘n créme, and strawberry. Our favorite one to get is the Strawberry Bingsu, which is jam-packed with strawberries. I mean… just look! There is shaved ice at the bottom, which is then topped with fresh cut strawberries, strawberry syrup, strawberry ice cream, and a little chocolate drizzle. This thing is massive for one person to finish, so bring a friend to help you out. Good thing we have each other!
FAB TIP: Check out their other assortments of tasty treats like the egglette waffle with gelato.
{Location}
Caffé Bene
Glenview || 1749 Milwaukee Ave, Glenview, IL || P: (847) 257-7340
{Price Range}
$ (Under $10)
{Fab Rating: 3.5 Fabs}
4. Liquid Fusion Café
Our second stop on our dessert tour is Liquid Fusion located in Northbrook. With the name like Liquid Fusion, you might have not guessed that this was a café. This spot is a diamond in the rough and serves some awesome bubble tea, fruit & ice cream waffles, and bingsu.
The Fruit Bingsu is our go-to. It comes with generous amounts of toppings like honeydew, strawberries, mango, kiwi, pineapple, mochi, a scoop of vanilla ice cream, and a honey & condensed milk drizzle. The consistency of the shaved ice is soft as snow and flavorful due to the condensed milk. This rich sweet dessert certainly satisfies our sweet tooth. It has lots of fruit in it so it must be “healthy”, right?
Fruit Bingsu at Liquid Fusion Café // Photo: @weeatchicago
{Location}
Liquid Fusion Café
Northbrook || 3375 Milwaukee Ave, Northbrook, IL || P: (847) 299-4231
{Price Range}
$ (Under $10)
{Fab Rating: 3.5 Fabs}
3. Tous les Jours
Tous les Jours, located in Schaumburg and Glenview, is a delicious international Korean Bakery chain that has finally made its way to the Midwest. The pastries are great so definitely pick up a few especially the blueberry, cream, or choco cornets.
Fruit Patbingsu at Tous les Jours // Photo: @weeatchicago
Our favorite shaved ice here is the Fruit Patbingsu. The bingsu comes with a variety of fruit, sweetened red beans, mochi, a scoop of ice cream, and ice that is fluffy like snow. If you like taking food photos like we do, it comes in a clear container so you can see all the layers of the patbingsu. Also, if you need to swap ice cream flavors, they will be more than happy to accommodate your request. This blizzardy treat fulfills our needs and hopefully yours.
{Location}
Tous les Jours
Schaumburg || 20 E Golf Rd, Schaumburg, IL || P: (847) 610-3992
Glenview || 1685 Milwaukee Ave, Glenview, IL || P: (847) 257-7648
{Price Range} $ (Under $10)
{Fab Rating: 4 Fabs}
2. ReLeaf Café (Inside Mitsuwa Marketplace)
ReLeaf Café is located inside the food court of Mitsuwa Marketplace in Arlington Heights. Mitsuwa Marketplace is a massive, one-stop grocery shop that has a bakery, food court, bookstore, cake shop, and more. ReLeaf has a wide selection beverages and desserts on the menu.
For the first time after 20+ trips to Mitsuwa, we noticed that they served shaved ice. We saw the big bolded words “Matcha Kakigori Special” on the menu and instantly made a decision to order it. We were impressed that we got a high-quality treat for only $6! This version of the Matcha Kakigori Special has fresh strawberries, sweetened red bean, mochi, matcha flavored ice, and a scoop of black sesame ice cream. We decided to swap the matcha ice cream with black sesame ice cream instead.
Matcha Kakigori Special at ReLeaf Café at Mitsuwa Marketplace // Photo: @weeatchicago
What do we love about this? Well, pretty much everything! The matcha that they use here is very good. They do not skimp out on the matcha and will give all matcha lovers what they seek. They also have a wide variety of other unique ice cream flavors such as red bean, ginger, and more. If you have adventurous taste buds, go and check out a new flavor each time you visit.
{Location}
Mitsuwa Marketplace
Arlington Heights || 100 E Algonquin Rd, Arlington Heights, IL || P: (847) 956-6699
{Price Range}
$ (Under $10)
{Fab Rating: 4.5 Fabs}
1. Coffee Haus
Our final stop is Coffee Haus, located in Schaumburg. This location can be easily missed since it’s in the same plaza as The Melting Pot and 92Town. If you’re going to pay a visit to Coffee Haus, we recommend that you eat at 92Town for some delicious Korean food and finishing up at Coffee Haus for dessert. Coffee Haus is a Korean owned cafe that serves coffee, tea, smoothies, ice cream, Belgian waffles, and patbingsu (their most popular item).
Coffee Haus recently revamped the interior with new furniture and more seats to accommodate additional customers. It’s an awesome cafe to get some work done, study, or socialize with friends.
The patbingsu comes in a variety of flavors and sizes (cup or bowl size). The prices are very reasonable at approximately $4.70 (cup) and $7.35-$8 (bowl). If you’re there solo, we recommend getting the cup size unless you want to have a bingsu challenge with yourself. If going with others, we recommend getting the bowl size bingsu and splitting it. Just ask for some extra bowls and utensils. Our favorite is the Haus Bingsu Bowl, which comes with generous portions of matcha ice cream, fruit, fruity pebbles, cornflakes, mochi, and crunchy ice.
FAB TIP: If you are a frequent visitor at Coffee Haus, make sure to get the punch card to earn FREE treats.
{Location}
Coffee Haus
Schaumburg || 209 W Golf Rd, Schaumburg, IL || P: (847) 755-1233
{Price Range}
$ (Under $10)
{Fab Rating: 4.5 Fabs}
When it came down to it, we chose Coffee Haus as our number 1 and ReLeaf number 2 based on value and convenience. There has been many times when we planned to go ReLeaf after eating dinner in Schaumburg, only to find myself ending up at Coffee Haus instead. ReLeaf closes at 7 p.m., which makes it difficult for after dinner treats. Also, Coffee Haus is less expensive than ReLeaf and we love that it has a bowl size option.
This concludes our sugar rush tour. We hope we have helped you in satisfying your dessert cravings in the suburbs. This was a tough list for us to rank, since we pretty much love all the shaved ice spots. Be sure to try out the different shaved ice flavors and share with us which ones you liked best.
Follow us on our food binge adventures, on Instagram at @WeEatChicago.
Good food, good mood!
John & Christina
Note: These items were not complimentary. The views and opinions expressed herein are those of the writer.
Such a great article!! Coffee Haus is by far my favorite too! Now, I must go!