Cemeno's New Ice Cream Parlor: 'Everyone Likes Ice Cream'

JOLIET, IL — For decades, thousands of Joliet-area residents have been patronizing Cemeno's Pizza at 1630 Essington Road because of its award-winning pizza and terrific Italian cuisine, but now there's another reason to visit Cemeno's. The new ice cream parlor.

On Friday, Cemeno's unveiled its new ice cream parlor. Cemeno's remodeled a portion of the restaurant that served as its video arcade. On Sunday afternoon, Joliet Patch's editor interviewed Bryan Baker, one of Cemeno's employees, who helps oversee the new ice cream parlor.

"We're hoping it draws in more people than just dining-in, especially for summertime," Baker told Joliet Patch. "It's a great thing for kids and adults. Everyone likes ice cream."

For now, the Cemeno's ice cream parlor is offering seven different flavors of ice cream for cones plus little ice cream cups to go. Current flavors are:

• Limoncello Sorbet
• Rich Chocolate
• Double Chocolate Peanut Butter Cup
• Cookies & Cream
• Madagascar Vanilla
• Black Raspberry Chip
• Lick the Bowl Cake Batter

The ice cream parlor also includes an assorted array of homemade cheesecakes and homemade cookies baked by the employees at Cemeno's Pizza. On Sunday, the cookies included sugar, oatmeal raisin and chocolate chip. The two flavors of cheesecake were strawberry and turtle.

Baker told Patch that there seemed to be a great response from the weekend's customers to the new ice cream parlor. "There were a lot of people dining in who wanted dessert," he said. "We've had a lot of orders."

During the coronavirus pandemic, Cemeno's remained open for carryout orders and now offers both indoor dining and patio seating. While Cemeno's was unable to have guests inside the restaurant, the staff decided to remodel the arcade into the ice cream parlor, Baker said.

"It was a convenient time to do the remodel," Baker told Joliet Patch on Sunday.

Cemeno's is hoping the new ice cream parlor becomes a big hit this summer.

For decades, Essington Road was home to Sonny's Delight, but that property is now vacant. Sonny's Delight operated on Essington Road from the mid-1980s until it closed around 2015.

"Depending on how successful we are, we may be doing more flavors or a special flavor of the month," Baker said.

The new ice cream parlor at Cemeno's is open daily from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. However, you don't need to be eating at the restaurant to visit the ice cream parlor, Baker emphasized.

"As long as the restaurant is open, we're open," he added.

Current prices are: $2.50 for a kid's cone, $3.25 for one scoop, $4.50 for a double scoop. Cake cones are 50 cents and sugar cones are 75 cents.

Cemeno's also is offering an ice cream flight featuring four scoops of ice cream in four bowls for $10. For more, visit the Cemeno's Pizza website here.