Dari Ice Cream and Grill Review – Hebron, IL
Dari Ice Cream and Grill Review
Hebron (Illinois, not Palestine) is a dinksquat town of around 1200 in northern Illinois. You may know it as the home of Chris Ferrara, who is in the Bugler Hall of Fame. No? Anyway, it’s right on the border of Wisconsin/Illinois. Can’t miss it.
They have a Dollar General, that’s kind of exciting. (FYI, the bathrooms are kept locked). And a stoplight (well, flashing red, anyway). A small frozen pizza manufacturer (Champion) (but you can’t buy them there, you have to walk down to the gas station). (Yes, I picked one up, here’s what I thought).
There’s a bar, allegedly famous for good whiskey and bad pizza. (Local gossip, only). A couple or three restaurants, one renown for having a giant fiberglass chicken in the parking lot, then there is Hazels, a cafe and bakery, with excellent breakfasts and lunches. I confess although the food is great, I went primarily to admire the help.
And then there is “The Dari” – a seasonal ice cream/burger place, right at the flashing red light. There’s a bunch of “mom and pop” places like this around Chicagoland. I like them. Seek them out. Down the road a piece, there’s The Dairy Mart, in Huntley, IL, a place I also like. Wrote about it a few years back. Another great one is Wedl’s, small town in Southern Wisconsin, been selling burgers from a seasonal shack on the sidewalk for a century!
The Dari has a pretty ambitious menu for a small operation. While I was tempted to go for the “gravy sandwich,” I opted for a double cheeseburger and rings, and a small chocolate malt, just because they offer “malts.” Not many people do anymore, sadly.
How was it?
Well, it’s a good value, at $5 for a half pound of ground beef. Excellent bun. There was a sign in the window saying they exclusively use some particular brand, I didn’t pay attention to it at the time.
The beef patties are standard restaurant supply frozen patties. Not a complaint, just an observation. It didn’t seem like they add any of their own seasoning. Very melty American cheese food. Good pickle. Diced onion. Pretty ok.
Onion rings also from a food service supplier. Slight flavor to the batter. These are seasoned, as an ingredient or after. I quite enjoyed them. Best part of the meal for me.
Chocolate malt. Real malt powder. Kinda hard to find anymore. I was hoping for scooped ice cream, but their base is soft serve.
I don’t fault them for any of their ingredients or prep methods. It’s a small operation, small kitchen, in a small town, but can get overwhelmed (when I was at the window, a guy was picking up $156 worth of food orders), so they have to be as efficient as possible.
The burgers were recommended very highly to me. They didn’t live up to the hype. But it was a pleasant day for a drive in the country and to have a meal sitting outside.
As I am a bigly yuge supporter of entrepreneurs, ‘mom and pops’ be sure to visit the nice South Asian couple that runs the gas station / market across the street.
Menu.
Dari Ice Cream and Grill Review
Dari Ice Cream and Grill Review
