Chicago ice cream shop with nearly a century of history opens Sarasota-Bradenton location

Jimmy Geurts, Sarasota Herald-Tribune
Updated ·2 min read

An ice cream shop operating for nearly a century in Chicago is expanding nationally, starting here in Sarasota-Manatee.

The Original Rainbow Cone is now open in Bradenton. The franchise location, owned by Erica and David Campbell, is the first for the business outside its native Illinois, where founder and creator "Grandpa Joe" Sapp and his wife Katherine opened the original shop in Chicago in 1926.

Yet it won't be the last, said third-generation owner Lynn Sapp, with upcoming locations planned in other Florida cities including Tampa and Key West and other states such as Texas and California.

"So we’re very proud that we’re expanding The Cone," Sapp said. "It only took 97 years, but we’re doing it now.”

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The Original Rainbow Cone, the Chicago ice cream and sweets shop known for items such as its namesake cone with orange sherbet, pistachio, Palmer House, strawberry and chocolate ice cream, has opened a Bradenton location.
The Original Rainbow Cone, the Chicago ice cream and sweets shop known for items such as its namesake cone with orange sherbet, pistachio, Palmer House, strawberry and chocolate ice cream, has opened a Bradenton location.

The Original Rainbow Cone is best known for its namesake item, featuring five slices of orange sherbet, pistachio, Palmer House (New York vanilla with cherries and walnuts), strawberry and chocolate ice cream. The menu also features flavors such as cookie dough, butter pecan, black walnut, cookies and cream, mint flake, New York vanilla and chocolate peanut butter available by the scoop, sundaes and shakes, ice cream cakes and cookie sandwiches and made-to-order mini-doughnuts. Quarts and pints of ice cream to bring home are available as well.

The ice cream shop is one of several dining and drinking establishments that have opened out-of-state locations in Sarasota-Manatee in recent years, also including New England favorites Kelly's Roast Beef in University Town Center and LobsterCraft on St. Armands Circle; New York City Italian sandwich shop Faicco's, at the intersection of Beneva Road and Webber Street; and Indiana brewery and taproom Sun King, near Ed Smith Stadium.

The Original Rainbow Cone's Bradenton location is at 4414 53rd Ave. E. and is open 11 a.m.-10 p.m. daily. For more information, call 941-227-4004 or visit rainbowcone.com.

Email entertainment reporter Jimmy Geurts at jimmy.geurts@heraldtribune.com. Support local journalism by  subscribing.

This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Chicago's Original Rainbow Cone new Sarasota-Bradenton location open