Foxy's: a perfect spot for a summer treat

Now that it's officially nice outside, school is wrapping up, birds are chirping, flowers are blooming and ice cream shops are opening back up for business, including Foxy's Ice Cream in downtown Yorkville.

A small, blue building on Hydraulic Street, next to Southbank Original Barbecue and Bicentennial Riverfront Park, Foxy's offers tasty treats from hot dogs to ice cream floats for any occasion. According to the shop's website, "It's a reward. A pleasure. A positive place to retreat to. For all ages. For all people."

On the first nice day in a long time – thank you, endless thunderstorms – I decided to treat myself to a frozen treat. So, I took a quick drive to downtown Yorkville, and perused the options at Foxy's. There's an abundance of choices; 19 flavors of ice cream, five milkshake flavors, four smoothie flavors, sundaes, parfaits, floats and novelties including ice cream sandwiches and frozen treats for doggos on hot days. While there is a menu of chips, hot dogs, soda, and other options, this was all about the ice cream.

On this visit, I chose to order a "Butterbeer" float, inspired by the drink from the popular "Harry Potter" franchise, made with vanilla ice cream, butterscotch syrup and A&W Cream Soda. The butterbeer float was something I would absolutely order again on my next visit. Rich and creamy vanilla ice cream paired well with the cream soda, something I've never done before, despite being a huge fan of root beer floats and Pepsi floats. I also liked that the butterscotch syrup was drizzled along the side of the cup, because it meant that I got a burst of smooth butterscotch to break up the bubbly soda.

Part of the appeal of Foxy's is the location. Right along the Fox River, there's a pleasant breeze when the wind is right, breaking up the heat of the sun. There's a playground not too far down the street, a grassy area to sit and relax and a walking path along the river. When the weather is right or if there's an event at Riverfront Park, it all combines for a wonderful, relaxing experience.

Of course, as soon as I was about to wrap up my time at Foxy's, I got a request from a family member for some ice cream. So being the kind person I am, I picked up a Frozen Float, and two pints of ice cream.

The Frozen Float was an interesting choice, made with Sprite and Blue Moon ice cream, a Fruit-Loops-flavored blue ice cream. The flavor of the Blue Moon was not overwhelming or odd, rather it tasted like Fruit Loops cereal, vaguely fruity and reminiscent of childhood; and it went well with the intense lemon-lime taste of the Sprite. An unintentional side effect of the Frozen Float was that once the ice cream began to melt and mix with the soda, it looked pretty similar to the infamous blue milk from "Star Wars: A New Hope," which was perfectly fine with me.

I brought home a pint of Peanut Butter Cup, and a pint of Zanzibar to share with my family that night. Peanut Butter Cup, chocolate ice cream with peanut butter ripples and chunks of peanut butter cups, tastes as it's named, exactly like Reese's Peanut Butter Cups. This actually carried a bit of nostalgia for me, because on the occasion I would be able to enjoy a chocolate shake and Reese's at the same time (less rare than you'd think), I always dipped my Reese's in the shake, and it tasted exactly like this pint of ice cream.

The Zanzibar pint, basically pure, rich chocolate ice cream with several different kinds of cocoa, was absolutely delicious, and nothing more needs to be said because that pretty much says it all.

There are a dozen franchise joints in the area that offer ice cream and other options for the summer, but let's be real; half of the time their ice cream machines break down, the chocolate ice cream is just vanilla ice cream mixed with chocolate sauce or you're paying hand over fist.

Why do that when you can support a local business instead?

• The Mystery Diner is a newsroom employee at the Record Newspapers. The diner’s identity is not revealed to restaurant staff before or during the meal. The Mystery Diner visits a restaurant and then reports on the experience. The Mystery Diner is not intended to be a restaurant critic, but does highlight the parts of a dining experience that he/she can recommend.