CHICAGO — If you’re a Chicagoan, chances are you’ve experienced the decadent pleasures of Margie’s, an old- fashioned ice cream and candy restaurant.
Margie’s Candies is a tried-and-true Chicago original. People wait in line all year long to get a taste of creamy ice cream ladled with handmade fudge and caramel, or scrumptious homemade pecan terrapins, chocolate covered marshmallows or taffy apples, all made from scratch.
The caramel is stirred to perfection right on location. After the caramel is silky smooth and cooled, the terrapins and other candies are created with chocolate and pecans right across the street.
Longtime customers are plentiful.
Margie’s has a storied history of celebrity visits including movie star Kim Novak, gangster Al Capone, actress Meryl Streep, former Chicago Cubs star Carlos Zambrano and last but not least, the Beatles.
A customer who has been coming to Margie’s for more than three decades, discovered the Beatles had once eaten there on their trip to Chicago in the 60s. He then planned to sit in a different seat each time he visited the restaurant in order to proclaim, “I sat and ate ice cream at the same place the Beatles did!”
Margie’s was started by Greek immigrant Peter George Poulos and his wife over 100 years ago; 1921 to be exact. ATheir daughter Margie worked at the restaurant into her 90s.
One customer recalled how Margie knew if one of her regulars was having a bad day, because an extra scoop of ice cream or chocolate would magically appear on their plate.
The fourth generation of the Poulos family now runs the restaurant. Manager Maria Gomez said people love coming back to Margie’s because it’s a great memory in a venue that never changes much.
Whether it was a first date or a marriage proposal that happened there, when customers return many years later, they find a sweet memory, preserved.