Delectable Dining
Kaye enjoyed a sampling of cool drinks/treats between Santaquin and Springville.
You can order a cold drink any day of the year but you won’t enjoy it as much as when the sun beats down on bare arms and flip-flop clad feet. Why? Because it refreshes. And there are plenty of cool, refreshing drinks to be found from Springville to Santaquin.
Rowley’s Red Barn in Santaquin: When you see people ordering ice cream at 10:30 a.m. you know something is up. The hard part wasn’t deciding to eat ice cream that early, it was deciding what flavor.
Besides ice cream Rowley’s offers caramel apples, cookies the size of small plates, turnovers, bagged candy, popcorn and about 17 kinds of fudge.
We ordered a coconut soda with key lime ice cream. A taste of the tropics with a splash of citrus makes for a light, perfect summer drink.
We also had a Heath bar milkshake. You can’t really mess up a milkshake – ice cream, milk, fruit or candy bars – how can you go wrong? The question more about milkshakes is density – are they straw worthy or spoon worthy? This Heath shake was spoon worthy with wonderful chunks of Heath bar in Rowley’s homemade ice cream. At $4.49 it’s a bit on the high end but then you are paying for that homemade touch.
Daley Freez in Payson: It’s been there since dinosaurs roamed Utah and is one of those quintessential stand-alone burger joints with a steady stream of customers. We had onion rings (not part of our mission but we couldn’t resist and you shouldn’t either) and a raspberry milkshake. This shake was also spoon worthy – fruity and creamy.
Glade’s in Spanish Fork: Also here since the dawn of time, or 59 years, it is one of the great places for burgers and shakes in town. We tried a caramel chocolate shake and found it to be more straw worthy than spoon worthy. I’ve discovered people have definite likes and dislike about the thickness of milkshakes. There really are two camps and while I am in the spoon worthy camp, I can be flexible and enjoy one through a straw from time to time. Again, the hardest part was choosing the flavor. You can blend two flavors at no extra cost and mixing chocolate and caramel were heavenly.
Rita’s in Spanish Fork: If you haven’t gone to Rita’s yet, drop your cell phone and go now. We had a Gelati – a combination of custard and ice. We chose Mango ice that was sandwiched between layers of custard. As they melted together it became this infusion of addictive delightfulness. After all the tastes we’d had at other places (we were putting leftovers in a cooler after each stop) we still nearly licked the cup clean. Prices range from $2.49 to $3.99.
Little Acorn in Spanish Fork: I reviewed Little Acorn last year. In fact, the shakes, spoon worthy in case you are keeping track, were the highlight of our meal. We were impressed with the size of the shakes. A small isn’t. It’s plenty and creeps over the top of the cup by at least an inch. And it’s only $2.89 – a real bargain!
SOS in Springville: Our delectable rocky road shake was somewhere between spoon worthy and straw worthy. Patrons enjoy not only old time prices ($2.25 for a shake) but the ambiance of a real soda fountain. You can sit on vintage stools at the long counter. It’s a gathering place for an older generation but kids are learning how valuable this great living piece of history is in the heart of Springville. It’s been there since 1909 – now that’s staying power!
Venture out this summer when you’re hot and thirsty and need to cool off. There are shave ice places all over the valley, usually only here for a few months but also these and many other here-to-stay eateries with myriad flavors and overthe-top creamy goodness.\