This Retro Ice Cream Shop Has Been Open Every Day For Over 100 Years

Innovation and change are important to societal advancement, but some classic sources of joy are timeless and deserve to stay that way. One such institution that has since faded into obscurity is the local all-ages watering hole known as the soda fountain. While these old-school holdovers have mostly been left in the 20th century, there's an ice cream shop in Iowa that has been keeping the torch burning seven days a week for over a century.

The Candy Kitchen, in Wilton, Iowa, has been operating since 1910, when Gus Nopoulos, a Greek immigrant who arrived in Iowa in 1907 with little money and less English, bought a shuttered confectionery and turned it into a soda fountain selling ice cream, candy, and chocolate, along with a small selection of savory foods. Old photos show boiled ham and cheese sandwiches selling for 95 cents apiece, while a jumbo ice cream soda cost a steep $1.

Today, prices have risen, though many of the menu items remain the same. A boiled ham and cheese sandwich will now run you $4.75, and a large ice cream soda — such as a root beer float — costs $6.75. Still, the feeling of stepping into a forgotten world is well worth the price of inflation.

Of course, while root beer floats and boiled ham sandwiches are all well and good, what keeps people coming back is the ice cream. Wilton Candy Kitchen offers nearly 30 flavors, from classics like caramel and vanilla to more unusual options like crème de menthe and grapefruit. Then there are the specialties, exactly what you'd expect from such a place. While banana splits and soda fountains are retro food trends due for a national comeback, at the Candy Kitchen, they never left. The only nostalgic classic missing from the menu is New York's beloved egg cream.

And then there's the soda — one of the restaurant's defining features since its inception. This isn't your average Costco food court soda fountain serving a limited selection of mass-produced flavors, either. Almond, peach, watermelon, and coconut are just some of the many homemade flavors the shop sells, along with Cherry Coke and specialty combinations like the Dipsy Doodle, which blends cherry, lemon, lime, orange, pineapple, vanilla, and strawberry into a wild, fruit-packed soda adventure.

While Wilton Candy Kitchen isn't the only retro ice cream shop in existence, it is a historic institution. If you find yourself in southeastern Iowa, it's well worth a visit.