It’s not officially summer yet, but it’s close enough for me! I thought from now until Labor Day I’d get a summer treat every now and then and I thought I’d start with one of Peoria’s oldest summer landmarks, Ernie’s Dairy Dream.

Ernie’s has been a Peoria summer destination on Jefferson Street since 1959. Below is an old ad I found online from back in the day:

The big sign on top of the building is gone, but it’s still standing tall at 2600 SW Jefferson Avenue. Let’s go and get a summer treat!

There it is: Ernie’s Dairy Dream!

It’s had some ups and downs through the years and they were shut down for a couple years in 2019. But they re-opened in 2021 and are back in business.

Stop by and support this locally-owned, historic business!

It’s certainly a bright and colorful place!

And here’s our special guest star for the start of this summer series, Artie Fowler!

Artie’s been a guest on the blog many times and we’ve been friends since we were co-workers at Fleming Potter!

We checked out the menu and got in line. I’m glad there’s a line here, nice to see business booming at Ernie’s Dairy Dream!

We made our way to the front window and Annette took our order while flashing us a beautiful smile!

They have nice picnic tables on the side of the building to dine at and I love the hand-painted Ernie’s logo on them!

Artie got an order of their signature potato wedges and you might be able to guess what’s in the wrapper…

A tenderloin and Artie wasted no time before taking a bite. He said it was delicious!

I also got a signature item from the menu, a Castle Burger with Cheese. This is a loose meat hamburger with melted cheese and ketchup and mustard.