Flesor's Candy Kitchen

Saturday afternoon, Lisa, of Champaign Taste, and I set out to roam the countryside, make a few stops, for country lunch, country groceries, and old-timey soda fountain beverages. Our last stop of the day was Flesor's Candy Kitchen, in Tuscola, IL, a restaurant/ice cream parlor/candy store that's been handed down from generation to generation since 1901.

We were on a mission to try their homemade ginger ale. While we watched and chatted with the girl making our drinks, the owner, Devon, stepped over and told us exactly how she makes her ginger syrup. I always appreciate when people aren't suspiciously protective of their craft. Devon could probably tell that we'd get in the car and drive 30 miles to have a fresh ginger ale prepared for us before we'd ever bother to steal her recipe.

They don't skimp on the ginger syrup:

Add ice & soda water:


Mix it good, and it's best with a lemon slice, we were told.


Delicious! Sweet and gingery, and very refreshing.

As we sipped our homemade ales, we watched the creation of ice cream sodas for a couple sitting next to us. These sodas are the real deal; unfortunately I didn't get a photo of the mountain of whipped cream that topped this one off.

The website menu reads:

Made with homemade, hand-dipped vanilla ice cream and topped with whipped cream and a cherry. Ours is the soda all grandmothers and grandfathers remember. Banana, Butterscotch, Caramel, Chocolate, Maple Walnut, Pineapple, Strawberry, Vanilla, Cherry, Lemon, Lime, Marshmallow. Black Cows, too!

While we sat snapping our photos, Devon offered, "if you want to have some fun taking photos, come on back into the candy kitchen!" Really? We can come into the candy kitchen? Yeah! We were like a couple of...bloggers in a candy shop!!

Fudge, fudge fudge!

And coconut peanut brittle:


All of which, along with a lot of other tasties, can be purchased at the candy counter:


While Lisa and I returned to our beverages and continued to take photos, Devon snuck back and handed us a bag of coconut brittle. We snacked on it while we made our other choices.

I've written here that I'm not much of a chocolate lover, but I did buy some dark chocolate coconut clusters that were amazing, and I don't exaggerate when I say that I will never pass through Tuscola again without stopping at Flessor's.

If you get an afternoon to yourself sometime, and you'd like to do a little time-traveling, jaunt on over to Flesor's for an authentic soda shop experience. Your kids will enjoy the history lesson, and your parents the nostalgia. Not to mention the ice cream.