Nostalgic Candy, Wacky Soda, Ice Cream Shop Opens Near Joliet

CHANNAHON, IL — If you've had an appetite for a Clark candy bar, Chunk, Bit-o-honey, Zotz, Slo Poke, Charleston Chew or Sugar Babies, there's good news to report. A nostalgic candy, soda pop and hard scoop ice-cream shop just opened in Channahon. It's easy to get to from Joliet.

Cherry Bomb Sweets took over the old BMO Harris Bank on Route 6. It's right past the Mallory Plaza that houses the popular River Hawk Brewery.

On Friday, Bradley Denton told Patch that Cherry Bomb Sweets opened July 19. He converted the bank's drive-up lanes into a sit-down area for ice cream customers. Cherry Bombs is making 24 flavors of hard-scoop ice cream, in addition to selling nostalgic candy bars and goofy soda bottle flavors.

Ice-cream flavors include: chocolate, vanilla and strawberry plus salted caramel, mint chocolate chip, Cookie Monster, key lime pie, cherry cheesecake, Bourbon pecan fudge, cookie dough, pina colada, pineapple, nutty chocolate, dirty martini and many more.

Cookie Monster and Bourbon pecan fudge have been tremendous hits with the new customers since Cherry Bomb Sweets opened, Channahon's small business owner remarked proudly.

"I pretty much make everything on site," Denton told Patch. "Our cheesecake ice cream is pretty popular."

Cherry Bomb Sweets turned the former bank building into a candy store, but there's also an array of off-the-wall soda bottle brands, such as Mustard Flavored Soda, Grass Soda, Cucumber Soda, Pickle Soda, Corn Soda, Dirt Soda, and — for the bacon lover — Bacon Soda.

Cherry Bomb Sweets has two entire aisles devoted to mix and match candies such as Gummi Worms, Lemonheads, Butterscotch Buttons and salt water taffy. These candies can be purchased by the pound for $8.99.

The store sells several varieties of Brach's candies and Albanese chocolates made in Indiana.

"People are saying, 'Oh my God, I haven't seen these candies since I was a kid," Denton told the Patch editor for Channahon-Minooka and Joliet. "They're still made. You just don't see them anymore. Some of these candies just bring back memories of your grandmother's candy jars, like the butterscotch buttons."

As far as sodas, Cherry Bomb Sweets features Dad's root beer, as well as Dublin, Dog n Suds, plus Martian Poop Soda, Butter Soda, and an orange bottle of something called BARF! Soda.

"It's funny," Denton said, "some people see the pickle-flavored soda and get a huge laugh out of it."

The lime-green colored bottle is dubbed "Grass" soda.

Cherry Bomb Sweets is open daily in Channahon from 4 to 10 p.m. The address is 24745 West Eames St.

For just opening four weeks ago, Cherry Bomb Sweets already has 1,250 Facebook Likes and 1,330 Facebook followers.

One of the coolest things about Cherry Bomb Sweets? The owner displays a neon sign in his storefront window that reads, "Ice Cream Solves Everything."