Ice cream cravings are real. They seemingly come along at the strangest times. For example, sitting on your couch on a chilly, rainy night. If you ever find yourself in a similar situation, I would recommend a visit to Kilwins in downtown Naperville.

The ice cream I ordered was called “Kilwins tracks,” a spinoff of the well-known moose tracks flavor. It contained vanilla ice cream, cookie dough pieces and frozen fudge ripples throughout the ice cream.

While eating the Kilwins tracks, I tasted the creamy vanilla ice cream interrupted by chocolate fudge and the chewy pieces of cookie dough. The various flavors were evenly distributed so every bite had either the subtle crunch from the chocolate chips in the cookie dough or the hot fudge that had been frozen into the flavor.

There was nothing distinct that made the flavor different than something that you might order from Everyday’s a Sundae or Oberweis, but the ice cream at Kilwins didn’t have any freezer burn or any other issue that could have affected the taste. This made it better than any pint or carton of ice cream you could buy at the store.

Where Kilwins stood apart from other mentioned ice cream shops is the overall experience. Kilwins prides themselves in their homemade confections and sweets such as caramel apples and fudge.

Kilwins, located off of Jefferson Ave. is just a few strides away from the Naperville Riverwalk. Upon walking in, I was greeted by the scent of chocolate and caramel, the staff warmly welcomed us and offered the option of sampling flavors.

After paying $4.98 (tax included) for a heaping cup of ice cream, I had the chance to take in the environment more. The walls were green with a black and white accent wall and the music was upbeat and old fashioned.

The music and accent wall gave the shop an old ice cream parlor feel. I felt like Charlie Bucket from Willy Wonka in the candy shop.

Unfortunately, there was no indoor seating, but there were benches outside that can be utilized during the warmer months.

Due to the fun, old-fashioned atmosphere and welcoming staff, I would give this restaurant four out of five stars, the quality of the ice cream was comparable to others around us, but if you want an experience along with your scoop, Kilwins is a great place to go.