Pet Please #7: The Forgotten Milkshake Phenomenon

I had the pleasure of going to St. Louis’ shining star in the north of the city, Crown Candy Kitchen, on Saturday morning. The place was packed, and many people who were in line before the restaurant even opened were stranded outside for over an hour.

As with any olde fashioned candy shoppe, Crown Candy’s marquee feature is their homemade ice cream. Specifically, their milkshakes. They bring all the boys and girls to their yard. They are so good.

And they’re huge. When you’re served a Crown Candy milkshake, you’re given an empty glass and a tall metal canister holding the liquid (that’s how you know it’s homemade). You pour the milkshake into your glass and proceed to drink it.

This may sound easy, but keep in mind that it’s hard for the human brain to comprehend the concept that there’s more milkshake when you’re finished your milkshake. So in any given meal at Crown Candy, you’ll experience what I call the Forgotten Milkshake Phenomenon two or three times:

“Man, I finished my milkshake…wait, there’s more in the metal canister!”

“Doh, I finished my milkshake again…sweet Jesus, there’s still more in the metal canister!”

“I can’t believe this milkshake journey is over…Rumpelstiltskin, I still have half a canister left!”

Each of these moments provides the lowest low followed by the highest high. These are the sweetest moments life can offer.

See also: 

#3: The Perfect Screw

Also, I updated yesterday’s post with a new city, courtesy of one Joe Sheehan (no, not that Joe Sheehan).

0 thoughts on “Pet Please #7: The Forgotten Milkshake Phenomenon”

  1. Thanks Ken. Damn I miss kaidama. Will someone bring ramen to St. Louis? Here’s the pitch: Restaurant serves awesome ramen, and to assuage American concerns about paying $5 for a bowl of ramen that they could buy for 25 cents, you offer them a 25 cent packet of ramen to every customer who’s not satisfied with their real ramen. Bam!

    Reply
    • They have tried to do real ramen in NYC and other big cities. The problem is getting the right type of noodles. There are no suppliers and you have to pretty much make it in house. Considering its a borderline art form, a lot of restaurants have failed. However, I would like to point you to Momofuku Noodle Bar in NY, where they do have lots of ramen. Since St. Louis tends to be on about a 10 year delay from the major cities, I would expect it to arrive around 2017.

      Reply
      • Good point about St. Louis being behind the times. However, from the supply side, I think it would be feasible. You think all of the Italian places on the Hill make their own noodles? I know those are different than the egg noodles used in ramen, but I bet there are manufactures that could make them per my specifications. I just have to get the secret recipe from Ippudou or…damn, Ken, what’s the name of the other awesome place in Kyoto?

        Reply
      • St. Louis is NOT 10 years behind major cities. It DOES wait until some of these crazy fads have failed the test of time before we even bother to glance at them. We think of LA, NYC, etc as a filter, or test market for all the stupid crap we don’t need. If it’s not around five years later we didn’t need it in the first place. And whatever makes the cut, we’ll gladly pay half price for. So thank you in advance!

        Reply
        • Red, your comment is erroneous in too many ways to argue. Maggiano’s and PF Chang’s – two national food concepts – operated in major cities (see LA) way back in the day. Chang’s operated in LA as early as ’93-94. It took St. Louis an extra 5-10 years (or in the case of Chang’s, 12) to get them. And you think we pay half the price? We may get a slight discount b/c overhead is lower (i.e. rent, etc.) but its not anywhere near half the price. Food costs in St. Louis aren’t as much of a “deal” as they may seem. Plus, since we’re in the middle of the country, it costs money to ship coastal items such as fish, etc.

          Reply

Leave a Reply to KenCancel reply

Discover more from jameystegmaier.com

Subscribe now to keep reading and get access to the full archive.

Continue Reading