Cherry Bomb Sweets Becomes Town Tradition For Channahon Area

CHANNAHON, IL — Now that summer is here, one of the most popular venues for homemade ice cream is the former BMO Harris Bank along Route 6 in Channahon. August will mark the start of the fourth year of business for Cherry Bomb Sweets, owned by Bradley Denton.

"Ice cream is good anytime," Denton remarked.

Cherry Bomb Sweets offers 24 different flavors of homemade ice cream. Channahon's ice cream shop is open from 4 to 9 p.m. daily and starting this Saturday, June 10, Cherry Bomb Sweets will stay open from 2 to 9 p.m. daily through the rest of the summer.

Cherry Bomb Sweets offers walk-in service and it features a drive-up window.

The address is 24745 West Eames St., and it's just past the new Will County Brewing Company location, the former River Hawk Brewery, at the Mallory Plaza.

The Cherry Bomb Sweets Facebook page is up to 3,000 Likes and 3,200 Followers.

"We make all the ice cream here and make our own whipped cream and waffle cones," Denton explained during Sunday's interview. "This is the heart of ice cream season."

While Cherry Bomb carries 24 different ice cream flavors, "we change it up with 100 recipes, so there's always something new. We try to keep 12 to 14 regular flavors," Denton said.

Bourbon Pecan and the Cookie Monster are two of the most popular flavors available at Cherry Bomb Sweets. The traditional flavors including chocolate, strawberry and vanilla are also strong sellers.

One of the specialty flavors offered to customers this past weekend was Coffee & Donut. That flavor was in conjunction with National Donut Day, on June 2.

A couple more upcoming flavors on a short-term basis will be Key Lime as well as Moose Tracks.

When Cherry Bomb Sweets first opened in 2020, the inside of the business was divided between the ice cream shop and two aisles of nostalgic candies and gourmet sodas.

Moving forward, Cherry Bomb Sweets will continue to carry the coolers stocked with the gourmet sodas, but the candy aisles are being taken down to create space inside the ice cream shop for customers to sit at tables during the non-summer months.

During the winter months, Cherry Bomb Sweets stays open Thursday through Sunday.

While Cherry Bomb Sweets has built a loyal and regular customer base around Channahon, Minooka plus Shorewood, Denton said he's still getting "a lot of first-time people. We get people from all over, even people driving Route 6 or bypassing I-80."

In addition to selling ice cream cups and cones, Cherry Bomb Sweets has two freezers stocked with pints of assorted ice cream flavors, as well as ice cream cookies for customers to buy to take home.

What's a point Denton wants to remind prospective first-time customers inclined to make a trip to Channahon to give Cherry Bomb Sweets a try this summer?

"We make the ice cream here. It's not down in a factory."

Cherry Bomb Sweets has 136 Google Reviews, averaging an impressive 4.7 stars out of 5 stars.

Original Patch coverage:

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