Entry No. 125 — the Chicago file — filed under: soda-fountain
Margie's Candies
Greek immigrant Peter George Poulos opened this as the Security Sweet Shop in 1921; his son renamed it in 1933 for his wife Margie, who took over in the 1940s and ran it for four decades. The Bucktown room has not been meaningfully updated since — marble soda fountain, Tiffany-style lamps, wooden booths with tabletop jukeboxes you can still flip through — and the sundaes arrive in clamshell dishes with the hot fudge poured from its own small pitcher at the table. The Beatles are said to have come in after their 1965 Comiskey Park show and ordered several six-scoop Atomic Sundaes for the group. Fifty-plus sundaes are on the board including a genuinely oversized one, and the hand-dipped chocolates and real-butter English toffee are still made in house, sold from the case by the door. Four generations in, it stays open to 11 p.m. or later every night of the week.
→ Three more weird eats & drinks in Chicago — never the same twice
The story
Peter George Poulos, a Greek immigrant, opened this room on Western Avenue in 1921 as the Security Sweet Shop. His son George renamed it Margie's Candies in 1933 for his wife Margie, whom he had met while she was working there. Margie took over running it in the 1940s while he served, got full control in 1954 after his death, and then put in something like fifteen-hour days for four decades until she died in 1995. Her son Peter took over and opened a second shop in a former Fannie May storefront in 2005; four generations in, the family still owns it.
The Bucktown room has not been meaningfully redecorated in any of that time: marble soda fountain, Tiffany-style lamps, wooden booths with tabletop jukeboxes you can still flip through, and cases of memorabilia along the walls. Sundaes come in clamshell dishes with the hot fudge arriving separately in its own small pitcher, so you pour it yourself and watch it seize on the cold ice cream. There are more than fifty sundaes on the board, including the six-scoop Atomic Sundae, a half-gallon billed as the World's Largest Sundae, and the twenty-five-scoop Royal George. The candy side is not decorative either — hand-dipped chocolates and English toffee made with real butter are still produced in house and sold from the case by the door.
The lore has accumulated the way it does in a hundred-year-old room. Al Capone is said to have been a customer in the early years. The Beatles reportedly came in after their 1965 Comiskey Park show and ordered several Atomic Sundaes for the group, and the Beatles memorabilia on display dates from that. Margie Poulos turned up in early-1990s MTV spots making chocolate, and Liz Phair posed here for a Newsweek photograph in 1993. None of that is why the booths are full at midnight seven nights a week, but it doesn't hurt.
What it's like
You come in past the candy case, which is the first thing that tells you the ice cream parlor was originally the side business, and you get seated in a wooden booth with a jukebox on the table. The menu is long — fifty-plus sundaes plus straightforward diner food — and reading it properly takes a minute, so order drinks and settle in. Sundaes arrive in a clamshell dish with the fudge in a separate pitcher; pour it slowly and let it set before you break through. Service is diner-paced and unhurried, and nobody rushes a table. Late evening is the good hour and also the busy one. They take reservations, which is worth using for a weekend group, and it's worth carrying cash as a backup.
The move: Skip dessert wherever you eat and come here at 10 instead. Take a back booth, order one Atomic Sundae between two with the extra hot fudge, and let it sit long enough that the fudge sets on the cold ice cream before you break it. On the way out buy a quarter pound of hand-dipped chocolates from the case and eat them walking north on Western.
📍 Before you go 1960 N Western Ave, Chicago IL 60647, (773) 384-1035, at the Western Blue Line stop so you don't need to park. The site's own pages disagree slightly on closing time — 11 p.m. or midnight Mon–Thu, midnight or 1 a.m. Fri–Sat — so call if you're arriving late. They take reservations, which is worth using for a weekend group. Bring cash as a backup. The Ravenswood shop at 1813 W Montrose is the same family but a 2005 build; the Western Ave room is the original and the reason to go.
- 📍 Chicago
- 💸 $
- ⚡ Up for anything
- 🌗 Indoors
Where: 1960 N Western Ave, Chicago, IL 60647
Hours: Added 2026-08-26 — confirm current hours before you go.
Pair it with
- The Royal Palms Shuffleboard Club — A five-minute walk down Milwaukee: rent a shuffleboard court by the hour, then walk over for the sundae you've earned.
- Logan Arcade — The 21-and-up half of the evening — a tavern full of pinball on Fullerton, ten minutes away, which makes the all-ages soda fountain the natural second act.
- Sideshow Gallery — Three blocks up the same stretch of Western, full of taxidermy and tarot decks, and it keeps afternoon-into-evening hours — so it goes first and Margie's closes the night.
More weird in Chicago
Good to know
How do I get there without driving?
1960 N Western Ave sits at the Western stop on the Blue Line, so this is one of the easier late-night stops in the city to reach by train. Phone is (773) 384-1035.
Can I book a table?
Yes — they take reservations, and for four or more on a Friday or Saturday night you should use that rather than turning up and standing by the door.
How late does it stay open?
Late every night: their own listing runs to midnight Monday through Thursday and 1 a.m. Friday through Sunday, though the site's pages have disagreed with each other on the exact closing time. Call if you're arriving after 11.
How big is the Atomic Sundae, really?
Six scoops — the size the Beatles reportedly ordered several of. If you want the genuinely absurd version, the World's Largest Sundae is a half gallon and the Royal George runs twenty-five scoops, both of which are group projects.
Is the Montrose Avenue shop the same place?
Same family and the same recipes, but 1813 W Montrose opened in 2005 in a converted Fannie May. The Western Avenue room is the 1921 original and the reason to make the trip.
Plan a visit & invite your people →
Further reading: Official site · Wikipedia
last checked: 2026-08-26