Promotion: Ben & Jerry’s Free Cone Day

Location: 1634 Orrington Ave., Evanston, IL, 60202 (map); phone: (847) 869-2640

Rating: 4 out of 5 – good

Eaten: 1 block away

After random tastings of Ben & Jerry’s socially aware fare over the years, it just felt right to swoop in to a Scoop Shop and begin to more systematically sample its sweets. The cone, at least, came free. (As well as the ice cream, though it was hard to tell exactly how much my scoops usually cost, if they cost anything in addition to the cone; the waffle cone was clearly listed as regularly selling for 99 cents). Not encumbered by the restrictions of price, I had come to check out the simple charm of a Chunky Monkey, as B&J’s concoction of “Banana Ice Cream with Fudge Chunks & Walnuts” is known. After making the Chunk my first priority, I had come to learn that it was apparently a favorite flavor of a friend of mine, so the urgency with which I waited ten minutes in line — out the door in downtown Evanston — became all the more acute as the metered minutes ran down for my publically parked car. Thankfully, the Monkey pulled through, oddly pleasing in a way… much like eating banana nut bread even.

Fans of artificially flavored banana milk might be surprised by the natural fruit tastes subtly expressed in the cream, leading to the sensation I mentioned earlier of eating nut bread with the walnuts spread in good proportion in the mix. Wide but thin wafers of fudge round out the Chunky Monkey’s main ingredients, but don’t distract from the overall impression that its creators weren’t going for something that was too sweet to enjoy in large quantities. This Monkey’s not mind-blowing, but it serves as a sort of frozen comfort food someone could reliably order and still have a good time with. Steady, not flashy.

Oh, and if you were wondering where I finished this, the aforementioned line winding in and out of the shop left no room to even comfortably stand and consume my free treat indoors. Instead, I walked about a block to an outdoor dining area set up for the Flat Top Grill over on Church Street. You might notice the restaurant’s placemat resting on the table in each picture’s background above. So I thank the proprietors of Flat Top for a place to finish my ice cream on a bright but briskly cool spring day.

31 Cent Scoop Night runs on the 30th from 5 P.M. to 10 P.M. Like the site says, “Participating stores will reduce prices of small ice cream scoops to 31 cents.* At some locations, you may also have an opportunity to make a donation to your local fire charities.” B-R’s also donating $100,000 to the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation. ["*2.5oz scoops are 31 cents plus tax where applicable. Limit 10 scoops per person, per purchase."]

If you can’t stand the thought of paying 31 cents (plus applicable tax) per scoop, consider joining the Baskin-Robbins Birthday Club, which’ll send you that e-mail for 2.5 ounces of free ice-cream five days before your next birthday. Just make sure you sign up well in advance in order to get your hands on that crucial discount.

[The scoop on this special was obtained from the Hot Deals Club.]

Ben & Jerry’s is actually turning 30 in 2008 — a notable achievement, if I do say so myself. Actually found out about this deal while researching the web site for their Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough. This might be my chance to finally try other flavors like Chunky Monkey, Cherry Garcia, or the new Cake Batter ice cream.

Like that simple graphic says, “If you love something, get it free!” Don’t disappoint me now by not going.