First Bite: Walt’s Ice Cream Stand At The Runner

As mentioned last week, The Runner‘s new outdoor ice cream booth, Walt’s Ice Cream Stand, is now open for business daily outside the restaurant at 458 Myrtle Avenue. Now that we’ve had a weekend of gorging on ice cream cones, we have a few more details about the business and its homemade concoctions.

The sweet treats are the creation of The Runner‘s executive chef Crystal Hanks, who has been experimenting with homemade ice creams at the restaurant for the past five months — to rave reviews.

“She started small batches and people began asking for pints,” noted owner Rich Winter. “So we tried to figure out how to make it bigger and more viable.

“We wanted something to engage the community, especially in the summertime, and that is fun and highlights Crystal’s talents,” Winter continued about the ice cream stand’s inspiration. “The intended atmosphere of The Runner has always been to be a neighborhood place.”

Ice cream flavors will rotate one to two times a week. Future flavors will include Lemon Olive Oil and Inverted Rocky Road, Hanks told us.

For now, though, there’s the lineup you see above, all amazing as expected. Our favorites are the Toasted Marshmallow (the perfect balance of sweet, creamy and slightly smoky) and the Vanilla (a classic, smooth vanilla without the usual store-bought aftertaste). But the Coffee (surprisingly strong and wakes you up!), Lemon Poppy (lovely tartness with actual poppyseeds), Bourbon Brown Sugar (not as sweet as you’d think and the bourbon is just-enough noticeable), and Chocolate Sherbet (to die for!) are fantastic, as well.

Both The Runner and Walt’s Ice Cream Stand are named after American poet Walt Whitman, who wrote “The Runner” when he lived on Ryerson Street.