Rich & Creamy On Broadway: Banana Splits, Turtle Sundaes, Dirt Cups

JOLIET —Walt's Ice Cream may be the king of Joliet's Route 52 corridor, where the Dillon brothers operate their thriving family business at 1314 West Jefferson Street, but over on Broadway, Bill Gulas, along with Kathy Lodewegen, has co-owned Rich & Creamy for the past 23 years at 920 N. Broadway St.

For many years, the business was co-owned by Kathy's husband, Rich, who died in 2022.

Like Walt's, Rich & Creamy stays closed for the winter months. This year, he opened Rich & Creamy on March 23. Gulas stays open seven days a week, 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 1 p.m. t0 p.m. on Sundays. His hours are reduced once the school year begins and the weather cools off.

"Our busiest time is April through August," Gulas told Joliet Patch during Monday's interview.

For decades, Gulas has been a summer fixture inside the Joliet's Broadway Street ice cream stand where he makes ice cream cones, floats, shakes, sundaes, slushes and a lot more.

He even worked here long before the business changed its name to Rich & Creamy.

Gulas started working here when he was 15 years old, back in 1977, when the place was called Creamy Delight.

To this day, many people around the Joliet area still call it Creamy Delight, explained Gulas.

"Our version of the Dairy Queen Blizzard is called the Flurries," Gulas said. "Those are also popular."

Rich & Creamy makes nine different flavors of Flurries and the three most popular are the Oreo, Reese's Pieces and the M&Ms, he said. The menu even includes a chocolate covered Eli's Cheesecake on a stick.

The strawberry shortcakes are also a hit with the customers, according to Gulas, whose sister-in-law, Sue, is the long-time president of the Joliet Park District Board.

With international tourism season along Historic Route 66 in full swing, Rich & Creamy is now seeing its daily dose of international travelers.

"Most of the Route 66 tourists come through between 11 a.m. and 2 p.m," Gulas explained. "We've had Route 66 tourists from Australia, New Zealand, England, Japan, Italy and France."

Gulas said that Rich & Creamy is featured in several Route 66 tourism books and that's how so many tourists from around the globe known to make a visit, to stop here in Joliet.

Gulas even sells various Route 66 memorabilia for tourists including Route 66 pins, keychains and patches.

When it comes to recommendations, Gulas admits his tastes are ordinary.

"Probably, personally, I'm just a chocolate shake guy," he remarked.

Before Joliet underwent an explosion and expanded west around 20 years ago, Rich & Creamy's heyday was probably during the late 1980s and early 1990s, "when it was still Creamy Delight," he said.

"And then the city grew out further west."

But make no mistake, Rich & Creamy remains a profitable and lucrative business.

"It's been pretty steady the last few years," Gulas said. "Saturdays and Sundays are the busiest days in the summer, and any day when the weather is nice we'll be busy."

One of the great features of Rich & Creamy is its location on Route 53.

"We're easy to get to, and we have a big parking lot and the city has a playground adjoining it," Gulas pointed out.