Viral Fried Chicken Ice Cream Review: Remember When Ice Cream Cost a Dollar?

Viral Fried Chicken Ice Cream Review: Remember When Ice Cream Cost a Dollar?

Walking through Chicago’s Chinatown lately, you’ll see one unique snack everywhere.

And it’s Not dumplings.

Not bubble tea.

Not egg tarts.

It’s actually Fried chicken ice cream.

Aiko crispy drumsticks “shaped”

And yes, that sentence sounds completely ridiculous.

The first time I saw it, I honestly thought someone was carrying around an actual fried chicken drumstick.

Then I looked closer.

It’s ice cream.

Vanilla ice cream.

Covered in a crunchy coating designed to look exactly like fried chicken.

The internet has turned this thing into a viral sensation, and now it’s popping up all over Chinatown for around $7 to $8 each.

Naturally, I had to try it.

The presentation is fantastic.

If you’re scrolling social media, this thing is practically engineered to stop your thumb.

It looks like fried chicken.

It photographs like fried chicken.

People do double takes when they see it.

Mission accomplished.

The outside has a crunchy coating that gives you that fried chicken visual effect, while the inside is creamy vanilla ice cream. It’s fun, it’s unique, and honestly it tastes pretty good.

But while I was eating it, I couldn’t stop thinking about something.

What happened to ice cream?

Seriously.

Maybe it’s because I’m getting older, but I remember chasing down the ice cream truck in the summer.

You’d hear that music from three blocks away and suddenly every kid in the neighborhood transformed into an Olympic sprinter.

You’d dig through couch cushions looking for quarters.

Maybe you had a dollar.

Maybe you had a dollar and twenty-five cents if you were feeling rich.

You had exact change because the ice cream guy wasn’t interested in hearing about your financial problems.

You’d walk up to the truck, point at something colorful with a cartoon face on it, hand over your money, and leave happy.

That was it.

Simple.

Now we’re buying artisanal fried chicken-shaped vanilla ice cream for eight bucks while holding smartphones that cost more than used cars did when I was a kid.

Somewhere along the way, ice cream got a marketing department.

Don’t get me wrong.

The fried chicken ice cream is fun.

It’s clever.

It’s a great social media snack.

Kids love it.

Adults love it.

Everyone takes pictures of it.

But standing there holding an $8 fake chicken drumstick made out of ice cream, I couldn’t help but laugh thinking about how the entire economics of childhood has changed.

Back then:

“Can I have a dollar for the ice cream truck?”

Today:

“Would you like to spend eight dollars on a frozen dessert designed to look like poultry?”

Progress is weird.

Would I buy it again?

Probably.

Would younger me believe I paid eight dollars for ice cream pretending to be fried chicken?

Absolutely not.

And that’s probably the funniest part of the entire experience.

If you’re exploring Chicago Chinatown, looking for viral food, unique desserts, Instagram-worthy snacks, novelty ice cream, or simply something that makes absolutely no sense until you eat it, the fried chicken ice cream is worth trying at least once.

Just don’t tell 1990s ice cream truck kids what it costs.

They’ll think we’re all insane.