Crown Candy Kitchen is a fast food restaurant, ice cream fountain, and candy store located on St. Louis Avenue in the Old North St. Louis neighborhood of

St. Louis, Missouri St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...

. This St. Louis landmark is the oldest operating

soda fountain A soda fountain is a device that dispenses carbonated soft drinks, called fountain drinks. They can be found in restaurants, concession stands and other locations such as convenience stores. The device combines flavored syrup or syrup concentra ...

in the metropolitan area, and one of the oldest in the country. The restaurant has an old-fashioned decor with

Coca-Cola Coca-Cola, or Coke, is a carbonated soft drink manufactured by the Coca-Cola Company. Originally marketed as a temperance drink and intended as a patent medicine, it was invented in the late 19th century by John Stith Pemberton in Atlant ...

memorabilia from the 1930s, an antique cash register, and four-person booths. It offers a simple menu with

sandwich A sandwich is a food typically consisting of vegetables, sliced cheese or meat, placed on or between slices of bread, or more generally any dish wherein bread serves as a container or wrapper for another food type. The sandwich began as a po ...

es, “Chili, Tamales and Other Hot Stuff” and is known for its desserts, especially for its handmade malts and

milkshakes A milkshake (sometimes simply called a shake) is a sweet beverage made by blending milk, ice cream, and flavorings or sweeteners such as butterscotch, caramel sauce, chocolate syrup, fruit syrup, or whole fruit into a thick, sweet, cold mixture ...

. It is a popular lunch destination for office workers in downtown St. Louis. The chocolate is made from decades-old molds, some imported from

Holland Holland is a geographical regionG. Geerts & H. Heestermans, 1981, ''Groot Woordenboek der Nederlandse Taal. Deel I'', Van Dale Lexicografie, Utrecht, p 1105 and former province on the western coast of the Netherlands. From the 10th to the 16th c ...

and

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

History

The fast food restaurant was founded in 1913 by two Macedonian immigrants. It was first operated by Harry Karandzieff and his friend Pete Jugaloff, then his son George, and later George's three sons, Andy, Tommy, and Mike Karandzieff. Harry Karandzieff and his friend Pete Jugaloff opened Crown Candy in 1913. Crown Candy has been making ice cream since 1925. A fire caused by a space heater damaged the restaurant on December 25, 1983. Some Coca-Cola memorabilia and $2,000 of candy was destroyed. Business was slowest in the 1970s and it picked up in the 1990s. Crown Candy switched from Coca-Cola to

Pepsi Pepsi is a carbonated soft drink manufactured by PepsiCo. Originally created and developed in 1893 by Caleb Bradham and introduced as Brad's Drink, it was renamed as Pepsi-Cola in 1898, and then shortened to Pepsi in 1961. History Pepsi wa ...

in 1999. George Karandzieff died in hospice on Easter Sunday of 2005 after his sons finished up their work at Crown Candy, with Easter being their busiest times in the year.

Famous treats

The "Heart-Stopping BLT" is a classic from Crown Candy that uses 14 pieces of crispy, kettle-cooked bacon. This famous treat started off as an offering from Harry Karandzieff to

Adam Richman Adam Montgomery Richman is an American actor and television host. He has hosted various dining and eating-challenge programs on the Travel Channel and History Channel. Early life and education Richman, an only child, was born into a Jewish fa ...

after his failed attempt at the infamous Five Malt Challenge. In 2012, Richman then featured the sandwich on Best Sandwich in America. According to Andy Karandzieff, the BLT first started fairly normal before employees eventually started adding more and more bacon. Crown Candy Kitchen makes their chocolate candy by hand to this day.

Crown Candy challenge

The restaurant offers a challenge to consumers of their trademark malts. Should a person drink five 24-ounce (710 mL) malts or shakes within 30 minutes, they receive the malts for free and have their name inscribed upon a plaque in the store. During this challenge you will be disqualified if you: throw up during the 30 minutes of the challenge, go to the bathroom or leave your seat at any time during the challenge, or if anyone helps you but drinking any portion of the malt. The record for the five-malt challenge is 2 minutes, 29 seconds by Randy Santel. For seven malts, the record is six minutes, by Ben Monson. Since 1913, only about 55 people have successfully completed the Crown Candy Challenge, while several attempt it each week.

In popular culture

The Crown Candy challenge was attempted on the

Travel Channel Travel Channel (stylized as Trvl Channel since 2018) is an American pay television channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery, which had previously owned the channel from 1997 to 2007. The channel is headquartered in New York, New York, United S ...

's television series, ''

Man v. Food ''Man v. Food'' is an American food reality television series. It premiered on December 3, 2008 on the Travel Channel. The program was originally hosted by actor and food enthusiast Adam Richman. In each episode, Richman explores the "big food" o ...

'', by the show's host,

, on an episode that aired on 25 February 2009. Richman was only able to finish about four of the five malts. In 2012, it was featured on another Adam Richman-hosted show, '' Best Sandwich in America'', for the "Heart-Stopping

BLT A BLT is a type of sandwich, named for the initials of its primary ingredients, bacon, lettuce, and tomato. It can be made with varying recipes according to personal preference. Simple variants include using different types of lettuce, toastin ...

" sandwich.

References

External links