The Sugar Bowl: Banana Splits and Old Town Scottsdale Charm Since 1958
This week's hidden gem is the Sugar Bowl, the bubblegum-pink ice cream parlor that has anchored the corner of Scottsdale Road and First Avenue since 1958. It is Old Town Scottsdale's original family restaurant, still owned and run by the same family that opened it nearly seven decades ago, and stepping through the door feels like walking into a 1950s postcard. This is the scoop on its story, what to order, and why this pink corner of Scottsdale is worth your next outing.
A Pink Storefront That Opened in 1958
The Sugar Bowl opened in December 1958, and it came to be out of a simple act of noticing. Founder Jack Huntress, a retired Chrysler marketing man from Detroit, heard a complaint one night at a nearby Scottsdale nightclub: a patron grumbled that children should not be allowed in places serving alcohol. Huntress saw a gap, and built the parlor to fill it. Scottsdale's first family-friendly restaurant was born, serving ice cream and comfort food with zero cocktails on the menu.
The building itself has been standing since 1950, when it started life as a Western Motor Service gas station and general store. The Huntress family has kept the Sugar Bowl going ever since, now three generations deep, which makes it one of the oldest continuously operating businesses in Scottsdale. The soda fountain counter, the checkered floors, the pink facade, it has all been preserved on purpose, and it shows.
The Classics on the Menu
The dessert counter is the main event. The towering Desire Me banana split is the one the regulars order, and the Camelback Soda, vanilla ice cream with a side of soda water, has been a house specialty since the 1950s. Dusty Road, Hot Fudge, and Chocolate Brownie sundaes, thick old-fashioned milkshakes and malts, and root beer floats round out the old-school lineup.
The Sugar Bowl is not just dessert, though. The kitchen serves full meals you might find in grandmas house: meatloaf on sourdough, toasted double-decker sandwiches, and salads, the kind of food that pairs perfectly with a malted milk shake and a long, slow counter seat.
- The Desire Me banana split, the towering signature sundae
- The Camelback Soda, vanilla ice cream with a side of soda water, a house specialty since the 1950s
- Classic sundaes, thick shakes and malts, root beer floats, plus comfort plates like meatloaf on sourdough
A Cartoon Legend and a Community Staple
The Sugar Bowl has a famous fan: Bill Keane, the Paradise Valley cartoonist behind the Family Circus comic strip, drew the parlor into his panels over the years, and original Keane cartoons hang on the walls today, with Family Circus art also sold in the gift shop. It is a small detail that captures what this place has meant to the Eastside for generations.
In an Old Town that keeps evolving, the Sugar Bowl is the spot that does not change, and that is exactly why people love it. Grandparents who came here as kids now bring their grandkids for the same banana split at the same pink counter. Supporting the Sugar Bowl means keeping a true family business, one of Scottsdale's oldest, scooping away for the next generation. That is the Eastside at its sweetest.
A family-owned soda fountain that has been scooping since 1958, the Sugar Bowl is Old Town Scottsdale at its most timeless: the same pink corner, the same banana splits, and the same three-generation family that built it, drawn into the Family Circus and into the hearts of everyone who has ever pulled up a stool.
Bring the kids, bring the grandparents, or bring a good book and a bottomless craving for ice cream. The Sugar Bowl is at 4005 N Scottsdale Road in Old Town Scottsdale, open Monday through Thursday and Sunday from 11:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. and Friday and Saturday from 11:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m. You can peek at the menu and the full family story at sugarbowlscottsdale.com.
This week's hidden gem is part of our Small Business Spotlight series, where we introduce the independent shops, cafes, and makers that give the Eastside its character. Know a small business we should feature next? Send Tricia a note.
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