Champaign-Urbana, your long — week-long, anyway — ice cream nightmare is almost over.
Jarling’s Custard Cup announced Monday on its web site that it will re-open at 3 p.m. April 8. Owners Doug and Christy Jarling wrote that they are transitioning the business to new ownership during this time and, as a result, the popular ice cream plant will have reduced hours. Custard Cup will be open 3 p.m.-9 p.
m. Wednesdays through Sundays (closed on Mondays and Tuesday) for an indefinite period. The menu remains the same.
The Jarlings had announced on March 29 that it would close immediately upon the depletion of its current ice cream stock in order to facilitate the selling of the business. That prompted a near-frenzy at the Kirby Avenue location, with lines snaking around the building and nearly spilling into the street. By the afternoon of March 30, all the product was gone and the business was closed.
Even Tom Hanks took notice, having tweeted this urgent message upon hearing the news that the Champaign location was up for sale. The day Hanks visited Custard Cup (his brother works at the University of Illinois) remains a legendary story in C-U.