With a historic train car and railroad depot, Pufferbelly Junction, 1022 Cass St., has plenty of nostalgia to make it one of area’s most creative ice cream destinations.
It’s now open adjacent to Promenade Park and Fort Wayne Outfitters, just off Wells Street downtown.
The ice cream shop features more than two dozen flavors of hand-dipped ice cream and homemade waffle cones. They’ll rotate fresh flavors in often.
You can find unique tastes like honey lavender, lemon or strawberry cheesecake, non-dairy peanut butter and jelly, spumoni, and amaretto cherry amor.
There’s also Albanese candy and other types you can purchase by the pound.
Outside is a renovated club car that can seat up to 30 people to enjoy ice cream, unless you prefer the gazebo.
Pufferbelly Junction is open Monday-Tuesday from 4-9 p.m., Wednesday-Thursday from noon-9 p.m., Friday-Saturday from noon-10 p.m., and Sunday from noon-8 p.m.
Get a taste of Greece at Greek Festival
Fort Wayne Greek Festival returns June 20-23 at Headwaters Park.
Along with enjoying authentic Greek music and dancing, you will also want to feast on authentic food.
Open 11 a.m.-11 p.m. Thursday-Saturday and 11 a.m.-5 p.m. on Sunday, you can find sweets like baklava, kataifi, karidopita (walnut cake), koulourakia, kourabiedes (butter cookies), melomakarona (orange spice cookie in syrup), paximadi (biscotti), and tsoureki (sweet bread).
If you can put off the desserts, grab a gyro, roasted lamb, moussaka (ground beef, eggplant, potato, béchamel, and cheese in a tomato onion sauce), pastichio (Greek lasagna), saganaki (seared cheese), or a bevy of other options.
Powers plans weeklong celebration
It’s being called a grand opening, but the weeklong event, July 8-13, for Powers Hamburgers, 1402 S. Harrison St., is one part tribute and one part showcase. Either way, it marks next chapter of service for the popular burger shop.
This year, Salvatori’s Hospitality Group purchased the downtown landmark. Since then, it’s been an interesting mix of tradition and some new sizzle at the 84-year-old business.
They’ve expanded hours to include late-night dining, added outdoor seating, updated the parking lot, and revived the decor with memorabilia and photos.
Among the grand-opening activities are a ribbon cutting at 10 a.m. on Monday, July 8, with city officials, Powers family members, and VIP customers.
On Tuesday, July 9, there will be Slider Eating Competition at 6 p.m. Who wouldn’t want to be the Powers Slider Champion?
On Wednesday, July 10, swing by for a vintage car show from 5-7 p.m.
On Thursday, July 11, and Friday, July 12, they showcase “Powers After Hours.” Each night, the first 12 orders of their 12-pack Powers Pack will receive an exclusive T-shirt.
Saturday, July 13, will be a family fun day with games and activities from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Strawberries Around the Fountain returns
Auburn’s Eckhart Public Library is hosting Strawberries Around the Fountain from 5-8 p.m. on Thursday, June 20.
The event features strawberry shortcake and ice cream, with proceeds benefiting the library. For $10, enjoy ice cream from The Brown House and biscuits, including gluten-friendly options, from The Deli at Sixth and Main.
There will also be hot dogs, as well as music, face painting, games, horse-drawn wagon rides, and a bounce house.
Kroger marks solstice with free ice cream
Kroger is offering a sweet deal for the summer solstice on June 20.
If you act quickly, the grocery chain is treating you to free ice cream. They’ll give away 45,000 pints — 50 pints for each of the 900 minutes. That’s 15 hours of daylight.
You’ll need to go to Kroger.com to download a coupon and present it in-store. It’s good for one pint on June 20 only.
Off the Eaten Path is the Whatzup weekly column that covers Northeast Indiana’s restaurant and food news. Send your news items to info@whatzup.com.
