Hand-pattied burgers at Grand Slam Ice Cream Co.

306 E. Hyde Park Ave., 238-2215

“I recently moved to the South End. Right down the street from me is the restaurant Grand Slam. At first, I went there with my girlfriend thinking it was an ice cream joint. I later found out that they also serve everything from burgers to tenderloins. I would like to nominate Grand Slam for its hand-pattied burgers, homemade fries and then to finish it off with one of their ice cream choices for dessert.

— Drew Catron, St. Joseph

If you’ve been to Hyde Park in the past two years, you couldn’t help but notice the Grand Slam Ice Cream Company on the west side of the park. The bright red and white colors will make you scream for ice cream.

However, as our News-Press reader observed, ice cream is just the warm-up in this baseball-themed restaurant. Grand Slam is owned by Ron Hook and Mike Dragoo, both Benton High School grads and, one might gather from the decor, major baseball fans. In addition to the ballpark-themed menu of Babe Ruth burgers, rookie meals for kids and extra-inning sides, the place has baseball memorabilia on all the walls. You can see poster-size photos of Joe DiMaggio at bat in 1941 and Lou Gehrig at Yankee stadium in 1941 among autographed pictures of George Brett and local Benton celebs-turned-pros Steve Mapel and Jesse Thrasher. But the food is the main thing, and there is a full menu of sandwiches, including several varieties of hand-pattied burgers, homemade french fries, tenderloins, fish and grilled chicken. There are 28 varieties of Ashby’s Sterling ice cream and yogurt which you can get made up into a cone or cup. And if you’re really hungry, try the Grand Slam. It’s a large homemade brownie topped with three scoops of ice cream drizzled with hot fudge sauce, marshmallow cream, whipped topping and maraschino cherries. Manager Michelle Cannon says high school students have been known to eat the whole thing, but it’s big enough to share.