Not one to easily give up, Sara Tanner has built a successful ice cream and snack shop business in the south suburbs despite significant illness and financial challenges.
Tanner and her husband, Sam, with the help of their six kids and other relatives, manage Paradise Sweets and Eats at Palos Lanes. They feel like they’ve finally come home.
But it wasn’t easy getting there.
Back in 2000, when Tanner was a stay-at-home mom, her mother owned an ice cream truck and told her and her husband it could be a viable business. They bought a truck, but in 2009 it was carjacked.
They decided to try again in 2019, bought another truck and asked a friend and relatives to operate it in Hoopeston, a town along Illinois Route 1 north of Danville. The Tanners managed the logistics from the south suburbs. Then the COVID-19 pandemic hit, and in 2021 they brought the truck and its frozen treats back to Justice, Hickory Hills and Palos Hills.
They would later get a second truck and offer their treats back in Hoopeston, where they had built a following in the small town.
Sara Tanner grew up in Justice and Chicago and now lives in Blue Island with her family. Her children are Angelica, 30; Alexander, 29; Austin, 24; Isaiah, 9; Ezekiel, 7; and Mezhi, 5.
In 2022, they were doing well enough that they decided to take their earnings and invest in a rental property for an ice cream and snack shop. But amid trouble with their landlord, they weren’t able to open and lost more than $20,000 in the build out and equipment purchases.
Undeterred, the couple kept up with their ice cream truck business.
Then in 2023, they ran into Palos Hills Ald. Donna O’Connell, who chairs the city’s Economic Development Committee.
“She said, ‘I know a guy who’s looking for a company to come in and take over their restaurant (at Palos Lanes),” Tanner recalled. “I’d never done burgers and fried food.”
After meeting Palos Lanes owner Ed Cermak, who has owned the business for decades though his children now handle much of the day-to-day operations, the Tanners got the job. They couldn’t be happier.
“This is a very professional bowling center,” Tanner said. “We really get to know our customer base.”
That means various bowling leagues meet for about 35 weeks a year, including the senior league that was there on a recent afternoon. Tanner was there early, before opening, and bowlers periodically dropped by to talk to her and ask if she was open yet.
“They want us here,” she said. “We are now fully entrepreneurs.”
Paradise Sweets and Eats’ offerings include burgers, hot dogs, fries, ice cream soft drinks and coffee. They make a point of not using nuts, common in most ice cream shops, because their son Isaiah is allergic to them. They are open 6 to 10 p.m. Monday through Friday and weekends 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.
Things are going smoothly now, but soon after opening, Tanner faced a ruptured ectopic pregnancy and almost died. She was out for eight weeks, husband Sam was there helping out but got laid off from his full-time job. He’s back at work now and helping out with the business.
“He’s a heavy lifter,” she said. “He’s definitely the strength behind this business.”
Tanner said the bowling center also is filled with employees who have been there for years and willing to help their family out when they needed it.
“Our success is definitely attributed to their generosity,” she said. “It’s a very nice environment, it’s family. I don’t think there’s a lot of small businesses like this anymore.”
Cermak, the bowling alley owner, said he was equally happy with Tanner.
“She has brought peace of mind to people at night,” he said. “They trust going over there and getting a sandwich. She knows how to talk to people.”
He said that fits in with the social atmosphere, too.
“It’s actually 40% bowling and 60% socializing,” he said, though the men’s leagues are a bit more competitive and do less talking.
The Tanners also donate time to special causes, including teaming with Archana Liggins on her Bag Lady Outreach non-profit, serving unhoused immigrants at a Chicago police station with the help of police officers, and helping families visiting relatives at the Cook County Department of Corrections. They’ve also helped out Bear Necessities Pediatric Cancer Foundation patients.
“Ice cream brings happiness to kids and adults,” said Tanner. “It takes you to a nostalgic happy place.”
She hasn’t always been in a happy place, herself, being on her own since age 13, and giving birth to her first two kids at 15. But she’s made it work.
“I always wanted to be the mom I didn’t have,” she said. “I’ve never been able to give up.”
Janice Neumann is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.