![]() Dewar's Candy Shop – 1120 Eye St. | |
Dewar's Candy Shop | |
Industry | Restaurant |
Genre | ice cream parlor |
Founded | 1909Bakersfield, California, US [1] | in
Founders | James H. Dewar George Dewar |
Headquarters | 1120 Eye St. Bakersfield, California [2] , United States |
Number of locations | 3 [1] [3] |
Website | dewarscandy |
Dewar's Candy Shop is a family-operated ice cream parlor and candy shop in Bakersfield, California. Originally founded in 1909, it has occupied its location across from Bakersfield High School since 1930. [1] [4] [5] The shop specializes in making ice cream, taffy chews, chocolates, and other products. [4] [6] [7] [2]
James H. Dewar and his brother George Dewar, who were both from Kansas, [8] [1] founded the Chocolate Shop in 1909 [9] which was located at 1665 Chester Avenue in Bakersfield, California. [5] [4] At the shop, they created the popular peanut butter taffy, and in 1911, added the peppermint version of the taffies. [8] James, who bought George's part of the business, [1] eventually moved the shop to 948 Baker Street. In 1928, the family moved to Ventura, California for a small period of time and started another shop there. [5] They later moved back to Bakersfield and received an offer to help build the current location at 1120 Eye Street in 1930. [5] [4] Around this time James Dewar started creating and distributing ice cream at his shop. [5] [3] In 1947, James' son, James A. Dewar, took over the shop with his brother Joe Dewar. [5] [4]
In 1977, James A. Dewar's son, George, took over the shop. George's son, Michael, started working in the business by overseeing the manufacturing of the Dewar's taffies. [4] [5]
Michael's daughter, Heather, started a new Dewar's location at 9530 Hageman Road, but it was eventually closed in 2011 to make way for a new location at 2700 Calloway Drive. [5] 2012 saw the opening of the Dewar's Express, a drive-through version of Dewar's Ice Cream. [5] [4] In 2019, another flavor of Dewar's taffies, Almond Butter, was released. [10] As of 2019, there are 23 flavors of ice cream served including English Toffee, maple nut, and peanut butter fudge, [6] [9]
Since the 2010s, Dewar's hosts the "Cupid's Challenge", an annual fundraiser for the Mendiburu Magic Foundation, a local charity. [11] [12]
As of 2005, Dewar's ice cream was sold at the Disney's Soda Fountain and Studio Store in Hollywood. [13] Food critic Jonathan Gold said in 2011 that
"Dewar's is the best old soda fountain in the state, and even if it didn't make the world's best nut chews... I would still go there for the thrill of seeing the counterwoman tamping the ice cream into sundae goblets in a way that makes the marshmallow crème spurt out the sides." [14] [2]
Dewar's Candy Shop and their taffy chews have been featured on the Food Network, as well as in the "Highly Recommend" column of Bon Appetit . [10] [1] At the shop, a letter framed on the wall from football player Frank Gifford reads in one section, "I love my peanut butter chews." [7] [1]