Millie's Ice Cream Shoppe reopens as Cornerstone Cafe in Oak Lawn

By Bob Bong
Southland Savvy

It was a sad day when Chad Reno had to close Millie’s Ice Cream and Sandwich Shoppe in Oak Lawn after owning the business for about 18 months. Thankfully, the feeling didn’t last long.

Reno said that people immediately asked him to reconsider what was a hard business decision to make. So, he did reconsider and the result is the new Cornerstone Café, which opened on Memorial Day at 5172 W. 95th St.

“Business is slowly building,” Reno, 40, a lifelong Oak Lawn resident said Wednesday. “But so far it’s been good.”

Reno said he and his wife, Pam Reno, made a few changes in the transition from Millie’s to the Cornerstone Café.

“We tweaked the menu,” he said. “We kept the wraps and added a flatbread melt. We also changed ice cream to Sherman’s, which is a premium ice cream from Michigan.”

That wasn’t all that changed. “We dropped waitress service,” Reno said. “Now we have counter service like most sandwich shops. We also added some seating and hope to add more.”

Reno said he hopes to have a grand reopening in the next week or two.

Reno said his summer hours will be from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday and from 4 p.m. to 9 p.m. on Sunday.

For more information, call the Cornerstone Café at 708-423-9293. You can also visit their new Facebook page (a visit to Millie’s Facebook page will redirect you to the Café).