Now that it finally feels like fall, here are seasonal treats to enjoy in Springfield

It finally feels like fall! Restaurants dropped their fall menus when we were enduring unseasonably warm temperatures, but it’s not easy to stomach a pumpkin pie latte when it’s 85 degrees outside.

But now, yes, we can savor every pumpkin-infused dish, inhale the comforting aroma of a pot pie and celebrate all things fall. Here are some incredible fall menu items you can enjoy right now in Springfield.

Swirly’s Ice Cream & Waffles

What’s better than a waffle ice cream cone? A Swirly. If you haven’t had this concoction, then you must try it. It’s custom soft serve with a warm bubble waffle available at Swirly’s Ice Cream & Waffles, a food truck on South Campbell.

Each month features a new special, and October’s is sweet potato pie. Here is how it works: Vanilla ice cream is swirled with roasted spiced sweet potatoes, mini marshmallows and ginger snaps, topped with toasted marshmallows. The special waffle is made with spiced sweet potato pecan batter.

Jack Powderly opened the business in August 2022 and says he and his wife wanted to bring a new ice cream concept to the area.

“What makes it unique is how incorporated the ingredients that we mix in become to the ice cream,” Powderly said. “We serve the ice cream in the same bowl as a warm, soft bubble waffle. We had seen both the ice cream and waffle concepts done separately by others but decided to combine them in a novel way. Our waffles really serve as a replacement to the waffle cone that you’d normally get and we think it’s a huge upgrade.”

Here are their fall flavors:

• Pumpkin cookie cheesecake (so far, it’s the best seller)
• Dark chocolate date (features Date Lady products)
• Pecan caramel apple
• Oatmeal cream chai

What’s in an oatmeal cream chai? Vanilla ice cream swirled with chai, pumpkin spice, ginger snaps and oatmeal cream pie. Oh my.

Retro Metro

Retro Metro has an extensive new fall menu with a nice mix of sweet and savory flavors.

The team behind this southside restaurant worked at Metropolitan Grill for many years, so you will see some favorites from that restaurant, such as their famous flash-fried spinach. Their fall menu has a great selection of appetizers, drinks, main courses and dessert — wait until you hear about this dessert.

First, start with a comforting soup. Magers mushroom and sage soup is rich with sliced portabellas floating in a savory, creamy broth and then garnished with fried sage. Retro Metro also has bacon-wrapped horseradish shrimp served with a whiskey barbecue sauce.

Then there's a pizza smothered in fig jam, topped with duck and prosciutto, goat cheese, gorgonzola and arugula.

The pumpkin spice crème brûlée is divine. A classic crème brûlée is mixed with pumpkin puree and kissed by cinnamon and other fall spices. The portion is generous and there’s so much satisfaction in breaking the hard sugar shell on top and diving into silky bliss.

There are many other delicious-sounding dishes on this exciting fall menu. Retro Metro is open for lunch and dinner.

Blue Heron Farm & Bakery

The Blue Heron Bakery is a gem on Commercial Stree. Open for breakfast and lunch, the treats that come out of this kitchen are delectable. Jennie Boosey is the owner and head baker. She used to sell at Farmers Market of the Ozarks but opened a storefront last November and has been busy ever since.

Pumpkin spice lovers must try her pumpkin pie whipped ricotta croissant. It starts with one of her classic, buttery croissants which she fills with essence of pumpkin pie whipped with sweet ricotta. Boosey’s croissants are popular. It’s not a fall flavor, but the raspberry and cream is insanely good. A sweet homemade Bavarian cream is mixed with raspberry sauce, and it is inside and on top of the croissant. It’s messy and marvelous.

If you’ve ever been to Portugal and tasted Pasteis de Nata, then you will be delighted to know she started baking those this fall. This dessert is served all over Portugal and traces its history back a few hundred years to a monastery outside Lisbon. A flaky pastry shell is filled with an egg custard flavored with cinnamon, vanilla and lemon. It’s a perfect accompaniment to coffee.

If savory is what you crave on a cold day, then try her chicken pot pie made with her homemade, buttery pastry.

She often sells out, so if you want something specific it’s best to get there early.

Aviary Café

Looking for something lighter? The Harvest Salmon Salad on the fall menu at the Aviary Café is spectacular. It starts with fresh greens topped with roasted butternut squash, creamy and slightly tart chunks of goat cheese, a grilled salmon filet, walnuts and pepitas, with a house-made maple vinaigrette and balsamic vinegar. It brings together so many wonderful fall flavors and textures. This is a fabulous and satisfying meal.

Do you know the best time to enjoy the salad? During happy hour when you can get half-price bottles of house wine and some other specials.

If you’re there for the crêpes — which the Aviary is known for — then don’t fret. Try the new pumpkin spice and apple crisp crêpe. Their tender crêpe is filled with pumpkin mascarpone and the dish is covered with flambéed apples, caramel sauce, candied walnuts, whipped cream and their killer crème anglaise.

Vic’s Pastries

Vic’s Pastries is a lovely pastry shop on the south side of town. Vic Pace, the owner and chef, was the head pastry chef at the Tower Club, a private dining club in Hammons Tower until it shuttered in 2017.

Not long after its closure, he opened his own establishment with his wife Liz. While he sells a variety of regular-size items, he is known for his mini pastries, petit fours, cookies, cakes and just about every sweet treat. His bite-size treats are perfect party fare.

But this fall, you’ll want to try his pumpkin roulade, also known as a pumpkin roll. A moist and flavorful pumpkin cake is carefully rolled with a sweetened, cream cheese filling into the shape of a log. They are available by the slice or roll. The slices are in the case, but entire rolls usually require a preorder.

Then, there’s pumpkin bread and pumpkin cheesecake. The rich cheesecake is crowned with whipped cream and dusted with cinnamon. Try a bite-size or a 4-inch round. You can also preorder pumpkin cheesecake in 7-, 8- and 10-inch sizes.

Juliana Goodwin

Juliana Goodwin is a freelance journalist with experience covering business, travel and tourism, health, food and history. She is a former Food and Travel Columnist for the Springfield News-Leader, a former business reporter for The Joplin Globe, and has written for USA Today and Arkansas Living Magazine, among others. More by Juliana Goodwin

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