[Photograph: Huge Galdones]

Over the past month we've been taking a long look at ice cream you can find around Chicago, from our personal favorites to offerings that will literally give you a buzz, but we'd be remiss to ignore another frozen trend popping up in restaurants these days: soft-serve. Once left exclusively to the DQ's of the world, the soft-serve machine is now showing up in some very unexpected places. But this isn't your plain old vanilla cone. No, each place has adapted the dessert to its own vision, pairing it with ingredients traditional to cuisines of Thailand, Mexico, and Italy.

Click on the slideshow to check out the seven places that have transformed soft-serve in Chicago, or visit them individually below. And if you can think of another place that should be included in the list, please let us know!

• Cinnamon Stick Soft Serve at Grahamwich
• Fries and Ice Cream Course at EL Ideas
• Mexican Soft Serve at Xoco
• Affogato at The Purple Pig
• Soft Serve with Thai Basil and Coconut Crunch at Yusho
• Bacon Chocolate Chip Soft Serve at Belly Shack
• Jameson Soft Serve at The Boiler Room

View Soft Serve in Chicago in a larger map