Photo cover: Dairy Queen at 135th & State Line Rd. is ready to open and awaits a city permit. Its sister store at 6001 Main St. in Grandview will open by August. Photo by Kathy Feist.
By Jill Draper
Summer fun pairs perfectly with ice cream. Here’s a roundup on what’s new in south Kansas City when
searching for sweet, frozen concoctions.
Dairy Queen
For Blizzard and Orange Julius fans, a DQ Grill & Chill is scheduled to open around mid-July at 1100 W. 135th Terrace, across the parking lot from Target. Another Dairy Queen will open by late July or early August at 6001 Main St. in Grandview. Both locations will feature inside seating with table service (after ordering at the counter), along with drive-thru windows and patio seating.
The DQ stores sell burgers, hot dogs, chicken strips and salads, but they’re traditionally known for their soft-serve treats which have less butterfat than the official definition of ice cream. Blizzards, the DQ version of concretes, are the best-selling treat, and the three top flavors are Oreo, Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup and chocolate chip cookie dough. There also are sundaes, cake shakes, cones, ice cream cakes, ice cream pizzas and a rotating list of seasonal flavors such as Summer Berry Cheesecake Blizzard.
Non-dairy options include the Misty Slush and the Starkist Bar, a red, white and blue popsicle.
Andy’s Frozen Custard
Creamier than regular ice cream, frozen custard contains more butterfat and is churned slowly to keep air from being mixed in as it freezes. Andy’s, which claims to serve this dessert freshly made every hour, will open a location on the Missouri side of State Line Road just south of the St. Joseph medical complex by the end of July.
The shop will feature a nostalgic look with the roof outlined by red and white neon lights and a covered patio dressed up with a giant plaster ice cream cone. Service will be drive-thru and walkup, with limited indoor seating.
Customer favorites include concretes with flavors such as Ozark turtle, straw-ana, James brownie funky jackhammer and later in the year, pumpkin pie. Among seasonal treats are key lime pie concretes and peach sundaes. The shop also will sell Sprecher’s root beer on tap, Zarlengo’s Italian ice and fresh-brewed iced tea.
The Scoop
Across the street from Martin City Brewing Co., co-owner Matt Moore and general manager T.J. Carr are building an ice cream shop on the east side of their new 135th Street parking lot. “It will be open in 2020,” says Moore. “We’re running into some hiccups.”
The walk-up shop will have a 1,000-square-foot covered patio with outdoor seating. It will be open year-round and in the future, the offerings will include cakes, cookies, holiday pies and other baked goods. Carr says they’re planning at least 12 flavors, which have been sampled by brew pub customers during the past year. Some of the contenders are caramel pecan, lemon poppy seed, mint with chocolate cookies, strawberry cheesecake, PBJ and cinnamon roll. A frozen treat made with almond milk will provide a non-dairy option, and experiments are ongoing with a no-alcohol, IPA-flavored ice cream.
The Scoop will front the building once occupied by KC Running Co. Moore is using the back part for office and storage space. Until the ice cream shop opens, customers can continue to sample various flavors at the brew pub—just look for the day’s special on the chalkboard near the door.
Dos de Oros Restaurant and Taqueria
Customers can order a cup or cone from 16 flavors of ice cream at the taqueria at Holmes Road and Blue Ridge Boulevard. Best-sellers include mango (a dairy-free option), tequila, pistachio, gansito (strawberry and chocolate) and rompope (Mexican eggnog).
Later in the year, perhaps by the end of the summer says owner Maria Cervantes, the addition to Dos de Oros also may feature a small ice cream shop. She and her husband Miguel have purchased equipment to begin making the ice cream in the expanded kitchen, but first they’re occupied with opening up the new space which will include a bar and more seating.
Tropical Sno
Customers have until late September to visit the Hawaiian shaved ice stand on 135th Street east of the
post office. Some 40 flavors are offered in three sizes of cups, with popular combinations such as
strawberry shortcake, rainbow and Georgia peach. There’s also a YOLO (you only live once) option
where the server chooses for you.
Freezing Moo
This Thai-style ice cream shop opened a year ago last spring, and when winter approached, the owners
added Urban Bowl Grill & Poke to its space at 13123 State Line Rd. Now customers can watch rice and
noodle bowls being topped with fish and vegetables or they can order ice cream and watch a mix of
milk, sugar and cream poured pancake-thin onto super-cooled steel plates. Fruit, cookies and candy bits
can be mashed into the mix before it’s made into short rolls.
There are 20 flavor combinations to choose from, including two summer-only specials—Hawaiian
delight and pink lemonade.