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Kansas City excels at the milkshake, and you can find them all over town.
Diners are one of your best bets to get a quality milkshake, as evidenced by the skyscraper at Winstead's, a 64-ounce behemoth topped with whipped cream and cherries that only the brave can finish.
For a summer treat, take a tour of ice cream shops, drive-ins, and restaurants to discover those milkshakes that make Kansas City proud.
HiBoy Drive-In
HiBoy Drive-In is your classic burger joint, and where you find great burgers, you find great milkshakes. Opened in Independence, Missouri, in 1957, they’ve perfected their recipe for 68 years.
It all starts with their mix. HiBoy’s milkshakes are almost as thick and dense as peanut butter, so you could either eat it with a spoon or a straw. They achieve this by controlling the aeration during the mixing process.
Next up are the flavors. Chocolate, vanilla, and strawberry are the standards, but HiBoy also offers butterscotch, birthday cake, and pineapple.
And if that isn’t enough, you can add a “flavor burst” to your shake, like cotton candy or cinnamon bun. They recommend that anything over three additional flavorings can be a bit much, but you do you.
A particular favorite is the peanut butter fudge milkshake, which is especially refreshing on a hot summer day.
- 3424 Blue Ridge Cutoff, Independence, MO 64052
- 16721 E Gudgell Road, Independence, MO 64055
- 924 W US Hwy 24, Independence, MO 64050
Betty Rae's Ice Cream
A Kansas City favorite, Betty Rae’s was purchased by Shatto Milk Company in 2023. Thus, two local legends combined.
Although the recipe for ice cream may be basic, it's in the quality of the ingredients that you’ll find some of the big differences in taste. There is no better base than Shatto Milk, which adds some extra creaminess. The higher the fat content, the creamier the shake.
At Betty Rae’s, one of the hardest decisions you’ll have to make is what flavor you want, because their flavors change with the seasons. Try their cookies and cream, gooey butter cake, or lavender honey for something more floral. Or if you want to embrace your childhood, check out the cereal milk flavor.
The milkshakes themselves are thinner, which makes for easy straw-sippage. For those chunkier ice cream flavors with chocolate chips or other mix-ins, check the bottom for what didn’t make it through the straw. That’s when you grab your spoon and go to work.
- 412 Delaware St., Kansas City, MO 64105
- 7140 Wornall Road, Kansas City, MO 64114
- 5740 Antioch Road, Merriam, KS 66202
- 5330 W 95th St., Prairie Village, KS 66207
- 6936 W 135th St., Overland Park, KS 66223
- 251 SW Greenwich Drive, Lee's Summit, MO 64082
- 22350 W 66th St, Shawnee, KS 66226
Blue Chip Cookies and Ice Cream
Walking into Blue Chip Cookies and Ice Cream, you are greeted with the sweet smell of a bakery. Up front, you’ll find an assortment of cookies like chocolate chip and peanut butter, which you can make into an ice cream sandwich. A bit further down, you’ll get to the ice cream.
They have flavors like Michigan Pothole, which they describe as black tar fudge in chocolate ice cream with chunks of chocolate asphalt.
Any flavor can be made into a milkshake, and they shoot for a slightly thicker mix, but give you an extra-wide straw to get each and every bit out. The salted caramel milkshake stood out, where the chocolate, caramel, salt, and ice cream mixed wonderfully.
- 5045 W 117th St., Leawood, KS 66211
Sylas and Maddy's Homemade Ice Cream
Sylas and Maddy’s Homemade Ice Cream debuted in 1997 in Lawrence, Kansas, and opened their Olathe location in 1999.
The Olathe location has a fun and comforting vibe. An infographic on the wall gives you the complete history of ice cream, from Marco Polo bringing a version to Europe in the 1300s to the invention of the churn in the 1840s. The most difficult decision of your day will be to pick what flavor you want.
Strawberry cheesecake, cake batter, and Butterfinger are just a few options on the flavor board, which contains 44 choices in all. You might gravitate towards their special, Mahomes Magic: butter pecan, graham cracker, and toasted coconut.
For your milkshake, though, don’t pass up on the Kansas Twister. It’s chocolate, peanut butter, and peanuts, mixed to a creamy consistency a step above syrup. It’s their own twist on the Reese’s Cup, and the peanut butter doesn’t overpower the chocolate.
- 11925 S Strang Line Road, Olathe, KS 66062
- 1101 Massachusetts St., Lawrence, KS 66044
Fairway Creamery
Fairway Creamery was originally opened by Kansas City’s favorite chocolatier Christopher Elbow in 2019. After three years, longtime friends and local restaurant owners Stephanie and Ali Shirazi bought the shop.
Ali had made ice cream at Glacé, another Elbow ice cream shop, so buying Fairway was a natural move for everyone.
In 2024, with their Persian rose pistachio ice cream, Fairway won Flavor of the Year for the Midwest Region, awarded by the North American Ice Cream Association.
A new flavor to try is their strawberry basil lemon ricotta ice cream. Or for the traditionalists, there may be no better place to get the double chocolate milkshake. Little nuggets of chocolate swim up the straw to give it a little bit more punch.
They’ve also opened up a brand new location in the Westside neighborhood, just down the street from Blue Bird Bistro. Have brunch, and then finish your day off with a milkshake.
- 5938 Mission Road, Fairway, KS 66205
- 809 W 17 St., Kansas City, MO 64108
Creative Culture
Having a milkshake at Creative Culture is a whole experience. It’s arts and crafts with a milkshake bar. Paint pottery, do a bit of woodworking, or head over to the plant bar and nurture life.
They also offer workshops such as pickling vegetables or pet bowl painting — check their website for dates and times.
There is also the splatter paint studio, which is exactly what it sounds like. You wear protective equipment, get canvas and paint, and go nuts painting with your whole body, almost like it’s a workout. They take walk-ins for any activity, but groups of seven or more need to make reservations.
Creative Culture brings this same high energy to their milkshakes. Served in a mason jar and topped with enough whipped cream that it looks like Mt. Vesuvius, these milkshakes are large. The “Hello Lovely” is a strawberry cheesecake, “It’s All a Dream” is chocolate peanut butter, and “It’s Lit” is s’mores.
“The Original” is an Oreo milkshake that comes with a full-sized Rice Krispies treat, a three-inch cookie on top, two Pocky sticks, and two cubes of cheesecake. All this is impaled into the milkshake. It’s a whole meal.
There are three locations in the Kansas City area, but the Liberty location doesn’t have the milkshake bar just yet.
- 207 Westport Road, Kansas City, MO 64111
- 5235 W 116th Place, Leawood, KS 66211
Other milkshakes KC loves
There are a lot of other places to find great ice cream and great milkshakes. If you make it through this list, keep going to some of our favorites!
- High Hopes, 5536 Troost Ave. A, Kansas City, MO
- Poppy’s Ice Cream and Coffee House, 307 SE Douglas St., Lee's Summit, MO
- Paul’s Drive-In KC, 10424 Blue Ridge Blvd., Kansas City, MO
- Howdy Homemade KC, 921 NE Woods Chapel Road, Lee's Summit, MO
- One More Scoop, 3522 NE Vivion Road, Kansas City, MO and 803 E North Ave., Belton, MO
- Foggi Ice Cream, 6015 Johnson Drive, Mission, KS
- Ice Cream Bae, 418 Nichols Road, Kansas City, MO and 5260 W 116th Place, Leawood, KS
- The Golden Scoop, 10460 W 103rd St., Overland Park, KS
- Summersalt Ice Cream Co, 4051 Somerset Drive, Prairie Village, KS and 3808 W 95th St., Leawood, KS
- Just Chill, 6277 N Oak Trafficway, Oakview, MO
- Town Topic Hamburgers, 2021 Broadway Blvd, Kansas City, MO and 1900 W. Baltimore Ave, Kansas city, MO
