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Have your tastebuds soured to the same old convenience store flavors? Or are you looking for a sweet way to experience history? Try a visit to one of the Kansas City area’s old school soda fountains.
Once a staple of downtown excursions, these stores were the place to meet friends, mingle, and enjoy a tangy, fizzy treat. The soda fountain got its start with the invention of soda water, which was water made to bubble by adding carbon dioxide, trying to emulate the mineral waters that flowed from natural wells.
At first these drinks were considered health tonics, prepared in pharmacies, but the soda fountain evolved into the drug store lunch counter, with drinks like the phosphate or egg cream gaining popularity during Prohibition. Soda jerks were the original mixologists, concocting these delicious treats using soda water, flavored syrups, ice cream, and other ingredients.
Many famous Americans worked as soda jerks, like pianist, composer and bandleader Duke Ellington (his first composition was the “Soda Fountain Rag”), and Kansas Sen. Bob Dole, who worked at Dawson’s Drugs in Russell, Kansas (Dole was the subject of a recent episode of KCUR’s “A People’s History of Kansas City").
The soda fountain dropped in popularity during the 1970s. But around Kansas City, there are still a few opportunities to enjoy a fizzy and sweet nostalgic treat.
Elixir at the Museum of Kansas City
Elixir at the Museum of Kansas City, in the Historic Northeast, takes an old timey soda fountain downstairs in Corinthian Hall and gives it a modern twist.
This soda fountain was originally run by the Kirby family, serving the community of Modeno, Missouri for nearly 50 years, before the entire soda fountain furnishings were donated to the museum in 1976 and installed as the 1910 Drug Store and Soda Fountain exhibit. Along with the restoration of the museum, the soda fountain was renovated and reopened in 2024, while still retaining many of the original details like the marble counter.
True to its museum exhibit locale, there are informational panels on the walls to share more of the history of soda, soda fountains and drug stores, and the Kirby family.
At Elixir, boost any of the house sodas (which includes flavors like blood orange and rosemary) into a phosphate or float (Elixir serves Fairway Creamery ice cream). Their signature Kansas City Float includes a scoop of Madagascar Vanilla ice cream, milk, chocolate sauce, and seltzer.
- 3218 Gladstone Blvd., Kansas City, Missouri 64123
Clinton's Soda Fountain
Clinton’s Soda Fountain is currently our region’s most authentic spot, on the corner of Maple and Main on Independence Square.
Clinton’s started in 1988, but long before that, the building was a Crown Drug Store drug and soda fountain, where a young Harry Truman was employed as a soda jerk in the late 19th century. Historic photos line the walls, demonstrating the soda fountain’s place in the community’s history.
There’s a long wooden counter with a mirror-backed bar back where the soda fountain magic happens. Instead of pills and packets of cure-alls in the shop, there’s a large selection of candy, with many old-fashioned and novelty options. They serve floats in a variety of flavors, using Polly’s Soda Pop, made nearby on Independence Square. (What constitutes a phosphate seems to differ from place to place. Here, they use soda water to emulate the zingy flavor of acid phosphate, the traditional ingredient.)
KCUR’s Savannah Hawley-Bates did a profile on Clinton’s and its loyal customers in 2024. The soda fountain also has a brief cameo in the 2024 Hallmark movie “Holiday Touchdown: A Chiefs Love Story” (the shop next door, Wild About Harry, served as the location of the film’s fictional KC Corner store.)
- 100 West Maple Avenue, Independence, MO 64050
Fountain City Scoops & Floats
Fountain City Scoops & Floats opened in the City Market in 2023. While not technically a soda fountain with seltzer dispensers, the store specializes in the ice cream float. (National Root Beer Float Day is celebrated annually on August 6.)
Partnered with next door KC Soda Co., the shop offers a personalized float experience: Choose from over 1,000 soda flavors to mix with a scoop or two of the available 12 ice cream flavors (from a rotation of 16).
Along with classic soda flavors, they have lime, blue cream, cotton candy, green apple, birch beer, and more to inspire the adventurous dessert alchemist.
They also make those other classic soda fountain staples: shakes and malts (find more local milkshake spots with this summer Adventure).
- 419 Main St, Kansas City, MO 64105
More soda fountains to try around the region
Honorable mention goes to the Georgetown Pharmacy Old Time Soda Fountain and Espresso Shop. Installed in 2006 by pharmacist Dennis Hendershot, this hundred year old soda fountain in Merriam, Kansas, was originally in a drugstore in Fairway.
Unfortunately, it has been out of commission this season due to a part shortage. It’s the only local shop to offer a traditional egg cream (which doesn’t include egg at all, but is typically made with milk, carbonated water, and chocolate syrup).
- 5605 Merriam Dr, Merriam, KS 66203
While Kansas City’s options aren’t vast, there continues to be nostalgia and appreciation for the classic soda fountain, with destinations across the country (interestingly, there are quite a few in neighboring Iowa).
Here are a few closer to home:
Old Mill Tasty Shop has been a staple of downtown Wichita since its founding in 1932. Otto and Erna Woermke, immigrants from Germany, ran the shop for nearly 50 years, until Otto’s death in 1981. Bought by Don Wright and his mother Mary, it’s still family owned and operated and has been serving lunches and fountain treats to Wichitans for 90 years and counting.
- 604 E. Douglas, Wichita, KS, 67202
About a half an hour’s drive north of St. Joseph, Missouri, is the Forest City Soda Fountain & Museum. The drug store retains its 1859 furnishings and details, with the longtime soda fountain restored in 2010. This working, turn-of-the-century soda fountain is very rare. Enjoy a variety of ice cream desserts on Sundays, June through August, 12-4 p.m.
- 112 Commercial Street, Forest City, MO 64451
Opened in 2019, the St. Louis Union Station Soda Fountain aims to replicate the classic, 1950s retro fountain vibe. Along with diner fair, they serve exuberant 22 oz “freak shakes” and crafted sodas, like “Ceasar’s Crush”: blood orange soda syrup, vanilla syrup, soda, lactart and acid phosphate (both of which contribute to that tart “phosphate” flavor.)
- 201 South 18th Street, St. Louis, MO 63103
The Fountain Emporium in Steelville, Missouri, started its existence as the Steelville Drug Store in 1905. Despite being closed periodically through the centuries, it was restored in the 2010s with a mix of turn-of-the-century and midcentury decor. This shop was featured in Feast Magazine, with a lunch menu and tasty concoctions like an avocado lime shake or chocolate phosphate.
- 105 E Main St, Steelville, MO, 65565
