The Yard Milkshake Bar, a hit in vacation towns and other midsize cities, held its grand opening last weekend in the Power & Light District.
Just like any ice cream shop, The Yard has scoops and bowls and sundaes, but specialty milkshakes are its trademark. The toppings tower over the glass; brownies or mermaid tails or cookie dough hearts or oatmeal cream pies, drizzled with chocolate or caramel or sprinkles or all three. You’ll pay for the pleasure—The Yard’s specialty milkshakes, unlike its regular shakes and scoops, are $19—but sheesh, they’re good.
Creative Culture, a DIY art studio with locations in Westport and Leawood, serves similar milkshakes. We wrote about it last summer. It’s a lot of fun, and the shakes are more affordable, at $14. But Creative Culture’s owner freely admits they’re going for “over the top, tacky, nostalgic” rather than “super gourmet, fancy milkshakes. The Yard, meanwhile, is closer to the latter. Its edible cookie dough is house made, its brownies are gooey and thick, and its ice cream is Blue Bell.
You’ll find The Yard’s signature shakes, including the brownie-topped Mint Brownie Mudslide and the sparkly blue Mermaid, are great—the Mermaid surprisingly so. The Heart of KC, which is strawberry and cookie dough ice cream, red and blue chocolate-covered pretzels, icing, cookie dough hearts, and whipped cream, is a $21 Kansas City exclusive. The toppings shine here, especially the hearts pretzels.
Don’t overlook the secret menu, either. The themes are Chiefs, Taylor Swift, and barbecue. The franchise owners tested the first two at their Branson location—the only other location in Missouri—and it’s hard to see them staying secret for long.
The Yard Milkshake Bar is spacious, has a patio that spans the building, and is right across the street from KC Live. Its ice cream is darn good. The price (and calorie count) of its specialty milkshakes might restrain them to special occasions, but special they’ll be. As far as wacky milkshakes go, you might not find one better.