This profile is in active compilation — some details are awaiting a cited source.

Betty Rae’s Ice Cream is a Kansas City-born craft ice cream company famous for its bold, frequently rotating small-batch flavors. Founded in the Waldo neighborhood in 2016, it has been voted KC’s best ice cream in back-to-back local readers’ polls and has grown to roughly six metro shops plus a traveling truck — now under Shatto Milk Company ownership and expanding via franchise.

Description

Betty Rae’s Ice Cream is a Kansas City craft ice cream company recognized for its handcrafted, small-batch ice cream and an inventive, frequently rotating flavor lineup — roughly 26 core flavors supplemented by monthly specials and seasonal one-offs. The brand leans into bold and nostalgia-driven creations (cereal-milk and Cinnamon Toast Crunch flavors, brown butter pecan, goat cheese–apricot–walnut, s’mores, and collaborations with local businesses such as Joe’s Kansas City Bar-B-Que), and it has been voted among Kansas City’s best ice cream in local readers’ polls in back-to-back years.12

This Registry entry pins the Prairie Village, Kansas shop at 5330 W 95th St, in the Meadowbrook shopping center, which opened in 2024 as part of a rapid multi-location expansion.3 Beyond scoop shops, Betty Rae’s runs a traveling ice cream truck, distributes pints into area grocery stores, and offers vegan and gluten-free options, ice cream sandwiches, shakes, affogatos, and ice cream flights.14

The company’s heritage location is in the Waldo neighborhood of Kansas City, Missouri (7140 Wornall Rd), where Betty Rae’s began in 2016.2

Ownership and history

Betty Rae’s opened its first shop in Waldo (KCMO) in 2016, founded by David Friesen and Mary Nguyen, who later added a second shop in the River Market. The business is named after a grandmother of one of the founders — remembered as an inventive cook with a taste for the sweeter side of life.52

In 2020 the original owners closed both shops amid allegations of misconduct.4 In early 2021, Alec Rodgers — a former Betty Rae’s scooper, then 23 — purchased the business and reopened both locations during the pandemic, leading the company through what he described as its busiest years ever.4 In May 2023, Rodgers sold Betty Rae’s to Matt Shatto, vice president of the local Shatto Milk Company and founder of Shatto Home Delivery; the sale committed to retaining staff, both original locations, existing flavors, and the ice cream truck while expanding into new locations and grocery retail.4

Under Shatto ownership the brand has expanded quickly across the metro — Olathe, Merriam (which houses the commissary/production facility), Prairie Village (this pin), and Overland Park (2025) — and launched a franchise program in 2024, with the first franchise opening in Omaha, Nebraska, in September 2024 and additional regional markets targeted (St. Louis, Wichita, Bentonville, Nashville, Denver, Oklahoma City, Tulsa).36

Locations

Operator-level parent page (per 2026-05-17_strategist-session-decisions-rounds-1-10 §D6.3): this page lists every location; each is its own Map pin. This record absorbed the former standalone betty-raes-ice-cream-merriam.md (a per-location page that violated D6.3).

LocationAddressNote
Waldo (original/flagship)7140 Wornall Rd, Kansas City, MO 64114Founded 2016
River MarketKansas City, MOstreet address
Merriam5740 Antioch Rd, Merriam, KS 66202Opened 2024; also the production commissary7
Prairie Village5330 W 95th St, Prairie Village, KS 66207Meadowbrook center; opened 2024
OlatheOlathe, KSstreet address
Overland Park or Shawnee (2025)KS** discrepancy:** the parent sources say Overland Park (May 2025); the former Merriam page cited Shawnee (2025). Confirm which (or both) opened.
Omaha, NEOmaha, NEFranchise (Sept 2024) — out of KC metro
Traveling truck—Mobile

See also

  • Registry
  • prairie-village

Sources

Footnotes

  1. Betty Rae’s Ice Cream — official site & About page (“KC’s boldest flavors” since 2016, ~26 small-batch flavors, six neighborhood locations + truck, named for a grandmother, donates 10% of profits). https://bettyraes.com/ and https://bettyraes.com/about/ — accessed 2026-05-30. ↩ ↩2

  2. Feast Magazine / Visit KC / KCTV5 / Yelp — Waldo 2016 founding, River Market second shop, “award-winning Kansas City favorite,” signature flavors, 7140 Wornall Rd. https://www.feastmagazine.com/the-feed/kansas_city_news/article_771e3e30-b85e-11e8-bdb7-a72db7d20ec5.html; https://www.visitkc.com/listings/betty-raes-ice-cream/ — accessed 2026-05-30. ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  3. Startland News — “Why keep Betty Rae’s from the world? KC ice cream shop franchising brand across region” (current locations: Merriam/commissary, Olathe, Prairie Village, River Market, Waldo; franchise terms; Omaha first franchise Sept 2024; seven target markets). https://www.startlandnews.com/2025/02/betty-raes-ice-cream-franchise/ — accessed 2026-05-30. ↩ ↩2

  4. KCUR — “After reviving Betty Rae’s Ice Cream, owner Alec Rodgers is selling the company” (full ownership chain: Friesen & Nguyen founders → 2020 closure amid misconduct allegations → Alec Rodgers buys & reopens early 2021 → Matt Shatto / Shatto Milk acquires, May 2023). https://www.kcur.org/arts-life/2023-05-20/betty-raes-ice-cream-kansas-city-new-owner-shatto-milk — accessed 2026-05-30. ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4

  5. Betty Rae’s — official “About Us” page (founders, Waldo origin, naming/back-story). https://bettyraes.squarespace.com/new-page-1 — accessed 2026-05-30. ↩

  6. Startland News / Johnson County Post / KCTV5 — Overland Park location opening May 2025, “popular local ice cream chain.” https://startlandnews.com/2025/03/betty-raes-overland-park/; https://johnsoncountypost.com/2025/03/10/betty-raes-overland-park-254620/ — accessed 2026-05-30. ↩

  7. Johnson County Post — “Kansas City ice cream shop Betty Rae’s opening in Merriam” (5740 Antioch Rd; production center; 2024). https://johnsoncountypost.com/2024/03/07/merriam-betty-raes-228757/ — accessed 2026-05-30. (Merged in from the former betty-raes-ice-cream-merriam.md.) See also The Pitch — “Allegations of misconduct swirl around Betty Rae’s Ice Cream ownership.” https://www.thepitchkc.com/allegations-of-misconduct-swirl-around-betty-raes-ice-cream-ownership/ — basis for the provisional-ownership note. ↩

See also

  • Registry
Categories
  • Kansas City–owned
  • Dessert
  • Prairie Village