Poppy's Ice Cream & Coffee House

Poppy’s Ice Cream & Coffee House is a hand-crafted ice cream and specialty coffee shop at 307 SE Douglas St in downtown Lee’s Summit, operated by owner Teresa Poppinga since 1997 — originally as Doc’s in Raytown before relocating to the current Lee’s Summit address roughly a decade later.¹²

Description

Poppy’s Ice Cream & Coffee House is an artisan creamery and coffee shop occupying a storefront in the historic Strother District of downtown Lee’s Summit. The shop makes all ice creams, sorbets, and custards in-house, producing inventive flavors such as Mexican chocolate, cinnamon whiskey, cassis lime sorbet, and turmeric-based vegan golden milk.² Its menu spans scoops, shakes, sundaes, concretes, sorbet fizz drinks, and floats, alongside locally roasted coffee sourced from Broadway Café.³⁴

The business traces its roots to 1997, when owner Teresa Poppinga launched it under the name Doc’s in Raytown, MO. A decade later — around 2007 — the shop relocated to its current downtown Lee’s Summit address and rebranded as Poppy’s Ice Cream & Coffee House.³ At 29 years of continuous KC-area operation, Poppy’s is one of the longer-tenured independent creameries in eastern Jackson County.

Poppy’s is consistently rated among the top dessert destinations in Lee’s Summit, holding the #1 ranking among dessert spots on Tripadvisor for the city.⁵ It appears in the Strother District’s official directory and the Downtown Lee’s Summit merchants guide, reflecting its role as a downtown anchor.⁶⁷

Ownership and history

Ownership

Period	Owner / Operator	Notes
1997 → present	Teresa Poppinga	Founder; opened as “Doc’s” in Raytown; rebranded and relocated to Lee’s Summit ~2007.3

History

Teresa Poppinga started the business in 1997 under the name Doc’s in Raytown, MO — then a small, local operation with a homemade focus. After roughly ten years, she relocated the shop to downtown Lee’s Summit, rebranding as Poppy’s Ice Cream & Coffee House.³ The move to the Strother District gave the operation a more prominent downtown footprint. The business has operated continuously under her ownership for approximately 29 years across both locations.

Links

• Official site: https://www.poppysicecream.com/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LSPoppys/

Sources

Disputes

None at this time.

Footnotes

1. Poppy’s Ice Cream — Home page. https://www.poppysicecream.com/ — Asserts: 307 SE Douglas St, Lee’s Summit, MO 64063; active seasonal hours (June 2026); hand-crafted artisan ice cream and sorbets since 1997; Broadway Café coffee. ↩

2. Kansas City Homes & Style — “I Scream, You Scream.” https://homesandstylekc.com/i-scream-you-scream/ — Asserts: owner Teresa Poppinga; flavors including Mexican chocolate, cinnamon whiskey, cassis lime sorbet, vegan golden milk. ↩ ↩²

3. Poppy’s Ice Cream — About page. https://www.poppysicecream.com/about — Asserts: originally known as Doc’s; began in Raytown; relocated to downtown Lee’s Summit approximately a decade later; founded 1997. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴

4. Yelp — Poppy’s Ice Cream & Coffee House. https://www.yelp.com/biz/poppys-ice-cream-and-coffee-house-lees-summit — Asserts: 307 SE Douglas St; active listing updated February 2026; current hours. ↩

5. Tripadvisor — Poppy’s Ice Cream and Coffee House. https://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g44588-d5059676-Reviews-Poppy_s_Ice_Cream_and_Coffee_House-Lee_s_Summit_Missouri.html — Asserts: ranked #1 of 9 dessert spots in Lee’s Summit; 4.2 rating. ↩

6. The Strother District — Directory listing. https://www.strotherdist.com/poppys-ice-cream-coffee-house — Asserts: listed as active Strother District merchant. ↩

7. Downtown Lee’s Summit — Directory listing. https://downtownls.org/directory/listing/poppys-ice-cream-coffee-house — Asserts: active downtown merchant directory entry. ↩