Why doesn’t Braum’s come to Kansas City? Oklahoma ice cream maker explains
For many living in the Kansas City metro, Oklahoma-based ice cream shop, burger joint and dairy market Braum’s is a highly anticipated road trip stop.
Lately, Braum’s has entertained properties in Lawrence and Topeka. But the popular chain says a spot closer to Kansas City would be hard to swing.
Braum’s sources its dairy and beef products from its 10,000-acre family farm in Tuttle, Oklahoma, southwest of Oklahoma City.
To maintain a consistent level of freshness, Braum’s has guidelines about how far from the farm they’ll venture, according to public relations director Amanda Beuchaw.
And while Braum’s has recently slackened its former rule of not venturing 300 miles from the farm (that number is now 330 miles), Beuchaw says the company does not plan to inch out any further.
“KC is unfortunately not on our radar at this time,” she told The Star. The metro lies at least 360 miles away, depending on the suburb.
Within the 330-mile radius, however, are the three properties the company recently purchased in Topeka and a spot in Lawrence that’s experienced several delays.
Neither have clear timelines for opening.
Braum’s history began less than two hours from the KC area and stretches back to the 1930s, when Henry H. Braum converted an Emporia, Kansas, house into a butter processing plant.
Then his son, Bill Braum, entered the family business after attending the University of Kansas. The father and son developed an ice cream chain in the 50s called Peter Pan Ice Cream, which grew to dozens of locations and was named after a park in Emporia. The pair later sold the chain under an agreement that they would not sell ice cream in the state of Kansas for 10 years.
In 1968, Bill and his wife, Mary, opened the first Braum’s Ice Cream and Dairy Store in Oklahoma City.
Today, Braum’s sells hamburgers, sundaes, banana splits, malts, shakes. The market side of the business offers fresh meat and produce, milk, cheeses and more.
It has more than 300 locations in Kansas, Missouri, Texas, Oklahoma and Arkansas.
This story was originally published October 21, 2025 at 3:49 PM.