The former South Milwaukee Dairy Queen will become a cafe - with ice cream - by June, new owners say

It's been nearly two years since the beloved South Milwaukee Dairy Queen closed after decades in business. Now a former customer is opening a café there — complete with ice cream.

Zach and Becky Kinzer have been operating the Better Together Mobile Café out of a trailer since fall of 2018. The couple is following their longtime dream and expanding into the former Dairy Queen, 1301 N. Chicago Ave., with a goal of opening in June.

They’re keeping the trailer, too.

“This past summer and fall our name just got out there, it blew up,” Becky Kinzer said. “We felt like it was the time to do a brick-and-mortar.”

The couple called the property owner last year and were told the location had a few interested parties. Becky Kinzer said the owner chose them because their business was family-owned and their menu included ice cream to “keep that history going.”

Zach Kinzer said the brick and mortar location has been a dream the couple had for nearly 10 years and “it’s all thanks to our family, friends and customers who have supported and believed in us.”

Making new memories

When Dairy Queen closed, community members shared memories from the longstanding location.

“We’re honored to put our business there and hoping to continue those great memories,” Becky Kinzer said.

The Kinzer’s, South Milwaukee residents for about four years, live within a minute or two of the property. Becky Kinzer recalled taking her children there for ice cream after dinner and sitting on the large rocks outside as they ate.

“We definitely were sad when they closed,” she said. “We didn’t think at the time we’d be opening something there.”

The couple met in a Starbucks in 2009 and always wanted to open a sit-down coffee shop.

“We love coffee and people,” Becky Kinzer said.

The building requires some work before the Kinzers can open. It needs a new roof, and the electrical and plumbing systems also need to be updated to code. The couple is doing a lot of renovation work themselves, to keep costs down, with plans to modernize the interior.

“We want to be welcoming and cozy with a little more up-to-date and modern look,” Becky Kinzer said.

The couple is hoping to utilize the green space next to the building for outdoor seating — especially considering social distancing requirements — as it had been by Dairy Queen. Becky Kinzer said the park service actually brought a picnic table in the past.

Starting the business

In 2017, Becky Kinzer worked on her aunt and uncle’s barbeque food truck in West Allis and thought it was fun. Soon after the couple came up with a plan to open a mobile café. The name, in part, came from the song “Better Together” by Jack Johnson which played at their wedding.

“We also really believe people are better together, communities (need to) get together,” she said. “It’s also a play on words because ice cream and espresso work better together.”

The couple will be dropping “mobile” from their current name, making it the Better Together Café.

“The name ‘Better Together’ has always meant a lot to us personally, but after a year like 2020, it feels so much more,” Zach Kinzer said.

The physical location accommodates more workspace meaning there’s more ability to expand into some food options and “jazz up the milkshakes,” Becky Kinzer said. While there were no specifics yet on the menu, Kinzer said it will be focused on “breakfast options.”

Some of the top-selling Better Together drinks are an espresso Oreo (cookies and cream milkshake with espresso) and the unicorn milkshake (cotton candy milkshake with a sour rainbow straw). The trailer also offers some cereal milkshakes such as Fruity Pebbles, which will also be available at the physical location.

Drinks typically range from $3 to $7 depending on options at the trailer. Becky Kinzer said that “should be pretty consistent” at the physical location but “jazzed up” milkshakes may cost a bit more — those shakes could include things like a whole cupcake.

“We come up with ideas (for the menu) at random places,” Becky Kinzer said. “We try to add special milkshakes at least once a month for a limited time.” The popular ones, like a s’mores shake, stay on the menu.

Becky Kinzer works full time on the trailer and Zach was part time until mid-March when he left his nine-year job as a salesman for Ecolab.

“He’s taken the plunge and gone all-in with Better Together,” Becky Kinzer said.

When the couple first mentioned they were talking about opening a business in the middle of a pandemic, Becky Kinzer said people questioned them. However, she said people are starting to get back out. During 2020, the couple had to adjust their trailer business since most of their events were with food trucks and weddings which shut down.

“Last year all those got canceled,” she said. “In April last year we decided to change it up so we started doing apartment complexes and that took off with people working from home.”

Summer 2021 will be a balancing act as the couple works to figure out what hours work best for their new brick-and-mortar café and what events they will do with the trailer.

Contact Erik S. Hanley at (262) 875-9467 or erik.hanley@jrn.com. Follow him on Twitter at @ES_Hanley.