Tupelo restaurant keeps hungry customers coming back for seventy years
Dairy Kream has a loyal following who like the nostalgia, cheeseburgers and shakes
TUPELO, MISS. (WCBI) – Jodi Clayton has worked at Dairy Kream for ten years and knows all the regular customers.
“There is people who come here every single day and get the same thing, every single day,” Clayton said.
Joy and her husband, Durley, are longtime regulars.
How long have you been coming here? “Sixty-six years,” said Joy.
What do you like about coming here? “The food, I just get a plain hamburger. I like the milkshake,” said Durley.
The East Tupelo restaurant is located at what was known as The Levee. Austin Knight’s Dad, Gene, bought Dairy Kream in 1970, and it has been in the family ever since.
Austin Knight says the original building is pretty much the same, except for awnings in the front and a lean-to for storage in the back.
“The originality of it, I feel like it is still pretty much the same as it always has been,” Clayton said.
For the most part, that goes for the menu as well,
“We have added stuff throughout the years, but most main sellers are stuff that has been here since day one,” Knight said.
Hamburgers and cheeseburgers are favorites. Dairy Kream goes through hundreds of ground beef weekly. And for many customers like Melissa Copeland Ruff, the soft serve cones bring back a lot of memories.
“I remember the swirl ice cream cone with vanilla on one side and chocolate on the other, and of course the hamburgers. They are classic,” Copeland Ruff said.
And while Dairy Kream only takes cash, Knight said that may change, soon.
“It is something I have been looking into and we believe that is coming,” Knight said.
Looking ahead though, don’t expect a lot of other changes. The owners of Dairy Kream will keep offering fresh food, at reasonable prices, along with top notch service and nostalgia. The things that have keep people coming back for seventy years.
Austin Knight’s sisters are part of the Dairy Kream in Amory.
