If You Live In The South, You Should Know About Braum's

Since 1968, this Oklahoma institution has been serving up something special.

Fact checked by Khara Scheppmann

Southern Living posted an article with the headline " Texas-Native Patrick Mahomes Misses Whataburger So Much, He's Bringing It to Kansas City ." As an Alabamian married to a Kansas City native, I love any and all Mahomes news. The comments section was filled with homesick Texans like him, but plenty of posters asked him to also bring a Braum's to KC. Braum's? I'd never heard of it, but it must be pretty good to implore help from an NFL quarterback.

A quick dive down a dairy-filled rabbit hole brought me to one conclusion: I should have heard of Braum's before, and now that I have, I need to visit one. If, like me, you're a Southerner from states that don't have a Braum's, it's time for a sweet lesson.

Founders Bill and Mary Braum opened their own dairy farm in Tuttle, Oklahoma, in 1968 after learning the business under Bill's father in Kansas (read the entire history, which dates all the way back to the '30s, here ). Over more than 50 years, their family farm has grown into an incredible operation with hundreds of thousands of square feet in processing plants, farmland, bakeries, and a whole lot of cows. According to Braum's, it's the only major ice cream maker in the U.S. that milks its own cows, who are getting a lovely diet free of hormones and antibiotics.

As much as I wish I could have a Braum's in my city (or of course, in Kansas City for dear Patrick Mahomes), I love the fact that they require all locations to be within a 300-mile radius of their home base in Tuttle. Why? Because you know the product is fresher than anything you'd get outside of that precious circle. Unlike many restaurants, ice cream shops, and grocery stores that might get one shipment a week, Braum's products are delivered every other day in their own refrigerated trucks. Every. Other. Day. Straight from the farm to the store. You don't find that kind of freshness often.

Though Braum's is most famous for its ice cream, each location has so much more—a grill, an old-fashioned ice cream fountain, and a market. Seriously—a mini grocery store! So before you dig in to your sundae, enjoy a cheeseburger or chicken sandwich on fresh buns made in Braum's bakery or stock up on meat, produce, dairy products, and baked goods for your own kitchen. If you live in Oklahoma, Kansas, Texas, Missouri, or Arkansas, find the nearest of the 300 Braum's locations and set that GPS stat. And if you ever happen to swing by Birmingham, Alabama , there's an editor who desperately needs to taste some Braum's ice cream.

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Read the original article on Southern Living .