As February winds down, Chaffee looking forward to reopening of ice cream shop

Chaffee, Missouri�s local ice cream hangout Chaffee Drive In will reopen March 5, and owners Laura and Carl Estes� excitement is in the form of a daily countdown on the restaurant�s Facebook�s fan page.

�We have a Facebook page, and we�re a small town, so it doesn�t take a whole lot to get you excited. So, this is like the exciting thing because it�s new, and it�s every year, and it�s kind of the beginning of spring,� said Laura Estes, a Chaffee native. �We posted on Facebook six to eight weeks ago we started posting the �opening day� to get �likes� and to get people involved.�

Estes said a couple years ago it was snowing on opening day, and it was �a little traumatic.� But, weather permitting, she said they�re �team spring,� and scheduled to open on that Monday.

�... We can do snow flurries; actually, a couple years ago, the newspaper came down, we had snow, and they took a picture of the line of people standing out there who said they would still stand in the snow for it. ...� Estes said. �If we can get a path to the window, and it�s not full of ice, we�re open.�

According to Estes�, her parents bought the restaurant around 1978 from Chaffee�s past head football coach�s family, �So it�s always belonged to someone who lived in Chaffee.� And as the years progressed, Estes explained, they would�ve had to change some things to stay franchised.

The Chaffee Drive In, 200 S. Main St., is seen Tuesday in Chaffee, Missouri.BEN MATTHEWS

�It was a Dairy Queen from the �50s, when they had originally bought it, and most restaurants back in the day really weren�t just one restaurant anymore, they combined it with an Orange Julius. ... That was kind of the talk; everyone was going to have to combine the restaurants,� Estes said. �Well, we are just a walkup, so we didn�t have the seating, and they wanted us to expand to that, so there were just a few stipulations that came down from Dairy Queen.�

After Estes� parents passed away, she and her husband, Carl, took ownership in 2006.

�We probably haven�t had a franchise in 15 to 20 years. That�s how long ago we dropped the franchise and just became independent,� Estes said.

As for the food, Estes said their menu is similar to Dairy Queen�s, but with different names.

�Dairy Queen has a Peanut Buster Parfait, so we have a Fudge-Nut Parfait. ... So really, we have about the same ice cream Dairy Queen has,� Estes said. �They have Blizzards, and we have the Storm.�

The Chaffee Drive In, 200 S. Main St., is seen Tuesday in Chaffee, Missouri.BEN MATTHEWS

Estes� son�s name is Storm, and according to her, when they switched form franchise to independent, they had to come up with different, distinguishable names.

The building hasn�t changed much over the years, still with the traditional drive-in style and outside seating.

�We have some picnic tables on the outside, and a bench on the side. It used to be, back in the day, after a t-ball game, they would load the kids up in the back of the truck and they would all come down and then it would just be tons of t-ball teams down here,� Estes said.

Estes said usually at night, �almost every night,� their picnic tables are full.

�People just come down and hang out,� Estes said. �A lot of it is just almost a social event.�

Chaffee is very �walking-friendly,� Estes said, with new sidewalks �that makes a really nice square of the town.�

�So, on any given warm night, there are people out bike riding and walking, and a lot of people just stop by just to visit, because people are so out and about in town,� Estes said.

Ice cream, slushes, frozen lemonade and sodas are all part of the daily menu, in addition to sloppy Joes, hamburgers, hotdogs, polish sausages and potato chips.

�We sell almost 1,000 burgers in a week,� Estes said.

As for the most popular item, it�s not what you might think.

�And this is the craziest thing, more than anything, we sell soda. That is our biggest seller,� Estes said. �We have crushed ice, and we have some huge fans of the crushed ice.�

They also sell a lot of shakes, because they still make their shakes the old-fashioned way, Estes said.

�We have soft serve, we don�t have the hand dipped. It�s all soft serve vanilla. We use milk, and we still mix them by hand.� Estes said.

jhartwig@semissourian.com

(573) 388-3632

Pertinent address:

200 S. Main St., Chaffee, Mo.