Dairy Bar doesn’t disappoint

The Brandon Sun’s Summer of Ice Cream series is back for 2025. Over the next several editions of Westman This Week, I’ll be visiting some of those great little ‘treateries’ in western Manitoba that so often help to give our short summers a little more sweetness.

SOURIS — In a community known nationally for its free-roaming peacocks, the Town of Souris has at least one other feather in its cap — particularly if you’re a fan of locally-sourced beef, fresh-cut fries and cold ice cream on a hot summer’s day.

Located at 200 First Avenue West, otherwise known as Highway 2, The Dairy Bar is a small-town drive-in eatery that serves up some big flavours. And from the local reviews, Westman is catching on to this local fan favourite.

“Excellent food for a great price! I went with two friends, they each had wraps and I had the buffalo chicken burger. The wraps were so big, and they weren’t shy on the sauce! But my burger is definitely the way to go, it was so good! Milkshakes also,” wrote Brook Giesbrecht in a Google review late last year.

Another reviewer from this past June gave The Dairy Bar a five-star rating, based on the food and the ambiance.

“We had the chocolate vanilla twist in a bowl,” wrote Amy Nodine. “Generous portions! Brought me back to the old fashioned soft serve of my childhood. Lovely spots to sit and eat. Super cute community. Will definitely be back again when we visit our daughter’s family.”

While an uncommonly few reviewers have posted that the price was a little too much “for what you’re getting,” the general consensus of more than 160 reviews was a 4.3 star rating on Google. And that’s high praise for a small-town eatery.

The Dairy Bar was the first choice on my list this year, after we missed the trip to Souris in last year’s Summer of Ice Cream series. So on July 16, on a sunny Wednesday afternoon I drove out to Souris for lunch.

The restaurant is a stand-alone building with bright red siding, with picnic table seating both at the front and back of the building. If they had called it the “Dairy Barn” the building would have been a good fit, as it resembles one of those old-style homesteader red barns that dot so many farmyards in southern Manitoba.

The woman at the order window, who turned out to be the owner herself, made sure to recommend the burgers — the meat is sourced from a farm “just two miles out of town,” but customers can choose between the classic 1/4-pound smash burger or an organic veggie patty. The basic burger is $9.50, with a second patty setting you back another $3.50. Added bacon or cheese is $1.50 each, with sautéed onions for $1.25.

I happen to love a good burger, replete with “the works” including lettuce, mayo, onion, pickles and tomato. I went with added bacon and cheese. The owner also recommended the home cut fries — $5.50 for a regular order.

Just as an aside, The Dairy Bar also offers several other menu items, including soft tacos, wraps, pulled pork on a bun and poutine.

As I waited for my order outside of the take away window, an older gent who lives with his wife out of town said The Dairy Bar is quite the draw for the community in the summer, and stands up strong next to the other solid restaurants in town.

His recommendation? The chicken burgers — they go by the name Thunder Crunch here in Souris. A Cheddar Bacon Thunder Crunch, a Buffalo Thunder Crunch with Monterey Jack cheese and ranch, the Honey Mustard Thunder Crunch, or the original — all with a toasted bun, lettuce and mayo.

Though the noon hour rush was quiet when I first arrived shortly after noon, a lengthy line had begun to form closer to 1 p.m. with dozens of people waiting to order.

A young woman who had come for lunch with her young son and daughter said the place gets very busy when the local campground is full and swimming lessons at the pool are on.

(If you’re looking to avoid the line up, The Dairy Bar has made getting lunch easier with an online order window at clover.com).

Between the bacon cheeseburger and the fries, the meal was certainly filling enough, though if you have a bigger appetite than mine, you might have looked for a little more. The smash-burger meat was well seasoned and delicious overall. The fries were on the soft side — I’m more of a crunchy-fry fan — but had a lot of flavour and smelled fantastic.

The real star for me, however, was the ice cream. I watched as more than a few people ordered ice cream cones and milkshakes, and sat out in the sunshine on the picnic tables as they enjoyed their sweet dairy fix. The drive-in offers both hard and soft ice cream, with either a regular cone or waffle cone. But there are also parfaits, sundaes, “storms” — think soft ice cream blended with Oreo cookies, Skor bars, brownies or strawberry cheesecake — and something called Ice Cream Nachos.

I’m sorry I missed that last one. Perhaps next time.

The strawberry cheesecake storm is delicious by the way — but unless you’re hungry, order the small. They’re packed.

Store hours are 11 a.m. to 10 p.m., Monday to Sunday.

Other spots to check out:

• Busy B Drive In — If you’re looking for something sweet on the way down to the International Peace Gardens, it’s definitely worth a stop in Boissevain for an ice cream sundae, with raspberry, cherry or hot caramel topping, a scoop of hard ice cream, or a milkshake. If their Facebook page is any indication, they’ve also got ice cream cakes and fried Chester chicken.

• Cjs Snack Shack & Mini Golf — When it comes to ice cream, this is where Cjs really shines. The shack at Rivers Provincial Park sells Chapman’s Ice Cream — a made-in-Canada brand — and have a creative spin worthy of some of the best ice cream parlours in the province. There’s home-baked ice cream cookie sandwiches, milk shakes, ice cream cones, float slushies, a funnel cake sundae, and even some deep-fried ice cream.