Big Dipper Ice Cream

In 1995, Charlie Beaton was making ice cream in the back of a pottery warehouse on Myrtle Street while Tim O'Leary brewed beer in the front. O'Leary's side of the building became KettleHouse Brewing Co. Beaton's side became Big Dipper. Two of the most recognized names in Missoula food and drink launched from the same building, each funded on borrowed money and a refusal to go back to the desk job.

Beaton had graduated from the University of Montana in 1991, tried selling insurance, and decided he'd rather do the thing he'd loved as a student working at Goldsmith's Ice Cream. He had no plan for a storefront. The original idea was wholesale only — no overhead, no employees, just ice cream sold to restaurants and grocery stores like Butterfly Herbs and the Good Food Store. He put the startup costs on a credit card and borrowed the rest from his parents.

A year later, business partner Dale Bickell convinced him to open a retail window at the corner of 5th and South Higgins. Barbie Beaton, Charlie's wife, came on as a partner. The Beatons bought Bickell out in 2000. Bickell went on to become the Chief Administrative Officer for the City of Missoula. The ice cream shop became a line around the block.

Good Morning America, 2013: A producer called on a Friday. Beaton ignored it at first — he thought it was a prank similar to an earlier Today Show request. It wasn't. GMA named Big Dipper "America's Best Ice Cream," and the national press hasn't stopped citing the shop since. Food and Wine Magazine, USA Today, Outside Online, Yahoo News, and Budget Travel have all put the shop on their lists.

What They Make and How They Make It

Big Dipper produces all of its ice cream on-site at each location in an 800-square-foot space that holds a walk-in freezer, a production area, and the retail windows. The ice cream runs 15 percent butterfat. At any given time, 25 or more flavors are available, and over the years the shop has created hundreds — from standards like vanilla and strawberry to rotating specials like maple chipotle with bacon and hazelnuts, mascarpone with balsamic fig swirl, and coconut lemon curry.

The creativity isn't accidental. Beaton collaborates with other Missoula businesses to develop flavors: Posh Chocolat makes the caramel sauce and specialty mix-ins. Bob Marshall from Biga Pizza designed some of the more unusual combinations. Drum Coffee and Black Coffee have contributed to coffee-based flavors. Downtown restaurants get their own exclusives — Scotty's Table has an "Almond Joy" ice cream, and Sa Wad Dee has a custom coconut flavor.

In 2016, Xanterra Parks and Resorts approached Beaton about supplying Yellowstone and Glacier national parks. The volume was far beyond what the shop could produce, so Beaton partnered with Meadow Gold to manufacture a separate line called Big Dipper Select. That brand now appears at Xanterra lodges and restaurants in both parks.

The menu goes well beyond scoops: shakes in two sizes, malts, sundaes, floats, handmade waffle cones, and pints and quarts to take home. Sorbets are always available. And then there's Coneboy — a vintage ice cream truck that showed up in 2010, driven cross-country from Columbus, Ohio, and now a fixture at Missoula festivals, weddings, and graduation parties.

The Hip Strip and the Community

Big Dipper has anchored the Hip Strip since 1996. Beaton describes the block as "really great unique businesses — record stores, bakeries, coffee shops, all locally owned," and the shop fits the pattern: family-run, rooted in one neighborhood, with no apparent interest in chasing a franchise model outside Montana.

The community side runs deep. Big Dipper contributes to hundreds of nonprofits and events per year. They donate ice cream to every Runner's Edge race and to Camp Make-A-Dream events. They've partnered with Missoula Gives as a "Bee the Change Station," giving free cones to donors. They sell ice cream on the University of Montana campus and at Grizzly football games. The shop hires a mix of adults and local high school and college students, and Beaton credits much of the flavor creativity to his younger staff.

Reviewers say what you'd expect from a shop ranked #1 on TripAdvisor out of 220 Missoula restaurants: generous scoops, friendly service, flavors worth the wait. The line does wrap around the block in summer, and that's acknowledged by everyone, customers included, as part of the deal. The sharper criticism comes from the vegan crowd — sorbet options exist, but dedicated non-dairy ice cream flavors are rare.