On tiptoes, atop the checkerboard floor, she leans against the marble- topped soda fountain counter to ponder. It’s not easy with 64 original, homemade flavors and every color under the rainbow to pick from. “That one,” the pigtailed little girl says to her date, pointing at something purple.
“The Bees Knees it is,” her daddy says. “And I’ll have the Peterbilt, both on cones, please,” he tells the soda jerk, breathing deeply the sweet fragrance of fresh-baked waffle cones.
Daddy and daughter pick a table for two, and he pulls out the wire-backed chair. She giggles.
Dates like this one between people of all ages unfold at Beth Marie’s Old Fashioned Ice Cream & Soda Fountain every day. The Denton ice cream parlor has been a haven for gatherings of all kinds since 1998: friends, meetings, even parties.
Inside the original Beth Marie’s on the Denton Square.
Named for the founding owner, the original Beth Marie’s is located in the historic Denton Square, on Hickory Street right across
from the county’s crown jewel, its 1896 historic courthouse, which now houses a museum. Beth Marie’s flagship parlor occu- pies a building that’s even older, constructed in 1876 during Denton’s first real boom. It was a time when the city’s two giant anchors, the University of North Texas and Texas Woman’s University, were both still dreams on the horizon.
Don’t mistake historic for sleepy, though. Downtown Denton is definitely historic, its buildings, like the courthouse, the real deal. There’s nothing faux about it, lending the city its well-earned moniker of “Original and Independent.” When Beth Marie Cox and her husband, Randy, opened the doors 20 years ago, they stepped out in faith on the then listless square. They believed locals and visitors alike might rediscover downtown through their ice cream and authentic, take-me-back-in-time atmosphere. It worked.
While nostalgic at every turn, downtown Denton has evolved into a vibrant entertainment district, thanks to landmark draws like Beth Marie’s that spurred a revitalization that continues today. Owned now by Denton community pillars Bob Moses and Ken Willis, and partner Jim Engelbrecht from Dallas, Beth Marie’s is within walking distance of some 40 restaurants, plus musums, live theatre, galleries and shopping. And Beth Marie’s tops just about every Texas ice-cream review.
The original Beth Marie’s on the Denton Square is now the first of three locations. The second is also in Denton, on the south side of the city in bustling Unicorn Lake near the Cinemark Theater. The third is a Beth Marie’s Old Fashioned Ice Cream that recently opened in Old Downtown Carrolton. Also licensed to serve Beth Marie’s Premium Ice Cream are locations in Argyle, Roanoke, Waco, Dallas, Sherman and, soon, also in Georgetown. Beth Marie’s expansion also reaches fans on the menus of some area restaurants and hotels, in select convenience stores, and in all Central Market grocery stores in Texas.
While growth equals change, one thing that remains the same is the ice cream that made Beth Marie’s famous. The same 1927 ice cream machine still churns out virtually every single pint of more than 120 signature flavors that change with the seasons. The acclaimed ice cream and sodas now headline
a lunch menu including sandwiches, stuffed baked potatoes, chili pie, hot dogs and even desserts like cobbler. All homemade, according to the parlor, because that’s how Beth Marie’s does it.
“Can we have another date?” asks the little girl, bells on the door jangling merrily as her daddy opens it for her.
“Absolutely. Same place, same time next week?”
And she giggles.
