The History of The Dairy Hut
For over 50 years, The Dairy Hut has served up the summer’s best soft serve ice cream, coneys, and sandwiches around! It’s a Pataskala tradition – we’re open every March-October to share all your seasonal favorites. We offer over 30 different soft serve flavors, rich in quality and taste. Enjoy an ice cream cone, milk shake, or one of our large specialty 2 & 3-layer sundaes like the Buckeye, Elvis or Brownie Delight. But we don’t stop at just ice cream, The Dairy Hut has great sandwiches, too! Regulars love our coney dogs with the made-from-scratch, secret coney sauce, as well as our shredded chicken, BBQ pork, brats and ham & cheese sandwiches. It wouldn’t be summer without a trip to The Dairy Hut, so be sure to stop by soon.
Established in 1973. A simple red and white building was placed on a strip of land in Pataskala, OH, in 1973 to serve up some great summer treats. Glenn and Rod McIntosh started it all along with Rod’s brother-in-law, Dale Foor. In 1979, Calvin and Gary Bocock (door-to-door milkmen) bought it from them. Over the course of time, family members joined the business to make it a multi-generational business. In 2006, Gary and his wife, Karen became the owners growing the business even more. When COVID hit in 2020, they created the “world’s longest drive-thru.” This allowed The Dairy Hut to stay open during the pandemic. After 42 years, Gary decided it was time to retire and they sold it to Jeff and Caitlyn Heimerl – they carried on the legacy with their family for 5 years. In 2026, Jeff sold The Dairy Hut to Ashlee Powell and Heather Schmidt (current owners of Capuano’s Pizza). Ashlee and Heater are excited to keep the rich traditions of The Dairy Hut alive. It’s a wonder how a small 10′ x 20′ building could mass quite the following that it has just for a taste of our special coney sauce and soft serve ice cream. How unique it is to own a small business has flourished and been supported by old-fashioned small-town family values. We can’t wait to watch The Dairy Hut thrive for another 50 years!