There are many who will recognize the lyrics from the popular 2003 song “Milkshake” by female R&B singer Kelis: “My milkshake brings all the boys to the yard, and they’re like, it’s better than yours. Damn right, it’s better than yours. I could teach you, but I’d have to charge.”
Skip forward a decade or so to when husband and wife team Logan and Chelsea Green were ready to brand an ice cream store. They couldn’t believe that no one had borrowed from the Grammy-nominated song that still gets a lot of play.
“It was so obvious, and so fun, we were thrilled to find we were the first to put it to use,” says Chelsea. Although the allusions to Kelis’ “Milkshake” are on the salty side, the goods being offered at The Yard Milkshake Bar in Fairhope — and the original Gulf Shores location — are simply sweet.
While studying marketing at the University of South Alabama, Chelsea was already running a successful ice cream shop at the beach with her mom. Ever the entrepreneur, Chelsea wanted to expand the business and began experimenting with new concepts. One day she tested an over-the-top milkshake at her shop, and the rest is history.
The menu at The Yard does offer standard cups and cones of favorite Hershey’s ice cream flavors. However, the draw is the milkshakes, which have become a hit on social media. Each one is a towering work of art, with sprinkles, cupcakes, chocolate or cheesecake teetering atop the rim of a mason jar full of blended dairy goodness. Unsure whether to use a straw or a spoon (or just dive in face-first), customers snack and sip their way through a pint or more of the good stuff. If and when they finish all this deliciousness, they take their souvenir jar to an oversized galvanized water trough for rinsing before bagging the jar for home.
Only the boldest few will order the Shake Boss, a whopping 64 ounces of sugary bliss. Extra-long straws — and a few friends to help out — make devouring an entire half-gallon of dessert possible.
Each staffer takes turns creating wonderfully wild weekly specials, and there is an endless list of toppings and mix-ins so customers can build their own shakes, sundaes and cones. But the tried and true specialty milkshake menu is hard to beat in the late summer heat. As the weather cools this fall, the outdoor courtyard will bring all the boys (and girls) to The Yard for sure.
On the Menu
The Mermaid
Birthday cake ice cream is blended and served in a marshmallow cream-dipped jar and topped with whipped cream, more marshmallow and an iridescent blue chocolate mermaid tail. A crystal swizzle stick serves as a stirrer. Every little girl’s dream!
Cookie Dough
A cookie dough ice cream milkshake comes in a chocolate dipped jar with a giant ball of (safe-to-eat) cookie dough perched on the rim, a generous dollop of whipped cream and a scattering of mini chocolate chips, to boot.
Birthday Cake
Birthday batter ice cream is blended and served in a frosting-dipped jar, topped with whipped cream and gobs of sprinkles. Oh yeah, and a frosted cupcake thrown in for good measure.
Unicorn Ice Cream Cone
Magical Unicorn ice cream, or so they call it, pours out of the top of a frosted cone that is topped with a giant cloud of whipped cream, a wisp of blue cotton candy and a strip of sour rainbow candy tape.
The Yard • 11 a.m. – 10 p.m. daily • 108 N Section St., Fairhope • Average dessert price $6, Milkshakes $13
