PLEASANTON, CALIFORNIA — Free ice cream is coming to one of the East Bay’s most beloved old-school food landmarks.
The Pleasanton Police Department and Meadowlark Dairy are hosting this year’s Cone with a Cop event on Wednesday, May 27, from 2:00 to 4:00 p.m. at Meadowlark’s Pleasanton location at 57 W. Neal Street.
The family-friendly event invites residents to meet members of the police department, talk about community safety, and enjoy one free ice cream cone per attendee, while supplies last, courtesy of Meadowlark Dairy.
City officials are encouraging people to walk or bike if they can, which is honestly good advice for anyone who has ever seen the line at Meadowlark on a warm afternoon. The little dairy’s drive-through can already feel like a Pleasanton institution and a minor traffic event all at once.
Why Meadowlark Is Such a Big Deal
The dairy dates back to 1919, when Walter Briggs Sr. established Meadowlark Dairy in Pleasanton. The original dairy was located on 153 acres off Foothill Road and became known as the first certified dairy in California to earn a “Grade A” designation.
The Meadowlark that most locals know today is the old-school drive-through dairy and ice cream stop downtown. The current drive-through location opened at its present site in 1969, after the Takens family moved the cow herd to Tracy but kept Meadowlark’s Pleasanton roots alive.
The soft serve, wonderfully, was not some grand business plan. Ice cream reportedly entered the picture after Meadowlark’s owners bought a truck at a school auction and discovered an ice cream machine inside. After testing it out, they added soft serve to the dairy, and it quickly became the thing people lined up for.
Still a Local Favorite After More Than 100 Years
Meadowlark has since become one of the most recognizable food stops in the Tri-Valley. In 2023, Yelp named Meadowlark Dairy the No. 8 ice cream shop in the country on its Top 100 U.S. Ice Cream Shops list.
That national attention has not really changed the appeal. The draw is still the simple stuff: classic soft serve, a quirky drive-through, the giant “MILK” sign, local teens working the windows, and very reasonable prices…