NOSTALGIA RUNS HIGH at new Buttermilk Baby in M-K-T Heights, where classic Carvel ice cream treats — a rarity in restaurants — are paired with a menu of buttermilk biscuits, chicken sandwiches and burgers.

Known for its portfolio of upscale and elegant restaurants, the concept represents a new path for Berg Hospitality Group: an all-day family-friendly hangout invested with equal parts Americana and modern-dining know-how. Think of it as a homage to vintage soda-shop ambiance with retro southern fare fit for Instagram fame!

"Buttermilk Baby is a fusion of our traditional fine dining with fast casual to create a new concept of dining I like to call ‘cool casual.’ It’s a place where kids of all ages can get home-cooked comfort food made from top-notch ingredients and just enjoy being a kid again,” says Benjamin Berg, founder and CEO of Berg Hospitality Group.

Buttermilk Baby is the Texas debut of Carvel, the cult classic ice cream brand founded in 1934. As the country’s first retail ice cream company, Carvel is best known for creating The Original Soft Serve, as well as for its iconic ice cream cakes and signature novelties. Carvel’s ice cream cakes, including the Fudgie the Whale character cake, along with 10 flavors of soft-serve and the brand’s fan-favorite Flying Saucer ice cream sandwiches are also on offer.

Chicken fingers at Buttermilk Baby (photo by Brian Kennedy)

Bailey's-and-Oreo boozy shake

Photo by Kirsten Gilliam

Carvel soft serve

Smashburger at Buttermilk Baby (photo by Brian Kennedy)

Start the day with a breakfast of champions: cinnamon rolls, buttermilk biscuits with sausage gravy, buttermilk pancakes and biscuit sandwiches filled with eggs, honey ham and buttermilk-brined fried chicken. The menu also features Ben Berg’s favorite breakfast: an everything bagel with cream cheese and bacon, coined “Ben’s Biscuit.”

Roll up your sleeves for lunch and dinner signatures like diner-style smashburgers, patty melt, chicken finger basket, and a variety of chicken sandwiches (buttermilk, southern-fried, grilled, mushroom-swiss). Smashburgers, hot dogs and corn dogs are made with Texas wagyu beef.

New York-based design firm ICRAVE and longtime Berg collaborator Gail McCleese of sensitori teamed up to produce a dining wonderland where guests are greeted by pink cloud-shaped swings floating from a rainbow-colored arch entrance. You can’t miss the life-size carousel horse, the giant ice-cream-sundae statue (complete with rotating cherry on top), neon signage, and a pastel color palette running through the 50-seat dining room. The kid-friendly ice cream bar has seating for 10.

To drink, adults can sip on frozen frappes, coffee and a limited selection of beer and wine. Carvel’s soft serve ice cream is also incorporated into the menu through the concept’s “boozy shakes” in a variety of adults-only flavors including Espresso Shaketini, Bailey’s Oreo Cookie, and Piña Colada.

Cheers to that!