Iowa City · Est. 1960

Iowa City’s best soft serve since 1960.

What started as John Dane selling Holstein milk down the lane is still Iowa City’s summer ice cream store — cones, twisters, and a line of high-school kids who know your order.

This season

November 1, 2026 was our last day of the 2026 season.

  • Monday – Thursday1:00 pm – 9:00 pm
  • Friday1:00 pm – 10:00 pm
  • Saturday11:00 am – 10:00 pm
  • Sunday11:00 am – 9:00 pm

We're closed for the season and reopening March 2027.

(319) 354-7400 — call the shop if you’re driving in.

On camera

The shop, the cones, the summer.

Swipe the reels. This is Dane’s right now — soft serve, the ice cream store, and the line on Highway 1.

A local landmark

Sixty-plus summers of the best soft serve ice cream on Highway 1.

Dane’s began because a dairyman wanted a fair price for his milk. The bottled-milk days ended; the ice cream never did. In 2024 the Dane family passed the ice cream store to Joshua Luerkens and Mariah Ritter — people who already knew the farm, the shop, and the regulars.

Limited

What's churning

A rotating lineup of in-house soft serve: Birthday Cake Yogurt and Mocha. Get it this week, before the next batch lands.

Holstein cows from the Dane family farm

Since 1960

From Haldane Farm

John and Allie Dane opened Dane’s to sell milk. Sixty-four years later it’s all about the ice cream — and that proud history still lives here.

Soft serve cups on a sundae bar

Parties

Catering

Sundae bars, cups, Dane Bars, and sandwiches for graduations, reunions, and team nights. Volume pricing built in.

“I am so glad to pass on the torch of Dane’s Dairy to Joshua’s family. Mariah was a former manager and helped us out many times. They have kept Dane’s Dairy products and menu the same. The store is in good hands.”

Donna Dane · Owner, 2009–2024

Mini golf · Iowa City

Mini golf at the dairy

Eighteen par 3s behind the shop. Mini golf hours are the same as the store: Monday–Thursday 1–9pm, Friday 1–10pm, Saturday 11am–10pm, Sunday 11am–9pm.

See the course