Customer Story: The McDonald Family
Rikki McDonald’s favorite #MELTmoment is a simple one: a few years ago Rikki and her husband, Colton, introduced their son to MELT on his first birthday. What's even sweeter? The McDonald family follows a vegan diet, and not long ago celebrating a vegan birthday at an ice cream shop would have been impossible - or cheating.
At MELT, we want all of our customers to feel included and excited about their ice cream choices. No dairy? No problem! MELT is about sharing ice cream with everyone. We offer 2-3 vegan ice creams all the time, so that the dairy-free can have just as much fun celebrating as the dairy-full. For us, a family of vegans is not a challenge, it’s a pleasure. Especially a family as sweet as the McDonalds.
Rikki and Colton met in 2013 while working at Spiral Diner, a vegan restaurant and Magnolia neighbor. Eventually they dated, married, and now have a three-year-old son, Dylan.
Since they introduced Dylan to MELT on his first birthday, they’ve also spent his second and third birthdays with us. We think that tradition sounds delicious! In between birthdays, they come to MELT to “relax and reconnect as a family while enjoying a delicious treat.”
Rikki has been a vegetarian since high school and a vegan since 2012. It was harder than you might expect to make the transition. “There was a lot of research and trial and error involved and we are still learning,” Rikki said. “There's also significantly less options when eating out as a vegan vs. vegetarian. Most places have a vegetarian option, but few have an appetizing vegan option.”
Her family loves MELT because “the decor, the staff, and of course, the ice cream, all emanate happiness and positivity." Feedback like this makes us blush, y’all!
What’s it like to raise “a ‘mostly’ vegan kid”? Rikki said, “we make a point to include our son in the cooking process, and that helps his willingness to try different foods.”
Rikki and Colton also turn to a local resource, the Fort Worth Blue Zones project, when they need help figuring out what to pack in Dylan's lunch.
Being vegan in Cowtown doesn’t have to be a paradox. A few other local vegan-friendly places that Rikki recommends are Stir Crazy, Juice Junkies, and King Tut. If you haven’t checked them out, we recommend them, too!
