The Community Scoop

On a warm evening along Uptown 23rd, the line outside Boom Town Creamery often spills onto the sidewalk. Families debate flavors as they wait, couples linger over cups, and kids press against the glass case, overwhelmed by choice. Inside, staff move quickly, greeting customers while scooping thick globes of flavors like cookie butter, lemon berry bliss, and hazelnut fudge into perfectly formed waffle cones.

For owner Angela Muir, scenes like this are exactly what she hoped to create: not just an ice cream shop, but a neighborhood gathering place where celebrations big and small happen over a scoop.

“Ice cream is always the answer,” reads the neon sign inside the shop — a playful motto that doubles as the company’s mission.

Boom Town Creamery opened its first location on June 22, 2022, quickly becoming one of Uptown’s busiest dessert stops. Two additional locations followed in Edmond and Moore in 2023, and last year a fourth shop opened inside the historic Skirvin Hilton downtown, bringing Boom Town into another pocket of the city’s growing food scene.

Muir’s path to ice cream was anything but direct. A graduate of the Rhode Island School of Design, she spent years working across creative pursuits –– from custom wedding gowns to eco-friendly accessories and lifestyle blogging –– all while raising four children with her husband, Matt.

In 2017, she opened Lilo’s Shaved Ice in Kansas City and discovered she loved the dessert business. When the family relocated to Oklahoma City in 2020 for Matt’s dental practice, she briefly took a corporate creative job but found herself missing entrepreneurship, and good ice cream.

“I kept comparing everything here to my favorite [ice cream] shop in Kansas City,” said Muir. “And I just wasn’t finding what I wanted. I like big chunks of cookies and brownies and swirls and new flavors. I kept thinking, ‘Why isn’t this here?’”

The idea lingered until a casual conversation with her brother. As they shared ice cream, she mentioned her dream of opening a handmade shop in Oklahoma City. His response was simple: “Why don’t you?”

Two months later, she was in New York learning commercial ice cream production. Around the same time, she was reading Sam Anderson’s Boom Town, deepening her appreciation for Oklahoma City’s history and personality. The name and concept clicked: ice cream rooted in creativity and community, shaped by the city it serves.

The shop rotates seasonal flavors while maintaining the favorites that customers demand year-round. One of those favorites is Chocolate Tornado, a rich chocolate ice cream folded with house-made fudge and brownie pieces. Even when chocolate prices spiked globally, Muir said that removing it wasn’t an option.

“When we run out, people get upset,” she laughed. “That flavor isn’t going anywhere.”
Another standout, Carmelita Crumble, grew from a family dessert recipe. The salted caramel ice cream swirled with oat cookie crumble and bourbon caramel has become a staff favorite and a flavor Muir considers uniquely theirs.

Everything at Boom Town Creamery is made in-house, from brownies and cookie crumbles to caramel ribbons and hot fudge. Artisanal ingredients appear throughout the menu, including coffee from local favorite Elemental Coffee and homemade caramel made with Same Old Moses bourbon.

While product quality remains central, Muir says that Boom Town quickly became about something bigger.

“I realized pretty early that I wanted everyone in the neighborhood to feel like this was their place,” she said.

The shop regularly collaborates with local businesses and organizations, celebrating cultural events and community partners through special flavors and fundraisers. Pride Month partnerships, Black History Month collaborations, and Hispanic Heritage celebrations are developed alongside local creators and organizations rather than simply borrowing inspiration.

“That’s really important to us,” Muir said. “We want appreciation, not appropriation. We want people involved who actually represent those communities.”

Inside the stores, that sense of belonging extends to staff culture. Boom Town employs dozens across locations, many in their first jobs, and Muir emphasizes the importance of creating a supportive workplace environment.

“It’s not a ‘we’re a family’ thing,” she said. “We’re a team. You’re allowed to make mistakes, but you also take accountability and support each other.”

She’s intentional about work-life balance, remembering the early months after opening when her children joked that the shop had become her new home. Bringing on chef Kayli Bartnicki shortly after opening allowed Muir to step away from overnight production work and focus on building the business sustainably.

Today, Bartnicki leads flavor development and production, while a growing leadership team handles operations, marketing, and culture across stores.

Despite rapid growth and steady crowds, Muir says expansion beyond Oklahoma City isn’t part of the plan.

“I love this city,” she said. “I want us to grow here, not everywhere.”
On any given night, that commitment is visible in the small moments: kids celebrating report cards, friends catching up over their cups, couples ending date nights with cones in hand.

As the growing business approaches its fourth birthday, the mission serves as the answer to every operational question, every decision about an ingredient, every potential new hire or possible new location. In the end, ice cream is always the answer. The flavors change, the crowds shift, but the mission stays the same.

This article appears in Spring Break Splash.