DK’s Coffee & Ice cream
DK’s Coffee & Ice Cream Drive Thru, named after the local owners Darren and Karen Welch, opened for the first time at 12 p.m. on December 12, 2022. It is located in the town of Mineral.
Owning a drive-thru coffee shop has always been a dream of Darren’s since moving to America from Australia over 28 years ago. Before they met, his English wife Karen had thought about opening an ice cream shop. So that is how DK’s came about.
They wanted to have a drive thru and a walk up with a space for locals and visitors to meet. Thus, the Welches built a seating area with gazebos for shelter and a playground for children to have play dates while their parents relax together. Complete with free Wi-Fi, DK’s is a great place for all ages to hang out and catch up while enjoying a freshly-made beverage, baked good, or ice cream.
DK’s takes pride in serving great quality hot and iced coffee, tea, hot chocolate, smoothies, and refreshers each day along with savory pastries (one of which is the now-famous Aussie Sausage Roll). This is made with seasoned pork that is rolled and wrapped in a puff pastry. It has been a big hit with DK’s customers!
In the ice cream shop, there are 12 flavors of homemade ice cream that are also used to make delicious milkshakes.
DK’s started its journey with a beautiful young lady named Ashley Flak. She was such a ray of sunshine, and boy could Ashley bake! She introduced muffins and cookies to the menu, and they still use her recipes to this day. Ashley and her family will always be a part of the DK’s family. She was taken away from everyone way too early in life. Nonetheless, she will always be in the Welch’s thoughts, and her presence is felt in the playground named after her.
Darren and Karen love being part of the Lake Anna community. Karen is the executive director of the Louisa Arts Center, and Darren – along with their two amazing baristas Holly and Stephanie – enjoy serving DK’s loyal customers on a daily basis.
DK’s is open year-round, Monday through Saturday, beginning at 6 a.m. During the winter (October to April), both the coffee and ice creams shops close at 4 p.m each day besides Saturday, when the coffee shop closes at 2 p.m. and the ice cream shop is open until 4 p.m. During the summer (May to September), the ice cream shop’s hours are extended until 6 p.m Monday through Thursday and 8 p.m. on Friday and Saturday.
During the winter, customers still hang out at DK’s and keep warm by the fire pit, which is lit for them to stand around with their hot chocolate and coffees.
Darren and Karen like to provide an opportunity for employment to local youngsters. They have students from the high school working on Saturdays and during the holidays.