A burgeoning stretch of Big Bend Boulevard in Webster Groves’ Old Orchard neighborhood continues to evolve, this time with a sweet addition: the month-old Half Pint by the Annex (8124 Big Bend). The ice cream and candy shop—with vibrant-hued jars of classic treats, Ronnie’s ice cream, and sweet confections—embodies the sort of joyful nostalgia that owners John Barr and Kelley Hall-Barr feel is an essential piece of a classic Americana Main Street. Here’s what to know before you go.
The Atmosphere
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Barr and Hall-Barr are known for a well-curated, stylish point of view, found throughout their brands. Half Pint is no exception.
The small shop, accessible through either its own entrance or from an interior doorway connecting it to The Annex, is as much a feast for the eyes as the palate. Old-fashioned confectionery jars filled with bright-colored candy line the shop’s white built-in shelves. An antique wooden shelving unit boasts bags of unwrapped candy, as well as cookie jar– shaped containers stuffed with everything from lollipops to Smarties and Nerds.
The space is painted soft white to let the vibrant candy take center stage, and a black-and-white tiled floor adds to the vintage charm. A handful of homemade chocolates and, of course, ice cream, occupy a long, narrow case illuminated by emerald-hued pendant lights. Although there’s no seating inside Half Pint itself, guests are welcome to enjoy the treats at one of The Annex’s tables.
The Menu
Barr and Hall-Barr wanted Half Pint to be equal parts candy store and ice cream shop—the sort of place that evokes childhood nostalgia or seaside vacations. “It feels like something you’d see—or that our older guests haven’t seen in years—that’s right out of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory or a candy store from a past vacation to Cape Cod,” says Barr. To that end, vintage candies are mixed in with newer treats for guests to grab by the bundle or the piece and mix and match.
Half Pint’s biggest draw, however, is its ice cream, produced by Ronnie’s Ice Cream, a beloved St. Louis brand that has been making the premium frozen treat for more than 40 years. “He just has a really quality, premium, classic ice cream,” Barr says. “He uses a co-op of local dairies and makes it in Crestwood, so it’s about as local and close to where we are as you can get. He has great flavors and sources the best blueberries, raspberries, and various products across the Midwest—really, the entire country.”
Current flavors include such classics as vanilla, chocolate, strawberry, and mint chocolate chip, as well as such creations as Brandy Alexander, brown butter salted caramel, gooey butter, and cinnamon. Chocolate, raspberry, and acai sorbet are also available, as are popsicles, floats and ice cream sandwiches. Although not available yet, Barr is excited to partner with Ronnie’s on signature Half Pint flavors that use the Annex’s popular cookies, brownies, and cookie dough.
Barr won’t fault anyone for wanting ice cream for breakfast when the shop opens its doors at 7 a.m., but he is also excited to offer several types of acai bowls, made with Ronnie’s acai sorbet, for those looking for a healthy start to their day. Guests can customize their own bowl or choose from several composed options, including the Chunky Monkey (made with peanut butter, coconut, banana, and cacao nibs), or the Breakfast (which pairs sorbet with overnight oats, almond, bananas, and blueberries).
“This fits in perfectly with the Annex morning breakfast and coffee crowd,” Barr says. “We just put in a yoga studio above The Annex, so now you can come in, do yoga, get an acai bowl, and feel a little healthier—or then again, you could get a coffee and croissant made fresh daily.”
The Backstory
For as long as he can remember, John Barr and his wife, Kelley Hall-Barr, have been dreaming of creating the quintessential Main Street in Webster Groves’ Old Orchard business district.
So after selling K Hall Designs, their successful candle company-turned-international home goods and personal care brand, in 2015, Barr and Hall-Barr turned their attention to community building and development in Webster Groves’ Old Orchard business district. In service of this vision, they’ve opened one business after another in the neighborhood: The Frisco Barroom, Civil Alchemy, The Annex…
“We’ve been trying to put together the story of the classic Americana Main Street here in Old Orchard,” Barr says. “Now we have a classic tavern and restaurant, a coffee shop, a small deli, a retail market, flower shop, liquor store, and gift boutique. We’ve been trying to put together a whole story of what an Americana Main Street should have on it, and ice cream and candy going together seemed to be a thing that should be on that list.”
Barr reflects on how far the couple’s vision has come, recalling trips through that area of Webster Groves in the past. “I have so many memories of evenings driving to Maplewood; we’d get to that stretch of Big Bend [in Old Orchard], and it would be completely black, with not a light on or a car in sight,” Barr says. “We’d think, ‘What’s going on here?’ We drove for years that way, always saying, ‘If I owned these I would put a bakery here and a coffee shop there.’ Now, we’re seeing it happen.”
