A soft “moo” means a cow is content. The same goes for humans after they finish “The Big Heifer,” “The Cow Patty,” or “The Southern Sunrise” hamburger at Little Moo’s Burgers & Treats. But instead of “moo,” they probably say “Ooh! That was good!”
Brittany Henson and her daughter, Alyssa Henson, are serving up tasty fare at the little ice cream parlor/eatery at 73 Highway 309 South in Byhalia, Mississippi. Little Moo’s is housed in a little walk-up building with picnic tables and cow-print-dotted umbrellas in front.
People have been parking their cars and ordering hamburgers, hot dogs, and ice cream since Brittany opened her to-go window four years ago. She quit her job as a dental assistant, which she held for 12 years, to open Little Moo’s. “We used to talk about cavity-free,” Brittany says. “Now I’m the one creating all the cavities.”
Owning her own ice cream parlor was a dream dating back to her childhood. Her grandparents lived two blocks from Jerry’s Sno Cones when it was located on Wells Station Road. “I thought that was the coolest thing. Looking out of the window, I’d see people walking from their houses to get ice cream.”
Brittany’s Jerry’s Sno Cones go-to was the “Rainbow” snow cone — “The one with all the flavors.” Meanwhile, “I’ve always been a ‘blue ras’ girl,” Alyssa says.
Opening her own ice cream establishment was probably a midlife crisis, Brittany says. “The opportunity came along for this little building. And I just pictured a little Jerry’s Sno Cones. I guess it’s just memories of your childhood.”
The dentists she worked with couldn’t believe she was quitting her job to open an ice cream parlor. “My doctors always messed with me about it. I’d just tell them I had to do it. It’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and I’m going to take a chance.”
They said, “You don’t even cook. What are you doing?” Brittany adds, “They thought I was crazy.”
She had never worked at a restaurant. “I just kind of winged it,” she says, adding, “I’d never even touched a grill before.” But learning the ropes “just kind of came along.”
The Little Moo’s building is about the size of a food truck. “It’s been several things. I think it goes back to the 1800s. I think first it was a doctor’s office back in the day. When we bought it, it was a barbecue place.”
But, she says, “It looks completely different now. We amped up the place. Added onto the back a little and really cleaned everything up. Put some concrete down.” She painted part of it turquoise and added little “barn doors.”
Brittany held a soft opening before they officially opened. “We only told our friends and a couple of family members about it.” But that day, she says, “The whole town of Byhalia was in line.” Business really took off after online food reviewer/food truck owner Kartavis “Big Tae” Buchanan did a video on them. “He’s really the one that put us on the map.”
Little Moo’s features several types of hamburgers. “We have ‘Sunrise’ that comes with an egg, ‘Cowboy’ that comes with onion rings, bacon, and barbecue sauce; and we have a ‘Byhalian’ burger that comes with pimento cheese,” says Brittany. They cook the hamburgers on an open flame grill. “It’s connected to a smoker. So we flame grill them and smoke them as well.”
Their hamburger patties are about an inch to an inch and a half thick. “We hand-pat them every morning. We do make them thicker. They hold better in the smoker when they’re thicker,” says Brittany.
Little Moo’s also features hot dogs, Cajun smoked sausage, and vanilla, chocolate, and swirl soft serve ice cream. “We haven’t changed our menu since we opened. We just kind of added a few limited-edition items.”
She credits her dad, Dennis Henson, and her fiancé, Kory Brown, for their support over the years. Little Moo’s “just worked,” Brittany says. “We’ve been very lucky. Everything flowed.”
