Mac & Ernie

McConnell's Ice Cream was founded in 1949 by Gordon F. "Mac" and Ernesteen McConnell, in Santa Barbara, California.

After a distinguished tour of duty flying Hadrian troop gliders in World War II Europe, Mac had planned on reentering his pre-war career in the health food industry. As fate would have it, he chose a slightly different path.

Mac raved over the delicious ice cream he’d remembered eating while stationed in Europe. This wasn’t the overly-sugared, additive-filled, airy stuff American consumers were typically used to, but a dense, flavor-driven ice cream made from all-natural, unadulterated milk, cream, egg yolks, pure cane sugar and the finest, all-natural ingredients. Mac threw himself into his research, eventually settling upon his version of a unique ice cream-making process he’d seen in France, the French Pot; with some tweaks, he was confident he could produce the best ice cream in the world.

Mac McConnell’s unique approach proved a huge success. To this day, we at McConnell’s keep our one-of-a-kind, artisanal Small Batch French Pot Process a highly guarded trade secret. This, combined with our recipes that call for nothing but the most select, all-natural ingredients - many of which remain unchanged almost 65-years later - make McConnell’s the ice cream for those who demand the very best.

In 1963, with Mac’s untimely passing, Ernesteen sold McConnell's Ice Cream to a local Santa Barbara businessman, James McCoy.

Under the McCoy family’s stewardship McConnell’s Ice Cream flourished and grew from a single retail location to include wholesale and retail operations throughout California.

In 1976 McConnell’s moved to its current headquarters, the old Petan Dairy Building, at the corner of Milpas and Canon Perdido Streets, and shortly thereafter the original scoop shop also moved to its current location at the corner of Mission and De La Vina.

In late 2011, after almost fifty years at the helm, Jim McCoy and his family decided to sell McConnell’s Ice Cream to two long-time local families: the Ein-Palmers and the Fays.

The McConnell’s Legacy

The McConnell’s Legacy is profoundly personal to Ernesteen McConnell, who remains, at 93 years-young, as vibrant and sharp as she was the day she and Mac first opened their store. It’s equally as important to Jim McCoy, who spent almost 50 years nurturing McConnell’s and turning out  “the greatest ice cream in the world.”

The transfer of ownership from the McCoy’s to the Ein-Palmers and the Fays is equally as personal. Both families grew up on McConnell’s, as did their own kids. The opportunity to carry this remarkable company forward, in combination with the partners’ combined years of experience in restaurant/hospitality, marketing and operations, made the decision to shepherd the McConnell’s legacy a foregone conclusion.

And so, today, after almost two-thirds of a century, the legacy is as secure as it ever was, as McConnell’s Ice Cream remains a Santa Barbara-based, family-run operation.

 To the long-time McConnell’s Ice Cream fans out there - prepare yourselves. So many exciting things are on the way.

 And to those of you who’ve never tasted the miracle that is McConnell’s Ice Cream, we’re extremely excited to meet you and invite you to partake in some of the most insanely scrumptious, incredibly tasty, wild and extraordinarily phenomenal ice cream that will ever pass your lips.

 Now, go out and get yourself some McConnell's!