More than a century at the drive-thru.
One family, one dairy, three generations — from a working farm on Foothill Road to the drive-thru the whole Tri-Valley still lines up for.
A dairy farm on Foothill Road
Walter Briggs Sr. founds Meadowlark Dairy on 153 acres off Foothill Road — land that's now Pleasanton's Alviso Adobe Community Park. It earns the distinction of being California's first certified dairy, awarded a Grade A rating for cleanliness and quality. Cows graze the hills, and the milk, butter, and cream are sold to schools and stores across the valley.
Jannes and Janna arrive
After World War II, Jannes and Janna Takens immigrate from Groningen, the Netherlands, first settling near Berkeley before making their way to Pleasanton. They take jobs on the Meadowlark farm as milkers — the first generation of the family to work the dairy that would one day carry their name.
The Takens family signs on
Jannes and Janna sign a ten-year lease on the dairy, and buy it outright in the 1960s following Briggs' death. What started as milking work becomes a family business.
The move to Neal Street
When the Foothill Road property is sold, the Takens family moves the herd to Tracy and builds a new milk processing plant at 57 W. Neal Street. In July 1969, the drive-thru opens at this location — replacing the original drive-thru dairy on Foothill Road — and it's been running from that same spot ever since. Then, like now, you pull up and an employee walks your order right out to the car.
An ice cream machine, almost by accident
Jannes and Janna pass the dairy to their son Bruce and his wife Patti. Around the same time, Bruce buys a used van at a school-district auction for the milk delivery route — and finds an old ice cream machine still inside. He starts experimenting with mix, and soft serve becomes a Meadowlark fixture almost overnight. The family soon sells its cow herd and begins sourcing dairy from Crystal Creamery in Modesto, shifting the shop's focus from groceries to cones.
The third generation
Bruce and Patti's son Jesse Takens and his wife Kelsey buy the business in 2018, becoming the third generation of the family to run Meadowlark. They've kept the essentials the same — vanilla and chocolate always on tap, a rotating flavor of the day, and milk, eggs, and bread still for sale at the drive-thru — while opening a second shop in downtown Livermore to bring the same drive-thru experience to a new neighborhood.
Jesse & Kelsey Takens
Great-grandson and great-granddaughter-in-law of Jannes and Janna, Jesse and Kelsey took the wheel from Jesse's parents in 2018. Between the two shops, they employ dozens of local high schoolers every summer — the same way the dairy has run for generations.
What hasn't changed
Three generations, one family, since 1958.
Staffed by Tri-Valley kids, serving Tri-Valley families.
Named one of the top 10 ice cream shops in the U.S. for 2023 — the only Tri-Valley shop on the list.
Profiled for its 99th year in business — and again for its national Yelp ranking.
Covered the Livermore expansion — Meadowlark's first new shop in over a century.
A few photos from the archive
Come work with us.
We hire friendly local folks at both shops. Pick a shop and fill out an application.