First-generation dairy farmers open Parlor, offering raw milk and ice cream

Rachel and Dennis Zeigler’s dream of running a dairy farm has come to fruition since they started with a dairy cow in their backyard.

Zeigler Family Farms has since grown into a full-scale dairy farm and creamery, with over 60 cows and a number of pickup locations throughout Eastern and Central Washington, including a storefront: the Parlor, located at 1406 S. Inland Empire Way in Spokane.

Open Fridays and Saturdays, the lounge features the Zeiglers’ farm-to-table ice cream, raw milk and ground beef. The site opened on November 3.

The Parlor marks a milestone for the Zeiglers, who have operated the dairy farm for nearly a decade.

“Sometimes we can’t believe we are at a point where we are with our business because we never imagined it would grow so quickly and turn into what it is today today with its window,” said Rachel, 39.

Both are first-generation dairy farmers, having been general contractors before getting into the business, Rachel said. Dennis’ family owned a few acres and a few cows, while Rachel’s parents were winegrowers.

Contracting work has boosted the farming business, as Rachel said. Dennis, 39, got itchy after working on a house on a dairy farm around 2014.

“He kind of dragged me in and now I’m totally in love with him too,” Rachel said. “Soon after that, we ended up signing up on Craigslist and buying a dairy cow, and we had no idea what we were doing.”

The Zeiglers housed their cow on a half-acre pasture in the Tri-Cities — something their neighbors weren’t thrilled about, Rachel said. Eventually, they purchased land in Harington – about an hour west of Spokane – and, from the ground up, built what has since become a family business run by the Zeiglers and their five children.

About three years ago, when grocery deliveries began, the Zeiglers felt they had turned a corner and found a niche market with raw milk, Rachel said.

“We haven’t received any help,” Rachel said, adding that the farm delivers to several Yoke’s Fresh Markets, Rosauers and a few other stores in the Spokane and Tri-Cities areas. “I know sometimes people look at our Instagram and think maybe someone helped us, but it’s been like a labor of love for many years. We did what we could and used everything we had to try to make it work.

The Parlor is therefore a play on words – referring to both an ice cream parlor and a milking parlor.

Rachel said the family’s goal was to expand. And while a storefront in Spokane makes sense given the farm’s delivery range, Rachel said the Zeiglers weren’t entirely sure they could make it work until they connected with Celeste Shaw-Coulston last fall. Shaw-Coulston owns the Parlor property as well as neighboring establishments Lucky Vintage & Pretty Things, Chaps Diner and Bakery and Café Coco.

“Our style is very eclectic and old-fashioned, and we love that it’s an old gas station,” Rachel said. “It kind of fits our vibe.”

Shaw-Coulston said she once considered using the former South Inland Way gas station as a location for Café Coco, but instead turned to downtown due to the moratorium on development of the city in the Latah Valley. Café Coco finally opened its doors at the end of July on West Main Avenue.

Between Lucky Vintage, Vinegar Flats Farm and a few other small businesses in that direction, Shaw-Coulston said the Parlor fits right into this community.

“It just highlights what’s already happening and she was just a nice addition to that,” she said. “She’s so local with it.” I think it’s nice that the public and the community of Spokane are once again recognizing that these products are there, that they can support them and that local products are available to us.

While Zeigler Family Farms specializes in raw milk, the Zeiglers use a pasteurized base mix purchased from another farm to make their ice cream, said Rachel, who declined to identify the source of their base mix . Standout flavors so far include peppermint, especially around Christmas time, and salted caramel.

Rachel said the Zeiglers hope to one day get their own pasteurizer. Future plans for the lounge also include adding outdoor seating by opening the building’s garage doors.

“We would love to open another storefront in the Tri-Cities to serve that community as well, because Spokane has been phenomenal,” Rachel said. “We’re just trying to slowly continue to grow our farm and be able to offer more milk to more stores in more communities, even outside of Spokane.”