East Idaho Eats: Freddy’s celebrating by serving 91-cent frozen custard

IDAHO FALLS — The custard is only 91 cents at Freddy’s Frozen Custard and Steakburgers for most of this week.

Guests who visit the restaurant can buy a 91-cent single scoop of the Freddy’s signature vanilla or chocolate frozen custard served in a cake cone, or dish until Thursday, Feb. 25.

Why 91 cents? The restaurant is taking part in the celebration of co-founder Freddy Simon’s 91st birthday.

Since Freddy can’t personally be at each restaurant to celebrate with customers, they can get the next best thing, General Manager Coy Davis told EastIdahoNews.com.

“He can’t be at every location to celebrate this, and so we have our little cutouts in our lobby for people to take pictures with,” Davis said. “He’s just an old war veteran that cares a lot about the food industry.”

Freddy’s is a fast-casual restaurant franchise that started in Wichita, Kansas, in 2002, Davis said. Co-founders include Scott Redler, and Bill, Randy and Freddy Simon.

The restaurant’s theme is based around the 1940s and early 50s. Freddy’s specializes in cooked-to-order steak burgers, Chicago dogs, and other fresh diner eats and premium desserts, according to a release from Freddy’s USA.

The burgers are made with fresh, ground sirloin. First, they are smashed and shaped to have a thin edge and a plump middle. Then the burgers are perfectly caramelized on the grill.

“Normally our concept is two patties. It tastes best that way, you get the most for your dollar that way, and that’s just something that we’re unique with, and people love it,” Davis said.

Local customer Brad Hansen said it was his first time eating at Freddy’s. He said he saw the word “steakburger” on Freddy’s sign and wasn’t familiar with it, so he thought he would check it out.

“Fries are good, fry sauce is great, burger is juicy that’s always good,” Hansen said.

Elements of Freddy Simon’s life, including photos of him in uniform as well as images of war memorials, decorate the diner. Because of his service and ongoing patriotic involvement, Freddy’s restaurant is active in donating to local veteran chapters.

“We do a military Monday — he loves to do that. That money is donated to the area chapters like Veterans of Foreign Wars and things like that,” Davis said.

Customers of all ages are regulars at Freddy’s. Most come for the tasty food, others for the nostalgia.

“People would probably come here for different reasons,” Davis said. “I know a lot of my regulars are a lot of elderly couples and things like that because they remember a similar situation back when they were younger. They do remember this kind of music, this kind of atmosphere.”