Business Bites

Part 62 – Freddy’s Frozen Custard & Steakburgers

Freddy’s feels familiar the moment you walk in. The red booths, open kitchen, thin steakburgers, shoestring fries, and frozen custard all point back to the diners of the 1940s and 1950s. That sense of nostalgia is deliberate, but the business behind it is modern. Freddy’s uses franchising, focused operations, flexible restaurant formats, and a recognizable customer experience to compete in one of the most crowded parts of the restaurant industry.

The company began with one Wichita restaurant in 2002 and has grown to more than 580 locations across the United States and Canada. Its scale is impressive because Freddy’s sells products that many competitors already offer. The difference comes from how the company combines those products into a clear identity. A Freddy’s meal is supposed to feel freshly prepared, welcoming, and just a little old-fashioned.

Freddy’s was founded by brothers Bill and Randy Simon and their business partner Scott Redler. They named the restaurant after Bill and Randy’s father, Freddy Simon, a World War II veteran who had spent decades working in hospitality. The founders wanted the restaurant to reflect his values, especially quality, cleanliness, and genuine service. They opened the first location in Wichita, Kansas, with a menu centered on made-to-order steakburgers, shoestring fries, hot dogs, and frozen custard.

The concept connected quickly with customers. Freddy’s opened its first franchise location in 2004, only two years after the original restaurant. From there, the system expanded through operators who could reproduce the same menu and hospitality in new markets. The company reached its 100th location in 2013, its 400th in 2020, and its 500th in 2023. Freddy’s later entered Canada, showing that its version of American diner culture could travel beyond its original region.

In 2021, private equity firm Thompson Street Capital Partners acquired Freddy’s. The transaction gave the chain additional resources for development, technology, and franchise support while the original story remained at the center of the brand. That balance matters. Growth capital can help a restaurant open faster, but customers still need to recognize the experience that made the business successful in the first place.

My Go To Order

Freddy’s menu works because it stays focused while still giving customers enough ways to personalize a meal. These three items show how the chain turns familiar food into a recognizable brand experience.

• Freddy’s Original Double: Two thin steakburger patties with crispy edges, cheese, mustard, onion, and pickle make this the clearest expression of the brand. The burger is simple, but the cooking style and seasoning make it distinctive.
• Freddy’s Fries with Fry Sauce: The extra-thin fries cook quickly and deliver a texture that customers remember. Pairing them with a proprietary sauce gives Freddy’s a small signature product that can strengthen loyalty.
• Chocolate Brownie Delight Concrete: Frozen custard mixed with brownie pieces and hot fudge turns dessert into a major part of the visit. Custard also gives Freddy’s another reason to attract customers outside traditional lunch and dinner hours.

Franchising: Growing Through Experienced Operators

Franchising gave Freddy’s a way to enter new markets without paying the full cost of every restaurant itself. Franchisees invest their own capital, hire teams, and manage daily operations while paying fees and royalties to the brand. Freddy’s supplies the name, operating system, menu standards, training, and ongoing support. This structure can accelerate growth when both sides have the same incentive to build strong restaurants.

The company has increasingly relied on multi-unit operators. These groups can open several restaurants across a territory and often have experience managing real estate, labor, and local marketing. Freddy’s entered 2026 after signing development agreements for more than one hundred future restaurants, and its largest franchisee operates locations across many states. Concentrating growth with capable operators can make expansion more efficient than recruiting a separate owner for every store.

The risk is that rapid development can weaken consistency. A disappointing burger or slow visit in one market affects the same brand customers see everywhere else. Freddy’s therefore has to be selective about franchise partners and maintain training and inspections as the system grows. The lesson for entrepreneurs is that franchising does not replace operations. It spreads operational responsibility across a network that still needs clear standards and accountability.

Focused Menu Design: Making Familiar Food Memorable

Freddy’s does not try to win with an enormous menu. Steakburgers, chicken, hot dogs, fries, and frozen custard create enough variety without requiring the kitchen to master unrelated categories. A focused menu helps employees learn the system, speeds up ordering, and allows the company to purchase large volumes of common ingredients. Those advantages can improve consistency and reduce waste.

The menu also uses small details to build distinction. Thin patties develop crisp edges, shoestring fries have a recognizable texture, and the fry sauce gives customers something associated specifically with Freddy’s. Frozen custard adds a premium dessert category that burger competitors may not emphasize. Each element is familiar, but together they form a combination that customers can identify quickly.

Limited-time products can add excitement without permanently complicating operations. The strongest ideas stay close to the brand’s core, such as a new burger flavor or seasonal custard treat. This approach lets Freddy’s test demand while protecting the menu simplicity that supports speed and training. Businesses often grow more effectively by improving a clear specialty than by trying to serve every possible customer need.

Nostalgic Branding: Turning a Family Story Into Trust

Freddy’s brand is built around a real person rather than an invented mascot. Photographs and stories about Freddy Simon connect the restaurant with service, family, and hospitality. The dining rooms reinforce that story through red-and-white colors and a mid-century look. Customers receive the same message from the name, design, food, and service.

Nostalgia can make a young company feel established. It gives parents a familiar diner atmosphere while younger customers experience it as something distinctive and shareable. The strategy works because it is not limited to decoration. Made-to-order food and attentive service support the promise that Freddy’s represents an earlier style of hospitality.

A strong story also gives franchisees a simple way to explain the brand in new communities. The danger is allowing nostalgia to become stale or artificial. Freddy’s has to update technology and restaurant formats without losing the warmth customers expect. Its experience shows that heritage is most useful when it guides current decisions instead of becoming a museum display.

Flexible Restaurant Formats: Finding More Places to Grow

Traditional freestanding restaurants can be expensive to build, especially when they require large sites and drive-thru lanes. Freddy’s has expanded its development options to include inline locations, end caps, conversions, airports, stadiums, and smaller drive-thru-focused formats. More formats give franchisees a better chance of finding real estate that fits local demand and investment budgets.

This flexibility can improve the economics of expansion. Reusing an existing building or opening in an end-cap space may reduce construction costs and shorten the time before a restaurant begins producing revenue. Nontraditional locations can also introduce the brand to travelers and sports fans who may later visit a neighborhood restaurant.

Every format still has to deliver hot food, fast service, and frozen custard consistently. A smaller kitchen or unusual location creates different staffing and equipment challenges. Freddy’s growth strategy is therefore not simply about opening more doors. It is about adapting the operating system so the same brand promise can work in more types of real estate.

Strategy	What It Teaches
Franchising	Growth moves faster when capable partners receive a clear system and strong support.
Focused Menu	A narrow specialty can improve speed, purchasing, training, and brand recognition.
Nostalgic Branding	A genuine story builds trust when the customer experience supports it.
Flexible Formats	Adapting the operating model can unlock more real estate and lower development barriers.

Final Thoughts

Freddy’s proves that a restaurant does not need an unfamiliar product to create a strong business. Burgers, fries, and frozen desserts are everywhere. What matters is the system that connects those products to a distinct experience. Freddy’s combines a focused menu, consistent preparation, a believable family story, and franchise growth into one clear identity.

The company still faces the pressure that comes with expansion. More restaurants create more opportunities for inconsistency, and burger customers have countless alternatives. Freddy’s advantage will depend on whether it can modernize formats and technology while protecting the quality and hospitality that made the concept memorable.

For entrepreneurs, the biggest lesson is that differentiation often comes from execution. A familiar idea can become valuable when every detail, from the cooking process to the service style, tells the same story.

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Sources

• Freddy’s, Our Story
• Freddy’s Franchise, Company History
• Freddy’s Franchise, Multi-Unit Expansion
• Freddy’s, First-Time Guest Guide
• Images: Unsplash.