Ted Drewes is a family-owned frozen custard company in St. Louis, Missouri, United States. The business was founded by Ted Drewes, Sr. in 1929. [1] The shop on Chippewa Street (designated as a section of historic U.S. Route 66) is open much of the year, while the South Grand Boulevard location is open from mid-May through late August.
Its signature dish is the "concrete," a serving of frozen custard so thick that it is customarily presented to the customer upside down. [2]
A noted local athlete who starred for his high school basketball team and later dominated municipal tennis tournaments for more than a decade, [3] Ted Drewes started making frozen custard while working for a carnival and opened his first fixed location near St. Petersburg, Florida, in 1929. [4] The first St. Louis shop began serving in 1930 on Natural Bridge Avenue near Goodfellow Blvd. Less than a year later, it was moved westward along the avenue. [5] A second location was opened at 4224 South Grand Blvd. in 1931. In 1941, a third location opened at 6726 Chippewa Street, on one of the alignments of U.S. Route 66 through St. Louis. The Natural Bridge and Florida locations had closed by 1958, but the Chippewa and South Grand locations remain open. [6] When Drewes died in 1968, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch noted his passing in an obituary that focused on his tennis. [3]
For decades, the Grand Avenue location was the flagship store, serving what was then a densely populated urban area in the neighborhood of Dutchtown and near the neighborhoods of Tower Grove South, Gravois Park, Bevo Mill, Holly Hills, and Carondelet. Each year, it would open in April and close on October 31. The Chippewa location served as an outpost near the city limits for travelers heading to or returning from an Ozark weekend getaway. In those days, it was open from Memorial Day to Labor Day.
Between the population shifting west in the city and Route 66 drawing more crowds, the Chippewa store became the flagship location. Its season extended to more of the year, while the shop on Grand shortened its seasonal operation. In the weeks leading up to Christmas, Ted Drewes began selling live Christmas trees. [6] In the wake of the transition, the Chippewa Street store expanded its building and bought a neighboring property to accommodate parking. By 2006, the company was making more than 150,000 gallons of custard every year. [7]
As dessert eating habits have changed, the Chippewa store has stayed open later in the year. It is now closed for the winter only during the month of January. In 2013, it closed briefly after a minor electrical fire. [8] The South Grand location now opens only for the summer months.
In 2013, Ted Drewes Jr. said he had received and declined numerous requests to turn the local chain into a nationwide franchise. [6]
In 2023, the South Grand location reopened for the summer for the first time since 2019, when it was closed by the COVID-19 pandemic and then staffing problems. [9]
Ted Drewes' shops and frozen custard have drawn the attention of the New York Times several times over the years, including in 1986, [10] 1997, [11] and 1999. [12] In 2004, reporter R.W. Apple Jr. extolled the custard in an article on Midwestern sweets. [7]
In 2006, the Route 66 location was featured on the Food Network show Feasting on Asphalt , hosted by Alton Brown.
In 2010, Bobby Flay recommended the shop on the "Sweet Tooth" episode of The Best Thing I Ever Ate .
In 2011, it was featured in a "Route 66" episode of Man v. Food Nation , hosted by Adam Richman.
In 2014, it received the "Riverfront Times" 2014 award for "Best Frozen Custard in St. Louis."
In 2017, it was named "Best ice cream shop in the world" by Soolnua, a branding and marketing firm in Dublin, Ireland, that publishes a world ice cream index every year. [13]
Media related to Ted Drewes at Wikimedia Commons
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