right|thumb|Ted Drewes Frozen Custard in St. Louis, Missouri, Route 66 location
right|thumb|Another view of the Route 66 location that illustrates the crowd typically found on a summer evening
Ted Drewes is a family-owned frozen custard company in St. Louis, Missouri, founded by Ted Drewes, Sr. in 1929. There are two locations, one on Chippewa Street (part of U.S. Route 66), with the other on South Grand Boulevard.
Its signature item is the "concrete", a serving of frozen custard so thick that it is customarily presented to the customer upside down.
History
A noted local athlete who starred for his high school basketball team and later dominated municipal tennis tournaments for more than a decade, Ted Drewes started making frozen custard while working for a carnival and opened his first fixed location near St. Petersburg, Florida, in 1929. 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. 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. When Ted Drewes, Sr. died in 1968, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch noted his passing in an obituary that focused on his tennis.
The Chippewa store is closed only during the month of January. In 2013, it closed briefly after a minor electrical fire. The South Grand location now operates only seasonally during summer months.
In 2013, Ted Drewes Jr. said he has declined numerous requests to franchise nationally.
On August 26, 2024, Ted Drewes Jr. died at the age of 96.
In the press
Ted Drewes' shops and frozen custard have drawn the attention of The New York Times several times over the years, including in 1986, 1997, and 1999. In 2004, reporter R.W. Apple Jr. extolled the custard in an article on Midwestern sweets.
In 2024, Ted Drewes was featured in History Channel's The Food That Built America. During the episode entitled "Ice Cream Revolution", it is stated that the concept of the Blizzard from Dairy Queen was copied from the Ted Drewes concrete.
See also
- List of frozen custard companies