Freddy's Frozen Custard & Steakburgers — Restaurant in Harrison Township

Hello everyone,

It isn't often that I get to try out a new restaurant, but I happened to get a chance to try Freddy's Frozen Custard & Steakburgers, which opened last week.

A quick note: This is the first time trying the restaurant. With a good restaurant, consistency in quality of the food is key. I remember T.J.'s being of excellent quality when they first opened, but that quality has certainly not been consistent.

So Jonesboro has another fast food chain restaurant. As a place awash in churches, banks, and fast food joints (especially burger places), I'll admit I was quite skeptical that we needed another one. To be honest, a really good burger is hard to find in Jonesboro, with most being mediocre. There are some great burgers here, including JTown's Grill (the best in my opinion) and Skinny J's, but I have longed for a quality fast food burger like In-N-Out, Shake Shack, or Whataburger - something a step above McDonalds or Burger King but still having the classic American fast food style burger.

The Five Guys here is overpriced and soggy. T.J.'s has an issue with consistency, ranging from excellent to subpar. Most fast food chains are also below par. Steak and Shake, which I had high hopes for when it came here a second time, has reduced its menu, raised its prices, and has seen a slight decline in the quality of its output. RedBeard's Burger Barn came and went like a flash in the pan.

So now we have Freddy's. Much in the style of Steak and Shake, Freddy's features smashed patty steakburgers and a Midwestern inspired menu. Freddy's burgers are smashed in a way that leaves a crusty beef skirt outside of the bun much as in manner of a Jersey burger. Accompanying the burgers are shoestring fries, cheese curds, chicken sandwiches, Chicago style hotdogs, and frozen custard deserts.

That being said, I arrived and pulled into the drive thru. It was a long line (being the new and shiny restaurant in town), and it took about thirty minutes just to reach the point to place my order. The drive thrus starts as you pull off Caraway and wraps around Freddy's parking lot. Longer than the drive thrus for the nearby Taco Bell or KFC, I can appreciate that this design reduces the chance of lunch or dinner crowds overflowing onto Caraway itself. As someone who have been stuck behind numerous people in drive thru queues blocking street traffic (looking at you Shadrach's) more times than I care for, I appreciate this design.

Ordering for myself and my wife, I had the following:Double Steakburger California Style combo (subbing cheese curds for fries),

A Chicago Dog with Lays Baked Chips.

A Reese's PB & Banana Concrete

A Vanilla Concrete.

The burger (which I had) had an excellent and crunchy texture thanks to the crust skirt of the patty. It was topped with standard American cheese, a raw onion, tomato, lettuce, and thousand island dressing (ala In-N-Out). The burger bun was bit plain and disappointing compared to the rest, but it was toasted. Overall, the burger was better than its primary competitor here (Steak and Shake) and a a slight step above most fast food chains here. I do think the skirt gives it an edge (so to speak) over other chains.

My wife tried the Chicago Dog. She appreciated the seasoning and the toasted bun, but felt that the actual meat on the dog was rather bland (stating that she had better dogs from Kum & Go). Its certainly no Portillo's.

The Cheese curds were excellent, but slightly greasy.

For desert, the concretes were good. They are a little too sweet (and I still think Andy's does better concretes), but I appreciate the variety and options offered.

It was overall a good experience. The servers in the Drive Thru were friendly and professional. It remains to be seen whether Freddy's will offer consistently good service, but I am optimistic. The best burger remains JTown's Grill, but I think Freddy's can fill the niche of the Drive Thru...

Experience from Tuesday evening, 7.16.24 around 840pm. Once passed the cashier, the dining room floor was wet in multiple areas, as well as in the bathroom. Large areas of water, some even sitting small puddle. There was no ice in either soda machine. Napkin dispenser by lids/straws completely empty, as was the salt. Found 2 other dispensers within the restaurant for napkins. I let staff know there is no ice and their response. "It's probably out & needs filled." She offered to fill our cups up in the back at the drive-thru station. Which was appreciated. No one came out during our stay to fill the ice for soda dispenser machines. We appreciate the self-service of ice. Literally could NOT find a clean booth for our family to sit down & eat, EVERY single booth table was dirty. It was GROSS! The dining room customer volume was NOT busy, as we were only customers in there until a couple came in towards the end of our dining. Someone in the back throughout their shift should be assigned or do their job of wiping down the tables! As well as ensuring the floor is not sopping wet, making for an unsafe environment for customers to walk on the tiled floors. There is no way there was a mad exidece of customers that they hadn't had time to wipe the tables off, as well as BOTH garbage cans were FULL to their rims. Really!? Upon requesting more ice from the back, it was notable they were cleaning in the back. Part of which scrubbing the floor by the drive- thru with lots of suds and water. Some of that cleaning effort would have been appreciated in pur dining experience, provided less was used and floor dried in timely fashion. While the floor was wet in the dining area, it wasn't from being "cleaned" because in, near and around, the wetness were black and sticky spots. The "Hamburger" special wasn't received on our tray as pictured (despite the request of no mushrooms). If there were onions placed on it, there weren't enough to notice. Have always felt prices expensive for what you get at Freddy's, we knew that going in when we headed to Freddy's, since KFC/A&W staff were out in a white car in their parking lot informing us the dining room was closed because air wasn't working and it was hot in there. We didn't expect the gross atmosphere and poorly maintained restaurant of Freddy's in Harrison. The negative experience of the atmosphere was pretty significant and appeared it didn't get in such conditon just from dinner or that day, if it did this was 840pm well after a "dinner rush" if there even was one. It looked like an ongoing problem stemming from poor management, and for those reasons, we will not be back. I apologize for not snapping photos (I am certain franchise owner/manager could pull video if they need further validation in this review) of the less than cleanliness restaurant. Parents, if these are your offspring working here, teach them to do better and clean up their work environment. Surely, it's part of their job description. Customers try to keep your dining area clean for the next customers, in the event staff indeed continues not to clean up...

UPDATE: Freddy's became a family favorite. However, I'm updating this review to account for the surprising decline in the quality of this restaurant. In our last 4 visits, many of their food items and supplies have been out of stock (tonight it was cheese curds, hot dogs, spoons, and cup lids). We were very disappointed because we made the trip for the cheese curds and hot dogs (which are delicious). There were few people inside, but all of the empty tables were dirty and many had garbage on them. The seats were greasy, with visible crumbs, and used napkins and food underneath. The floors behind the counter were a mess, covered in food and garbage. It didn't look like they'd been swept all day. They didn't get our food order correct. Then they didn't get our custard order correct. The food we received was delicious. We love their burgers and the shoe string fries. The custard we received was also fantastic. I love the turtle sundae. The garbage cans were overflowing, with garbage piled high on top. The bathroom wasn't clean, but not terrible. The mirror was cloudy and looked as if it had been wiped with whipped cream, but otherwise wasn't too bad. For years we've made Freddy's a recurring stop, but the out-of-stock favorites, lack of cleanliness, and poor service have disappointed us too many times.

Original review: We visited with a family of five, including three young children. We arrived at about 7:30 pm We were told they were out of many items, which was disappointing, but we found alternatives. They were out of vanilla custard, white bread, chicken strips, shredded cheese, and their signature fry sauce. We ordered a chili dog, cheese burgers, a patty melt, cheese fries, and chocolate custard. The food was very good! The patty melt was on rye bread, which isn't my favorite, but it was still a delicious sandwich! The chili dog was also very good. Their fries are shoestring cut and very tasty, especially with the liquid cheese on top. The food is similar to the offerings at Steak and Shake, but my wife and I decided we like this food much better. The 4 star rating is not due to their missing items but due to the maintenance of the dining area. Even though we were one of only three groups in the restaurant, none of the empty tables were clean and I had to wipe down a table for my family to be seated. There were no napkins in any of the dispensers and the area with cup lids was messy. I expected that all of this must have been the result of a late crowd that came through before our arrival. I informed an employee about the lack of napkins and she immediately filled the dispensers. We enjoyed the food and plan to visit again, once their stock has been...