Freddy's Frozen Custard & Steakburgers — Restaurant in San Marcos

I can fully appreciate a grass roots expansion over social media explosion. If you are a Californian reading this the comparison is Shake Shack meets In N Out, but old school. Something you might not realize is that you waited for them to come to us rather than going out and trying it yourself, you fell into the hype. I was eating Freddy’s in Wichita a decade ago and Shake Shack when it was a cart that grew into a stand alone in MSP. You have to try it in it’s own region, not when it expands, then your just biased against interlopers.

The smash before the smash, the burgers are pretty plain, the ingredients are fresh, but nothing is overpowering. Many people appreciate the classic style fries that are closer to shoe string than most on the market. They are never soggy and can stand up to the chili which they are known for. I could use more cheese as it’s on the runny side. They don’t carry sour cream which is my personal fav to top chili with. I personally like getting a half order of cheese curds and making a fries/curds chili cheese mix and dipping chicken tenders in it then hitting it with the fry sauce (classic mayo/ketchup mix from the Midwest), the Freddy jalapeno sauce is the better option for other items.

Personally I find the burgers to be too thin, too pressed, bland. The burgers fall apart due to no diaper. The pickles are good, but getting deep fried pickles on there is the better choice, not all locations do/offer this, this one doesn’t. California style is made to compete with INO specifically as it didn’t exist in the original Midwest locations until maybe 6-7 years ago. Lettuce, tomato, Freddy’s sauce. They have a veggie burger which is basic. The grilled chicken is something that SS doesn’t offer, despite both doing a fried chicken sandwich. This is the item that goes unnoticed most. It’s one of their best. I prefer Sonics dogs, but sonics is all about their ice, which they also do crushed/pebble here too.

Come for the custom custards. They have one that changes all the time and the varieties and options are vast. The custard is nice and thick and super good. Nutter Butter custards are perfect little bites. Pints and quarts to take home. The shakes are better than INO, but not quite as good as SS. Bringing your family to eat here and enjoy is what makes Freddy’s a good cross between fast food and casual. You’ll be a FredHead soon.

If you’ve ever seen Mark Phillips aka SupremeDream1, find his video on “How Chick Fil A Training Gotta be Like”. This will explain the difference between fast food. The service is good, but it’s not 10/10 Chick Fil A good. I can see an acted smile and tone a mile away and there is a big difference between “no problem” and “my pleasure”, that’s the reason for the star dock and the hours.

I travel more than most Californians and have seen the rest of the country and can tell you that there is something to be said about a fast food chain that flies...

Freddy's: Our rating was a rare 4 out of 5 (see formula below) Freddy's rating was based on the following four criteria:

Service - walking up to the counter we were greeted warmly by a young lady with a smile. Mentioning it was our first visit she provided a quick review of the menu. We both ordered the #1 combo and chose a booth. We were both surprised when the food was brought to our table rather than retrieving it from the window. Impressed with the quick and friendly service.

Food - Freddy’s is known for their steak burgers, so naturally, we both had to try them. We heard that they were thin, so we both went with the double burger. This was perfect, as the individual burgers are quite thin. The taste is great, it’s much more flavorful than your normal burger. The onion rings were some of the best so far. They were much more flavorful than any of the rings we’ve tried so far. They were truly delicious, arguably the best onion rings I’ve had. Another thing Freddy’s is known for is their frozen custard. We decided to try it, for review sake only, of course. We went with the mini brownie sundae, and it was scrumptious. The custard made a much smoother, creamier texture, just as was described. There was also a delicious brownie at the bottom.

Ambiance - The restaurant was plastered with posters and pictures describing everything from the difference between frozen custard and ice cream, to who Freddy was. It has a slight 50s feel, with red and white booths and walls. The facility’s were very clean as well. Nothing to complain about.

Cost - extremely reasonable. Two combos were less than $20 and satisfied our appetite with food to spare. My daughter's sweet tooth was suppressed with a delicious frozen custard ($4.95) not included in price above.

To grade each resteraunr, we give each category a 1-5 rating, add it all up, then divide by 4. If you’ve seen our last reviews, you would know we tend to score rather low. Not today. We gave every category a ⅘, so of course it came in at an...

Great variety of American "Classics", done right and dare I say even better than the normal classics you would expect! Double smashed steak burgers, like your classic double cheeseburger only better quality. The smashed style and probably higher quality meat make it have a lovely crispy sear that is quite delicious. They have some awesome extra toppings too, like grilled jalapeños, grilled onions, and sauerkraut (homemade?) which you can add.

I highly recommend ordering through the app as I wouldn't have even known about those extra special (FREE) toppings otherwise, but now that I know I could order in person I am sure... if you know you know, otherwise you just don't know and that would blow! Also there are rewards to be had in the app, even occasional freebies and points you can redeem for freebies later when you earn enough. Buying in the app ensures you get your precious points!

I haven't tried the hot dogs, onion rings, or cheese fries yet but I want to try them all! Yummy cheese curds, delicious Marinara sauce to pair and I also enjoyed them with ranch (Great Ranch!). Their custard shakes are fantastic as well. Oh yeah, and if you are a pickle fiend like me, their pickles are the BOMB!

They are an American Classic style place, friendly excellent staff, clean facility, and all around a really positive enjoyable experience. Simple, yet elegant. No surprises in what you see is what you will get, yet it's so well done and has some great hidden surprises with Quality and other nice touches they definitely earned their 5 stars all across the board.

I highly recommend this hidden gem. Worth the experience if you like this style of food and dining. Thank you and I...