Lainey Seyler|Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Summer's heat won'tlast much longer. Fortunately for us, there's a delicious and very Milwaukee way to cool off: Frozen custard. The sweet treat wasn't invented here (Coney Island gets credit for that), but once we got our first taste back in the 1930s, we wholeheartedly embraced it.
There's no shortage of places to indulgewith cone, dish, pint or hey, even a quart, buthere are 10 top frozen custard spots.
1. Gilles Frozen Custard
Gilles Frozen Custard, on 76th Street and Bluemound Road, is the oldest custard stand in Milwaukee. Sweet frozen treats have been churning there for 80 years, since 1938.
Every day, Gilles has vanilla, chocolate and a specialty flavor. Vanilla is by far the favorite. It serves the classics (butter pecan), but it tries new flavors frequently. Owner Tom Linscott and his son recently came up with a Jameson flavor for Irish Fest.
Linscott updated Gilles in 2017. "We did an expensive remodel, the whole exterior, roofs, electronics on the register, redid the menu board, upgraded equipment, redid theelectricalservice,upgraded equipment."
Althoughearlier this week, someone ran their car into the newly renovated exterior. Don't worry, they're still open.
Gilles Frozen Custard
7515 W Bluemound Rd, Milwaukee
414-453-4875
Hours: Monday-Saturday 10:30a.m. to 11 p.m., Sunday 11 a.m. to 11 p.m.
2. Leon's Frozen Custard
You could call Ron Schneider, owner of Leon's Frozen Custard, a purist.
"We never changed our focus. Whenwe first opened, we sold frozen custardand a hot dog,"Schneider said. "Largelywith the help of my father, the other places did frozen custard, and then they expanded to do more food. We were never distracted by the food."
Schneider's father Leon opened the custard stand in 1942 at 27th and Oklahoma. They updated the building in the 1950s to what it looks like today.
Both Schneiders have helped other frozen custard stands throughout the city with equipment. Frozen custard traditionally comes from a special machine, similar to a soft serve machine, except that the frozen custard machine lets less air into the final product. For years, Leon Schneider distributed frozen custard machines in Milwaukee for an East Coastmanufacturer. When the company stopped making the machines, Leon Schneiderstarted making parts. Ron Schneider doesn't make parts anymore, buthe'll help repair equipment if he can.
Leon's serves four custard flavors daily: vanilla, chocolate, butter pecan and a special flavor. Leon's mostly sticks with classic flavors like maple nut, raspberry, strawberry, mint and cinnamon for the specials.
Leon's Frozen Custard
3131 S 27th St, Milwaukee
414-383-1784
Hours: Daily 11 am. to midnight
3. Kopp's Frozen Custard
It wasn't the first frozen custard stand in Milwaukee, but it's arguably the most popular. Kopp's Frozen Custard opened in 1951 at 60th and Appleton Ave. in Milwaukee. That location is now closed, but three more have popped up in its place in Greenfield, Glendale and Brookfield.
Owner Elsa Kopp and her son Karl Kopp were the first to introduce a flavor-of-the-day frozen custard. At the time, it was controversial, but nearly every custard stand has followed Kopp's lead.
ARCHIVE: Frozen custard didn't start in Wisconsin—but we're still the custard capital
Butter pecan is by far the most popular flavor. It's on the "flavor forecast"about every 10 days.
"We go through more custard than any custardstandin the United States. It's a lot of custard,"said head manager Scott Borkin. "During the summer we have custard deliveries twice a week. Even during the winter, people think it’s slow. But this isWisconsin, people are going to eat custard if its90 degreesoutsideor 10 below."
Kopp's Frozen Custard
7631 W. Layton Ave., Greenfield, 414-282-4312
Hours: Daily 10:30 a.m. to 11 p.m.
18880 W. Bluemound Rd., Brookfield,262-789-9490
Hours:Sunday-Thursday 10:30 a.m. to10p.m., Friday-Saturday 10:30 a.m. to 11 p.m.
5373 N. Port Washington Rd., Glendale,414-961-3288
Hours: Daily 10:30 a.m.to11 p.m.
4. Kitt's Frozen Custard Drive In
When Kitt's Frozen Custard Drive In opened in 1950, Capitol Drive was still unpaved.
"We've had some ups and downsthroughthe years, especially road construction," said owner Ray "Butch"Rydz.
Kitt's serves five flavors a day, includingchocolate, vanilla, butter pecan, a berry flavor and a candy flavor.
"Your most expensive is butter pecan, but we had so many customers who would leave if they didn’t get butter pecan," he said. But Kitt's customers get really excited when it makes a black walnut flavor.
"Wehavea list of over 300 customers who call in and order gallons of that," said Rydz."Wehave toput in an extra freezer, and we have torun a few extra buckets a day."
Rydz only makes the black walnut flavor for a couple months a yearand never in the summer because he's too busy to handle all the extra custard. That gives custard fans something to look forward to come fall.
Kitt's Frozen Custard Drive-In
7000 W Capitol Dr, Milwaukee
414-461-1400
Hours: daily 11 a.m. to midnight
5. Oscar's Frozen Custard & Sandwiches
Susie Taylor likes to say it "started with a cone."
She's referring to her relationship with her husband Jim Taylor, but the saying can extend to the business where they met and thatthey now own together: Oscar's Frozen Custard & Sandwiches.
Jim Taylor opened the West Allis restaurant in a converted barn in 1984 with his uncle. Susie Taylor was one of the first employees. Today, there are two additional Oscar's locations (one in Waukesha and one in Franklin). It's known for creamy frozen custard and homemade cones.
The cones are made daily at each location. It's a secret recipe that Taylor said proudly isnot a mix.
Oscar's serves chocolate and vanilla frozen custard daily and at least one specialty flavor. Classic flavors like butter pecan and mint chip are the most popular, but customers also love a flavor called Mudder Butterthat features a butter base flavor withpeanuts, chocolate syrup and peanut butter swirled in.
Oscar's Frozen Custard & Sandwiches
oscarscustard.com
2362 S 108th St., West Allis, 414-327-5220
7041 S. 27th St., Franklin, 414-304-8700
21165 Hwy. 18, Waukesha, 262-789-9707
Hours: Sunday-Thursday, 10:30 a.m. to 11 p.m., Friday-Saturday, 10:30-midnight
6. Le Duc's Frozen Custard
LeDuc's Frozen Custard is well on the outskirts of the Milwaukee metropolitan area, but it's worth a visit to Wales for a deliciously melty scoop or two.The frozen custard stand opened in 1980 and has changed ownership a couple times, but its custard recipe has stayed the same. And it's known to be a particularly melty version.
OwnerSteve Kinsey explained, "The recipe is higher in butter fat and higher in eggs and there’s no filler in it. It’s just a creamy custard base.It'sdifferent than ice cream."
LeDuc'smakes more than 70 different flavors. It serves vanilla, chocolate and a specialty flavor everyday. Vanilla is by far the most popular option, followed by butter pecan. Kinsey said its new salted caramel frozen custard is gaining fans.
Le Duc's Frozen Custard
leducscustard.com
240 W Summit Ave, Wales
262-968-2894
Hours: Sunday-Thursday, 10:30 a.m. to 10 p.m., Friday-Saturday, 10:30 a.m. to 11 p.m.
7. Ferch's Malt Shoppeand Grille
At Ferch's Malt Shoppe and Grille in Greendale, you can get your favorite flavor any day of the week. Instead of highlighting a flavor of the day, like many frozen custard spots in Milwaukee, Ferch's mixes syrups, candies, nuts and other toppings into the custard on a marble slab.
"A lot of it is laborintensive,and I'm sure a lot of placesdon't want to do it," said owner Betty Ferchoff. "But I think we want to put on a show for people. It makes us different."
Ferch's has about 45 different extracts and about 50 different toppings that you order mixed into your frozen custard. You can even mix and match extracts in your malt or shake.
The restaurant has a 1950s look, even though Betty Ferchoff and her husband opened it in 1987. Three years ago, a new Ferch's opened a seasonal location atGrant Park Beach, where youcan get burgers, fish fries and frozen custard. But that location doesn't have a marble slab for mix-ins.
Ferch's Malt Shoppe and Grille
ferchs.com
5636 Broad St, Greendale
414-423-1414
Hours: Saturday-Thursday 11 a.m. to 8:30 p.m., Friday 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.
Grant Park Beach
414-215-7950
Hours: early May (weather dependent) Monday-Friday 4 p.m. to 9 p.m., Saturday-Sunday, 11 a.m. to 9 p.m., after Memorial Day (weather dependent) daily 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.
8. Fred's Drive-in
Fred's, located at 48th and Vliet streets,is one of those neighborhood spots where families frequenton a hot summer evenings. Police officers stop by as well asteachers and commuters. There are ball fields across the street, so teams line up after baseball games.
Owner Carol Carter said she gets lots of Brewer's fans too.
Fred's keeps it simple and serves only vanilla, chocolate and swirl frozen custard, but you can get any toppings you want. Fred's goes through a lot of sundaes. One of Carter's favorite is a sundaenamed for her mother, Georgia Sue's Delight. It's custard drizzled with hot caramel sauce, hot fudge sauce, crushed toffee, nuts, whipped cream and a cherry.
Fred's Drive-In
4726 W Vliet St, Milwaukee
414-771-6270
Hours: Monday-Saturday 11 a.m. to 9 p.m., Sunday noon to 7 p.m
9. Bubba's Frozen Custard
Bubba's opened in 1998 in Pewaukee. It may have come a little later to the custard game, but it has garnered quite a following in Lake Country. One of the most popular flavors at Bubba's is black raspberry.
Mike Brown, who bought Bubba's from his uncle last year, said, "Sometimes staff comes up with something. We auction off the right to choose the flavor every year. That'sactually howone of my favorite flavors came to be."
That flavor is Reese’s Dough Boy. It's a peanut butter flavored custard studded with cookie dough and peanut butter cups. Sounds like a delicious way to cool off.
Bubba's Frozen Custard
1276 Capitol Drive, Pewaukee
262-695-8189
Hours: daily 10:30 a.m. to 10 p.m.
10. Culver's
Culver's deserves credit for spreading the gospel of frozen custard beyondWisconsin. It has more than 655 restaurants in 24 states — clearly, Americans arein need of good frozen custard.
The fast food chain first opened in Sauk City in 1984. It has more than 50 different featured flavors. Flavors get mixed in daily and vary store-by-store. Or you can always go with the classic vanilla.
RELATED: Culver's becomes a fast-food force with 'butter burgers' and frozen custard
Culver's will have six new custard flavors of the day (video)
Quinn Adkins, director of menu development at Culver's, gave us a tour of six new frozen custard flavors of the day. One new flavor per month will be rolled out to Culver's locations beginning in May.
Danny Damiani/USA TODAY NETWORK-Wiscosnin
