Daily Local News (West Chester, PA)
Freddy’s opens third area location
Kansas-based hamburger chain continues Pennsylvania growth push
UWCHLAN >> Fast-casual dining chain Freddy’s Frozen Custard & Steakburgers continues its expansion in Pennsylvania, with the opening Tuesday, Dec. 11 of its third location at 221 Eagleview Blvd. in Uwchlan.
The new location for the hamburger chain joins restaurants in Broomall and West Chester.
Freddy’s has more than 300 locations nationwide, but is still new to Pennsylvania. All three area franchised restaurants are owned by Delaware County native Steve DiMarco, who also owns Penn Oaks Golf Club in West Chester.
The restaurant opened Tuesday to long — but moving lines inside and at the drive through windows — as customers sampled the restaurant’s offerings.
“We were really excited to come here and to spread the Freddy’s brand. We want people to come and enjoy the hospitality and the food,” DiMarco said.
The chain is known for its cooked-to-order steakburgers made with lean, 100 percent ground beef, Vienna beef hot dogs, shoestring fries and frozen custard that is made in house daily.
“The beef is Colorado beef — 85/15 — so it’s super lean. Everything is cooked to order, so it takes a little bit longer to get your burger,” said DiMarco, adding that it takes about four minutes for customer orders to be ready. “How we cook it makes the difference. You can taste the burger; you can taste the difference right away.”
Freddy’s cooking method is proprietary, so DiMarco wouldn’t share, except to say that the burger is thin and the cooking method allows it to get a caramelized edge.
DiMarco added that his restaurants use rolls provided by Delaware Valley bakery Liscio Bakery.
“We brought a Philadelphia roll to a Kansas concept. Philadelphia has great bread,” he said
The 3,010 square foot restaurant has seating for about 92 inside, with a mix of tables and booths. It has high ceilings and is decorated in a red color scheme mixed with stainless steel. There is additional patio
seating.
“It’s a great atmosphere. This is a place you want to hang out. You can push the tables together if you have a larger group. It’s a great dining experience that is really a missing link in the quick casual market,” DiMarco said.
Jaden DiMarco, general manager of the new location, added that Freddy’s is the “perfect neighborhood burger place.”
“It’s a hangout at night for kids, a great place for families, for after a sporting event. And the food is delicious,” he said.
Steve DiMarco takes his description of the food one step further, calling it “crave-able.”
Freddy’s had extra staff on hand for Tuesday’s opening, with an estimated 25 people working, according to Jaden DiMarco. That number included some corporate trainers that were on hand to help.
“It’s going well; the crew is really working well together,” he said Tuesday during the lunch-time rush, adding that the restaurant would typically staff the lunch shift with about 12 employees.
Steve DiMarco said the Freddy’s concept is unique.
“The food is great, but the biggest thing about Freddy’s that makes us unique is how we embrace the Midwest hospitality. That is so important,” he said.
“We keep our standards really high. We focus on hospitality, quality and cleanliness and that’s basically where we start,” Jaden DiMarco added. “We take the quality part to heart.”
DiMarco opened the first area Freddy’s Frozen Custard & Steakburgers in 2012 in Broomall, followed by a second location in West Chester in 2017. He said he was approached about locating the new restaurant Customers wait to pick up their orders at the new Freddy’s Frozen Custard & Steakburgers, which opened Dec. 11 in Uwchlan at 221 Eagleview Blvd. in Uwchlan, and broke ground in July.
Freddy’s was founded in Wichita, Kansas in 2002. Steve DiMarco said he discovered the chain while on a trip with his daughter to tour the University of Kansas.
Two months later the pair went back to Kansas for a second look at the university, and both expressed their desire to eat at Freddy’s again.
“It was the greatest burger I ever had, and I had been thinking about it for the two months before we went back,” DiMarco said. “The second time was even better. I thought I had to bring the concept to Pennsylvania. That’s how we started.”
That same day, DiMarco reached out to one of the founders of the company, Scott Redler, who came to meet him.
At the time, the chain had about 60 locations. Redler told DiMarco the company was not looking to expand to the east coast.
DiMarco said Redler then came to visit him in Pennsylvania, and the rest, as they say, is history.
DiMarco, who grew up in Havertown and now lives in West Chester, said he is planning additional Freddy’s in the area. Next up, he said, is Brookhaven in Delaware County, “and we’re looking in Phoenixville and some other areas.”
“When we first started, no one had heard of Freddy’s. Now, we’re getting approached by a lot of different people,” he said. “We’ll keep pushing the Freddy’s brand. We love it — people love it.”
Organizations looking to do fundraisers can speak with General Manager Jaden DiMarco. Fundraising events are held Monday through Wednesday, with Freddy’s donating 15 percent of sales where customers mention the organization being featured.
Freddy’s is open 10:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and 10:30 a.m. to 11 p.m. Friday and Saturday.
Freddy’s was co-founded in 2002 by Scott Redler and Bill, Randy and Freddy Simon. Today, more than 300 Freddy’s restaurants serve 32 states across the nation from California to Pennsylvania, Virginia and down the East Coast states to Florida.
For more information visit https://freddysusa. com.
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