Posted by Michael Stern on April 09, 2001
For anyone in search of America’s most delicious ice cream (and what roadfooder is not?), here’s a name to put on the short list of candidates for greatness: Ted Drewes. Drewes’ frozen custard is fresh, pure, and tons of fun, manufactured only as vanilla, but mixable with your choice from a list of dozens of different flavoring agents from chocolate and strawberry to fudge, cherries, cookies, nuts, and candy bars.
The best-known dish in the house is called a concrete, which is a milk shake so thick that the server hands it out the order window upside down with a spoon and a straw planted in it, demonstrating that not a drop will drip out! Beyond concretes, there are sundaes, cones, floats, and sodas.
Ted Drewes has two locations (the second is at 4224 S. Grand, phone: 352-7376), both of them mobbed all summer long with happy customers spooning into huge cups full of the creamy-smooth delight. Although custard is served into the cold months of winter, Christmas trees are the big business in December, and the shops are closed from the beginning of the year to early February.
If you are far away and seriously crave this superb super-ice cream (as is the case for many St. Louis expatriates), Ted Drewes is equipped with dry ice to mail-order its custard anywhere you need it.
Overall: Worth a major detour
18 out of 18 people found the review helpful. Was it helpful to you?
Reviewers "Must Eats" List
concrete
($3.00)
"Ask them to turn your concrete upside down and they will. This young woman was very pleased to pose so that I could take a picture."
Akavar
"The correct way to eat a concrete is with both a spoon and a straw. You eat with the spoon until it has melted enough for you to use the straw."
Akavar
"Ted Drewes is a beautiful sight as the lights come on at sunset. It seems like this place is always busy - even on a cool evening in early May."
Akavar
"Ted Drewes originally opened in Florida, but it's the St. Louis location, on old Route 66, that has become a Roadfood landmark."
Michael Stern
"Ted Drewes' order windows are crowded all summer long."
Michael Stern
