Freddy’s Frozen Custard & Steakburgers, a fast-growing restaurant chain founded in Wichita, Kansas, is preparing to expand to Delaware.
Freddy’s is planning to build its first Delaware restaurant in Middletown. More locations could follow as the company looks to almost double in size over the next three years.
The planned site is at 601 S. Ridge Ave. near the Westown Kohl’s off Middletown Warwick Road. A development plan is making its way through Middletown’s approval process having gone to the Planning & Zoning Commission in mid-May before a final Town Council hearing.
“The family-friendly atmosphere and strong community ties in Middletown felt like a perfect fit for Freddy’s,” Freddy’s Assistant Public Relations Manager Kim Huynh said in a statement.
Freddy’s uses a franchise system. The Delaware territory is owned by JRI Hospitality, the company’s largest franchisee and one of its earliest. President and CEO Jason Ingermanson said he is aiming to open the Middletown restaurant by the end of next year.
Ingermanson said he will evaluate other locations in Delaware once his group can use the results of the Middletown store to develop criteria for the market. JRI Hospitality owns and operates almost 80 Freddy’s locations, including the Freddy’s nearest to Delaware in Exton, West Chester, Broomall and Brookhaven, Pennsylvania.
“We have a lot more in the pipeline,” Ingermanson said.
Freddy’s signature is its pressed thin and crispy-edged steakburgers cooked to order. The burgers are served with shoestring fries and a special fry sauce. The seasoning blend used on the burgers and fries is also available on the side.
Freddy’s also offers patty melts, chicken sandwiches, hot dogs, chicken tenders, onion rings and cheese curds. The desert menu features frozen custard, milkshakes, floats and turtle sundaes.
Freddy’s was founded in 2002 by brothers Bill and Randy Simon and named for their father. It slowly expanded across the Midwest and now has a presence in the Southeast, the Southwest and Texas. The deepest into the Northeast it’s gone is northern New Jersey.
In 2020, Freddy Simon died at the age of 95. Thompson Street Capital Partner purchased the chain the following year and installed a new CEO, Chris Dull. In an interview in February with Nation’s Restaurant News, Dull said Freddy’s will have more than 800 locations by 2026 and has the potential to hit a store count above 3,000.
The company, still based in Wichita, has about 460 restaurants today across 36 states. In the last two years, franchisees have been awarded about 240 stores.
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Freddy’s fills a niche in Middletown for a fast casual burger above the grade of a McDonald’s or Burger King, a void opened recently by Steak ‘n Shake. Freddy’s will face competition in Middletown in the quick service realm from Chipotle, Chick-fil-A, Panda Express and Panera Bread, among others.
Similar “better burger” chains operating elsewhere in Delaware include Five Guys, Shake Shack and Wayback Burgers.
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Contact Brandon Holveck at bholveck@delawareonline.com. Follow him on Twitter @holveck_brandon.
