Patrick B.
Yelp
Way back in the day, this was one of Tacoma's premier burger stands. They could compete with the likes of other locals like Frugal's, Burger Ranch and Jubilee. They possibly even rivaled the likes of Dick's Drive in from Seattle. They had an upper hand on their competition because they offered the fishwich and the shrimpwich. Conveniently located just a couple blocks from Tacoma General Hospital, they definitely had the medical community as clients and people came from all over for the nostalgia of a fresh burger from a locally owned walk-up burger stand. Over the years, Frisko Freeze had suffered from a lack of patronage from locals due to rising costs and a lack in the quality of products.
Recently, Frisko Freeze went up for sale because for whatever reason, the owners had given up. Along comes a large conglomerate who owns multiple establishments across the country including some or your favorite local eateries. They buy up Frisko Freeze and immediately throw up a food truck in the parking lot originally labelled as Mike's burgers but soon afterward, you'd see a Frisko Freeze banner covering the Mike's logo. They conveniently served burgers and fries to customers while the original Frisko Freeze building was being restored to it's 1950's era look. On June 1st 2024, they had a grand re-opening and introduced the new Frisko Freeze as a throwback to the original yet there have been some very noticeable differences. The walk-in fridge has been moved outside of the building and there are brand new grills, deep fryers and shake machines inside. The space has been completely revamped and that isn't necessarily a bad thing. They have always had 2 walk up windows and a make-shift drive through yet only the drive through and window on the right hand side have been operational over the past years. Now it seems as if the window on the left is poised to be a working window to take orders yet it still remains closed and for good reason. When we placed our order at the right window, it still took nearly 40 minutes to receive our order. I honestly do not understand what takes so long to fry up one burger and drop a couple of orders of fries and an onion ring. If you plan on ordering food here, be prepared to spend some quality time waiting around for your food. FAST is not in thier repertoire. The fries are new and that is better than before but they still lack enough salt and the onion rings even though a large portion are still just your standard frozen rings from some local food service company like Cysco or Harbor. The burger did have some mayo with chopped lettuce and onion on the bottom and a smidge of ketchup and mustard on the top bun but over all, the burger was lacking in seasoning and very bland despite its toppings. They no longer offer the shrimpwich which in my opinion was the only reason to visit in the first place and if you want any kind of deal, the only combinations they offer are thier fish and chips or chicken strips with fries, otherwise you must order ala carte! We ordered a couple of shakes, and it seemed as if they were made before our food because by the time we received them, they were melted and warm. I honestly do not understand why it is so hard to push out orders for plain old burgers and fries but then again, I do not work there but the time that I had to wait for 1 burger, 2 fries, 1 onion rings and 2 shakes was more time than I'd like to wait for just a meal at a sit-down restaurant. I do not recommend wasting your time or money here at Frisko Freeze because the value is not there, the service is not there and the quality is not there. Keep looking and thanks for reading.
