Andy's Frozen Custard
Andy's Frozen Custard is a chain of United States frozen custard stores with locations in Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Illinois, Kansas, Missouri, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Tennessee, and Texas. [1]
Company headquarters are in Springfield, Missouri, where the company's namesake Andy Kuntz runs the business. The company specializes in frozen custard-based deserts. In 2009, after six months of tournament-style eliminations, Andy's Frozen Custard was voted the best thing about area code 417 by readers of 417 Magazine.[2]
History
Andy's was founded by John and Carol Kuntz in 1986 in Osage Beach, Missouri, after the couple first tasted frozen custard in Wisconsin. Desiring to bring frozen custard to Missouri, they dedicated themselves to creating a frozen custard brand of their own. They sought the mentorship of Leon and Doris Schneider, who had owned a Milwaukee frozen custard shop since 1942; Leon provided much of the knowledge and guidance the Kuntzes needed to open their own store. The shop was named after their son Andy.
Soon after, the operation expanded to Springfield, Missouri, where Andy, with his wife Dana, learned the frozen custard business. In 2008, John died,[3] and Andy, Dana, and Carol continue to run the business.
Locations
As of December 2016, Andy's has 45+ locations in eight states: Arkansas, Colorado, Illinois, Missouri, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Tennessee, and Texas. More locations are currently planned and coming soon. This includes locations in Arizona, Kansas, and South Carolina.[4] The location in Colorado is one of the newest, with the first Andy's Frozen Custard in the Denver area opening as store #36 on September 14, 2016.[5] Currently, they have franchise development agreements in place for Phoenix, Arizona, as well as parts of North Carolina and Florida.[6]
Menu
The company specializes in frozen custard-based desserts, including cones, concretes, malts, and sundaes. Their custard, available in vanilla or chocolate, is made hourly, and served within one hour of being made. Brownies, pies, shortcakes, and cookies are also baked daily at Andy's stores. Nuts are roasted every week in Chicago and shipped next day to Andy's locations.
Andy's is known for their pumpkin pie concretes and apple pie concretes in the fall, where slices of pie are blended into the frozen custard. Winter specials include Andy Nog shakes, made with vanilla custard and eggnog; candy cane concretes, made with bits of peppermint candy; and Thin Mint concretes, blended with Girl Scout cookies. Andy's purchases about 3,500 boxes of Thin Mint cookies from local Girl Scouts of the USA troops every spring and serves more than 100,000 Thin Mint treats while cookies are in stock.[7] The Thin Mint shake was named one of 417 Magazine's 5 Best: Green Drinks[8] in its March 2013 issue. Fresh blueberries and strawberries are featured in Andy's desserts in the spring, while fresh blackberries, peaches, and key lime pie are in the summer menu.
Some of their top sellers are the "Ozark Turtle," a sundae with hot fudge, caramel, and roasted pecans, and the "James Brownie Funky Jackhammer," with peanut butter and brownie chunks blended into vanilla custard with a hot fudge center.
In 2012, Andy's announced the flavor of the Boomer Bear Concrete, a dessert created to support Missouri State University's athletics program and named after the school's mascot.[9] The dessert is made with vanilla custard, fresh strawberries, almonds, and Heath Bar. It is available in Andy's Springfield, Missouri, locations.
References
- ↑ Andy's - All Locations
- ↑ And the Winner Is...
- ↑ John Neale Kuntz
- ↑ Andy's - All Locations
- ↑ Eat Andy's - Denver/Sheridan, CO
- ↑ Andy's Frozen Custard Set to Open 15 New Locations in 2016
- ↑ Evanston Girl Scouts Cookies Featured in Frozen Treat at Andy's
- ↑ 5 Best: Green Drinks
- ↑ Andy's Frozen Custard Announces Boomer Bear Concrete Flavor