Freddy’s Frozen Custard & Steakburgers (Wichita, Kan.) has opened a corporate-owned restaurant featuring its latest design in Belleville, Ill. Now available to prospective franchisees, the format features a standard drive-thru and an enhanced mobile pick-up window to meet the increased consumer demand for off-premises dining.
Available in footprints of either 2800 or 2400 square feet, the design also includes an enhanced kitchen layout to enable each order channel to maintain high efficiency across the operation.
“We recognize the importance of adapting with the constant shifts in consumer preferences and making it easier for people to access Freddy’s. With nearly 70 percent of sales being consumed off-premises, our team has been focused on developing restaurant prototypes that cater to this preferred method of dining by increasing convenience and ease of use for our guests,” says Freddy’s CEO Chris Dull. “The new prototype design opening in Belleville increases the convenience our guests seek by optimizing off-premises channels and not sacrificing the speed and quality that has maintained loyalty to our brand with over 20 years of history.”
Updates include kitchen technology that presses Freddy’s steakburger patties into a consistent shape each time, making grill operations less physically demanding while increasing consistency for guests. Additionally, the restaurant’s designated digital pickup area has a custard freezer to give quick access to mobile and delivery orders without interfering with the dine-in order queue. The back-of-house also has a transformed bagging station with a simplified, easy-to-interpret display, and a shared expo counter to give the shift lead the ability to manage every aspect of the operation from one location.
The fast-casual restaurant chain plans to open 60-plus new locations this year. Founded in 2002, it currently has more than 460 locations across 36 states.