Maybe this will seriously harm my credentials as a true Fredericktonian, but I here confess to my readers that I have only ever been to the Freez King on East St. once before it closed in 2009 because I didn’t even know it was there. Yes, I know how much everyone loved it and I really liked it the one time I was there. It was great because of its simplicity. Three flavours of soft-serve ice cream (one of which is a combo of the other two) and quick hamburgers and hotdogs right at the edge of a nice little residential neighbourhood and across the street from a lovely park was a great business model. The problem? The building didn’t exactly scream “I’m here!” but their new digs certainly do.
As I headed north on East St. to visit the newly opened reincarnation of a Frederick staple, I couldn’t but notice the giant “Freez King” sign sitting on top a big red arrow pointed at the building. The structure itself is a much more imposing figure, with a large, almost towering, grey front with huge open doors. What I noticed right away was that the outside was swarmed by happy people, mostly families, chatting and laughing as they walked away with the reinvented menu items or chilled on the patio furniture.
The line was long, but totally worth it. I noticed that they added a LOT to their simple menu, but I was in the mood for a classic. I got a large cup full of their soft-serve chocolate ice cream with rainbow sprinkles. The weather was perfect for a walk in through the park, so I strolled slowly down the stream as I dug into my frozen treat and watched several species of birds flying everywhere. I had forgotten that the park there has so much in the way of basketball and tennis courts, and I thought it would be great to maybe spend some time this summer running around there with friends and then taking a break at the King for lunch.
As I was walking back to my car I thought about stopping some of the people hanging around outside with their ice cream and sandwiches to ask for interviews so I could post sound clips about how much they love the new feel of the place ... but then I realized they were so happy with their friends and families that I didn’t want to take the time to interrupt them with questions from a stranger. Normally what I love about food options is how dynamic or “interesting” they are, but seeing how happy everyone was today reminded me of the pure joy to be found in simplicity.
Welcome back, Freez King. Frederick missed you.
1303 North East Street, Frederick, MD 21701 (301) 624-2994
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