Restaurant in St Louis, United States
St. Louis's go-to custard. No reservation needed.
Ted Drewes is the frozen custard stop in St. Louis — three consecutive years of Opinionated About Dining Cheap Eats recognition and a 4.8 Google rating across more than 11,000 reviews back that up. No reservations, no dining room: walk up, order a concrete, and eat outside. Go midday on a weekday to skip the lines, or Friday evening if you want the full summer-night atmosphere.
If you are visiting St. Louis for the first time and someone asks where to get dessert, the answer is Ted Drewes. Not because it is the only frozen custard in the city, but because it has earned Opinionated About Dining Cheap Eats recognition three consecutive years (Recommended 2023, #442 in 2024, #510 in 2025) and holds a 4.8 Google rating across more than 11,000 reviews. That combination of critical acknowledgment and sustained public approval at a walk-up custard stand on Chippewa Street is the kind of signal worth paying attention to. Compare this to Big Gay Ice Cream Shop in New York City or Fatamorgana in Rome: both are legitimate frozen dessert destinations in their own cities, but neither carries the same neighborhood institution weight that Ted Drewes has accumulated over decades on Route 66. Book here if frozen custard is your format. Skip it if you want a sit-down meal.
Ted Drewes is an outdoor walk-up operation on Chippewa Street. There is no host stand, no dining room, and no table service. You join a line, order at the window, and eat outside. The visual signature is the custard itself — dense, thick, and scooped into cups or cones — most associated with the "concrete," a frozen custard blended with mix-ins thick enough to be served upside-down without spilling. If you are visiting from out of town, that is the thing to order: it is the format Ted Drewes is known for, and it is what the OAD recognition is built on. Under Travis Drewes, the operation has maintained the consistency that makes a 4.8 rating across 11,415 reviews credible rather than inflated.
First-timers should also know this is cash-friendly counter service with no dress code and no reservation system. You show up, you wait in line if it is busy, and you order. The experience is exactly what it appears to be from the street: a no-frills custard stand with a serious product.
The timing question here is practical. Ted Drewes opens at 11 am daily, which means you can technically arrive at lunch hour. But frozen custard as a lunch destination is a niche call. The midday visit works leading if you are already in the South St. Louis area and want to avoid the evening crowd. Lines at peak summer evenings, especially on Fridays and Saturdays (which stay open until 10:30 pm versus 10 pm the rest of the week), can be substantial. The custard does not change based on time of day, but your wait time will. For a first visit, arriving between 11 am and 1 pm on a weekday gives you the shortest lines and the same product. If the evening atmosphere and the energy of a busy summer night on Chippewa Street is part of what you want, Friday or Saturday evening is the right call, just expect to wait. The weekend late-night window (until 10:30 pm) is worth knowing about if you are finishing dinner elsewhere in the city and want dessert as a final stop.
Reservations: None , walk-up only, no booking required. Dress Code: None. Hours: Monday through Thursday and Sunday 11 am–10 pm; Friday and Saturday 11 am–10:30 pm. Address: 6726 Chippewa St, St. Louis, MO 63109. Budget: Cheap Eats category; expect low per-person spend typical of custard and ice cream counter service. Booking Difficulty: Easy , no reservation needed.
See the comparison section below for how Ted Drewes sits alongside other St. Louis options like Crown Candy Kitchen, Pappy's Smokehouse, and Bogart's Smokehouse.
| Venue | Cuisine | Price | Awards | Booking Difficulty | Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ted Drewes Frozen Custard | Ice Cream | Opinionated About Dining Cheap Eats in North America Ranked #510 (2025); Opinionated About Dining Cheap Eats in North America Ranked #442 (2024); Opinionated About Dining Cheap Eats in North America in Recommended (2023) | Easy | — | |
| Pappy’s Smokehouse | Barbecue | Unknown | — | ||
| Mai Lee | Vietnamese | Unknown | — | ||
| Bogart’s Smokehouse | Barbecue | Unknown | — | ||
| Crown Candy Kitchen | Luncheonette | Unknown | — | ||
| Sado | Japanese (Sushi) | Unknown | — |
Side-by-side comparison to help you decide where to book.
Crown Candy Kitchen is the closest comparison for a casual, nostalgic St. Louis dessert experience, but with a sit-down diner format and a broader menu. For barbecue instead of dessert, Pappy's Smokehouse and Bogart's Smokehouse are the main names in the city. Mai Lee covers Vietnamese and is a strong option if the group wants a full meal rather than a custard run. Sado rounds out the St. Louis picture for a more modern dining experience.
Ted Drewes is known for its concretes — frozen custard blended thick enough to hold upside down. The menu is built around custard in various formats, and that is what Opinionated About Dining has ranked it for three consecutive years, most recently at #510 on its 2025 North America Cheap Eats list. Order a concrete as your starting point; it is the format the venue is built around.
Yes, and it is one of the easier St. Louis spots for groups precisely because there is no reservation, no seating arrangement, and no dining room to coordinate. The outdoor walk-up format at 6726 Chippewa St means groups can spread out on the property and order at their own pace. Large parties should just expect to split into smaller ordering clusters at the counter rather than placing a single group order.
The menu is custard-focused, which means dairy is central to the offering. Specific allergen or dietary accommodation details are not in the venue record, so contact the team directly before visiting if this is a concern. For guests who cannot eat dairy, Ted Drewes is not the right stop, and alternatives like Crown Candy Kitchen offer a broader menu.
It works well as part of a celebration, particularly as a casual dessert stop after a bigger meal elsewhere in St. Louis. The outdoor, walk-up format means there is no atmosphere to speak of in the traditional sense, but the venue has genuine local significance and three years of Opinionated About Dining recognition to back the visit. For a formal anniversary dinner, look elsewhere; for a fun post-dinner moment, it holds up.
Evening is the practical choice. Ted Drewes opens at 11 am daily, but frozen custard fits better as an after-dinner stop, and the lines at lunch are typically shorter. Friday and Saturday closing time extends to 10:30 pm, giving you a wider post-dinner window on weekends. Arriving after 7 pm on a summer evening means a crowd, so if you want minimal wait, aim for a weekday afternoon.
There is no bar, no indoor seating, and no table service at Ted Drewes. It is a walk-up counter operation at 6726 Chippewa St, and you eat standing or find a spot outside. If a sit-down experience matters to your group, Crown Candy Kitchen is a better fit for a diner-style dessert in St. Louis.
Keep this venue in your Pearl passport, rate it after you visit, and track it alongside every other place you collect.
