With brand-new kitchen and fresh outlook, Frisko Freeze plans to return this weekend
Frisko Freeze will never be the same, and that’s just beefy!
Tacoma’s beloved burger stand plans to reopen May 31, following extensive — wildly on the inside, modestly on the outside — renovations under new owners John and Nico Xitco.
The project, whose final tally landed around $1 million, according to John Xitco (“in the long term, it’s going to pay off,” he said), really got underway in February when staff moved temporarily to a food truck in the parking lot. The operation went on full hiatus April 24 so crews could complete final details without distraction.
Starting Friday, the squeaky clean (read: brand new) gas grill and Henny Penny deep-fryer will fire up for all those who await their next Beefburger and golden fries.
So, what’s changed at this 1950-era icon of Americana, of Googie architecture, of greasy perfection?
Everything and nothing at all.
Customers might first heed the fresh cherry-red sheen on the Roman brick base, the clean double-pane glass in the angled-outward windows, the added lights under the awning. After ordering through one of two windows — the third now dedicated to pickup — that attention might melt into the moment of waiting on the curb for your number to be called and, Xitco hopes, quickly snap to the speed with which you’re handed that white paper bag.
UPDATING A BELOVED BURGER STAND
The biggest updates happened inside the 696-square-foot building.
It was gutted almost beyond the studs, with great care to retain the framework while allowing a top-to-bottom, midcentury-to-now overhaul from floor to ceiling and everything in between.
In the process, they discovered a second foundation underneath Frisko’s, likely from the property’s days in the 1920s as a Texaco gas station, which was demolished in 1944. They also unearthed a heck of a lot of caked-over grease under the fryer!
The new grill adds 12 inches of coveted patty space. The new fryer holds six baskets at a time. The floor plan has been completely reconfigured to accommodate a sensible workflow. Previously, for instance, staff had to shuffle fries from one side of the kitchen to the other.
A new milkshake machine will hold their four most popular flavors: chocolate, vanilla, strawberry and banana. Additional flavors will be available with a manual-pump syrup. A new soft-serve machine will offer chocolate, vanilla and swirls that can withstand being turned upside-down and dipped. A new slushee machine offers frozen Coke and a seasonal spin.
On busy summer nights, the left window, looking at the building, will only take orders for treats, a move Xitco hopes will rekindle interest from those who lamented the long line even for a cone. The Division-facing window will continue to provide drive-thru service and pickup, should you call ahead or order online, and the right-hand window on-site ordering.
The Xitcos are the second-ever family to own Frisko Freeze, founded by Perry Smith and bequeathed to his daughter Penny Jensen-Gerber, who died in early 2023 and whose estate handled the sale that closed last November.
The father and son have expounded on the retro branding, leaning into the K (believed to be an alternative spelling of a baseball announcer’s call for San Francisco) and double E. Local neon expert Galen Turner is finishing up the restoration of the sign’s letters and the tubes around the awning, under which speakers will emanate Jerry Garcia and the Grateful Dead, “like, literally, all the time,” said the elder Xitco.
They also recently introduced a new mascot, Beefy, who will join a team of like-headed figures designed by Tokyo-based artist Motohiro Hayakawa.
Prices, not yet on display, have increased slightly. So it goes, but the mission never wavers.
Ultimately, said Xitco, the restoration aims to achieve “efficiency and consistency in our product, while making it better for the staff.”
Frisko Freeze, which joined the Tacoma Register of Historic Places in 2008, needed the facelift. Xitco grew up noshing double cheeseburgers there, took his kids there and now looks forward to several more generations of families making memories.
“Technically we’re the owners,” he said on Wednesday, but in practice, he prefers a different moniker. “We’re the stewards.”
FRISKO FREEZE
▪ 1201 Division Ave., Tacoma, friskofreeze.com
▪ Details: iconic Tacoma burger stand targeting May 31 soft-open, check instagram.com/friskofreeze for updates
