Tastee-Freez is an American franchised fast-food restaurant specializing in

soft serve Soft serve, also known as soft ice, is a frozen dessert, similar to ice cream but softer and less dense due to air being introduced during freezing. Soft serve has been sold commercially since the late 1930s in the US. In the US, soft serve is ...

ice cream. Its corporate headquarters is in Newport Beach, California, and it has stores in seven states, with two stores located in

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Rockf ...

. The first Tastee-Freez was established in

Keithsburg, Illinois Keithsburg is a city in Mercer County, Illinois, United States on the Mississippi River. The population was 609 at the 2010 census, down from 714 in 2000. It was named for Robert Keith, a pioneer settler. Geography Keithsburg is located at (41.1 ...

History

Tastee-Freez was founded in 1950 in

Joliet, Illinois Joliet ( ) is a city in Will and Kendall counties in the U.S. state of Illinois, southwest of Chicago. It is the county seat of Will County. At the 2020 census, the city was the third-largest in Illinois, with a population of 150,362. Hist ...

, by Leo S. Moranz and Harry Axene (formerly of

Dairy Queen Dairy Queen (DQ) is an American chain of soft serve ice cream and fast food restaurants owned by International Dairy Queen, Inc. (a subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway since 1998) which also owns Orange Julius, and formerly owned Karmelkorn and ...

).About Us
at its official website Moranz invented a

pump and freezer which enabled the product, and their Harlee Manufacturing Company (a

portmanteau A portmanteau word, or portmanteau (, ) is a blend of words. Originally stores focused on

ice milk Ice milk, or iced milk, is a frozen dessert with less than 10 percent milk fat and the same sweetener content as ice cream. Ice milk is sometimes priced lower than ice cream. A 1994 change in United States Food and Drug Administration rules all ...

and other frozen dairy-based desserts. Expansion of the brand was rapid in the 1950s; in 1952, there were 315 locations, and by 1957 there were nearly 1,800 locations. The chain attempted to expand into

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

in the early 1960s where they began selling their products out of

ice cream truck An ice cream van ( British) or ice cream truck (North American) is a commercial vehicle that serves as a mobile retail outlet for ice cream, usually during the spring and summer. Ice cream vans are often seen parked at public events, or ne ...

s. This business model was also attempted in the United States but proved so financially unsuccessful that Tastee-Freez filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy in late 1963. Herbert Molner, then an assistant of Moranz, bought the chain out of bankruptcy a year later. He began a renovation plan that included a withdrawal from England, closure of older stores in smaller towns, and revitalization of the menu to include fast food items such as hot dogs and hamburgers. In 1982, Tastee-Freez was sold to the Denovo Corporation of

Utica, Michigan Utica is a city in Macomb County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 4,757 at the 2010 census. History The city now known as Utica was platted by Joseph Stead in 1817, who preferred to call it "Harlow." Others referred to the cit ...

, which also owned the

Stewart's Restaurants Stewart's Restaurants are classic 1950s style fast-food restaurants located throughout the United States. Restaurants are branded as Stewart's Root Beer or Stewart's Drive-In or similar variations. Started in 1924 in Mansfield, Ohio by Frank Stewa ...

and root beer,

Dog n Suds The dog (''Canis familiaris'' or ''Canis lupus familiaris'') is a domesticated descendant of the wolf. Also called the domestic dog, it is derived from the extinct Pleistocene wolf, and the modern wolf is the dog's nearest living relative. D ...

Root beer and drive-ins and B&K Rootbeer drive ins, and Dairy Isle ice cream shops. In 1992, there were 340 locations. By 2003, the Galardi Group became a franchisee of Tastee-Freez and made Tastee-Freez products available in its restaurants,

Wienerschnitzel Wienerschnitzel is an American fast food chain founded in 1961 (as "Der Wienerschnitzel") that specializes in hot dogs. Despite the name, the company does not sell Wiener schnitzel, only selling it once as a promotional item. Wienerschnitzel l ...

and Original Hamburger Stand. The Galardi Group was so pleased with the increased sales at its restaurant that it bought the Tastee-Freez company that year.

References

External links

Tastee-Freez.com
- Official Website {{Fast-food chains of the United States Fast-food chains of the United States Restaurants established in 1950 Ice cream parlors in the United States Restaurants in Orange County, California Companies based in Newport Beach, California Regional restaurant chains in the United States 1950 establishments in Illinois