Why Frozen Custard in Waco Texas, Deserves Your Next Road Trip Stop
Frozen custard in Waco, Texas, is not just a summer treat. It is a genuine local institution that most visitors drive right past. I grew up detouring off I 35 for it, and I still do. Skip this guide and you might waste your visit on a chain that scoops regular soft serve instead of the real, egg rich stuff.
Waco has three dedicated frozen custard shops, and every single one sits inside the city, not somewhere out in a neighboring suburb. Each shop has its own personality, its own hours, and its own signature order. I am breaking down exactly where to go, what to order, and what mistakes to avoid before you make the drive.
This guide only covers places that actually churn frozen custard, the dense, egg based dessert cooked at a low temperature and spun slowly to keep air out. That process is what separates custard from regular ice cream, and it is why the texture holds up so well in Texas heat.
The Best Frozen Custard Shops in Waco, Texas
Waco’s custard scene is small but mighty, and that is actually a good thing. These three shops churn fresh batches daily instead of relying on pre made mix trucked in from somewhere else. Below is my honest roundup of each one, including exact addresses so you know precisely where in Waco to point your car.
1. Katie’s Frozen Custard
Katie’s sits at 602 South Valley Mills Drive in Waco, a straightforward stop just off the main commercial strip near several other restaurants. This shop has been family owned since it opened its doors in June 2002. Locals still treat it as their default answer to the question of where to get dessert on a Friday night.
The Texas Turtle and the Strawbana are the two flavors regulars order most often. Katie’s also runs a Specialty Cyclone menu, so customers can mix candy pieces, cookie chunks, or fruit straight into a base of vanilla or chocolate custard. A detail most first time visitors miss is that Katie’s sells whole custard pies and sundae party packs for events, not just single cups for one person.
Katie’s keeps a gluten free custard option on its regular menu, though anyone with a severe allergy should confirm details with staff before ordering. The shop also serves beef brisket hot dogs alongside its dessert menu, which means you can build a full meal without leaving the parking lot. Portions run generous, and a medium Texas Turtle sundae typically runs close to eight dollars, which is standard for a specialty dessert shop of this kind. Order the Brownie Hot Fudge Sundae if you want something rich enough to split with a friend, since the portion size surprises most first time customers.
2. Andy’s Frozen Custard
Andy’s sits at 900 South 8th Street in Waco, close enough to Baylor’s campus that students walk over between classes without needing a car. The shop runs a drive thru window alongside walk up counter service, which keeps the line moving even during busy stretches on weekend nights.
Concretes are the signature order here, thick custard blended hard with mix ins until the whole cup can hold upside down without spilling. Andy’s rotates seasonal flavors on top of its standard vanilla and chocolate lineup, so the flavor board is worth checking before you default to the same order every visit. Evening hours run later than most other Waco dessert spots, often past 11pm on weekends, which makes Andy’s a reliable stop after a Baylor game lets out and everyone else has already closed.
The outdoor seating area gives Andy’s a casual, walk up feel that fits the college neighborhood around it. Staff turnover the custard machine frequently throughout the day, so flavors made earlier in the afternoon taste noticeably fresher than anything sitting since opening. If you are choosing between the drive thru and the walk up window, the walk up line typically moves faster once the dinner rush hits South 8th Street.
3. Freddy’s Frozen Custard & Steakburgers
Freddy’s runs two separate Waco locations, one at 1515 Hewitt Drive and another at 817 North Jack Kultgen Expressway. Both locations pair cooked to order steakburgers with freshly churned frozen custard, so a stop here works for a full meal, not just dessert on its own.
The custard concretes are the headline item at both Freddy’s locations, and customer reviews consistently point to the custard as the real reason to visit over the burgers alone. Freddy’s also runs limited time custard flavors tied to the season, including a summer latte shake promotion that returns each year around late June. That rotating menu changes more often than either Katie’s or Andy’s, so regulars tend to check the Freddy’s app or in store board before ordering their usual.
Both Waco locations offer drive thru service for a quick stop off the highway, which makes Freddy’s a convenient choice if you are just passing through on I 35 rather than staying in town. The Hewitt Drive location tends to draw a steady after school crowd, while the Jack Kultgen Expressway location sees more highway traffic pulling off for a quick bite. Shoestring fries and cheese curds are popular savory add ons if you want to balance out the sweetness of the custard with something salty.
My Top Personal Recommendation: Katie’s Frozen Custard
Katie’s wins for me, and it comes down to consistency. Every visit over the years has tasted the same: dense, smooth, and clearly made fresh rather than pulled from a pre made mix delivered in bulk.
The moment that sealed it for me was ordering a Specialty Cyclone during a Waco heat wave in the middle of summer. The custard held its shape long after regular ice cream would have already turned to soup in the Texas sun. That density is the entire point of real frozen custard, and Katie’s nails it every single time I have gone back.
Katie’s also wins on variety without overcomplicating the menu the way some larger chains do. The hot dog and burger options mean you can turn a simple custard stop into a full meal, which neither Andy’s nor either Freddy’s location structures in quite the same way. Being a locally owned shop since 2002 also means Katie’s has had decades to refine its recipe specifically for Waco customers, rather than following a corporate formula designed somewhere else.
None of this means Andy’s or Freddy’s fall short. Andy’s wins on late night hours and its walkable location near Baylor. Freddy’s wins if you want a full burger meal alongside your dessert. But for a purely custard focused visit, Katie’s earns my top spot every time.
Local Insider Pitfalls and Pro Tips to Avoid in Waco
A few mistakes trip up first time visitors to Waco’s custard shops every single year. Avoid these and your trip runs a lot smoother.
Do not assume every ice cream shop near you in Waco actually sells frozen custard. Waco has plenty of soft serve stands, frozen yogurt shops, and general ice cream parlors that show up in the same search results. Only Katie’s, Andy’s, and Freddy’s churn true egg based custard using the slow spin method that keeps the texture dense.
Weekend evenings after 6pm bring the longest lines at all three shops, especially near Baylor game days when campus traffic spikes. Arrive earlier in the afternoon, ideally between 3pm and 5pm, if you want to skip a wait at the window entirely.
Parking at the Valley Mills Drive and Hewitt Drive locations gets limited during peak hours, so plan for a short walk from nearby lots rather than circling for a spot directly out front. Andy’s drive thru backs up fastest right after Baylor classes let out in the late afternoon, so the walk up window can actually move quicker at that specific time of day.
Always ask about limited time seasonal flavors before defaulting to your usual order. Freddy’s in particular rotates specials, like its summer latte shake, that do not stay on the menu for long once the season ends.
Watch portion sizes if you are ordering for a group. A medium sundae at any of these three shops is large enough to share, and ordering one per person often leads to more custard than most people can finish in one sitting.
The Final Verdict on Frozen Custard in Waco, Texas
Waco’s frozen custard scene rewards anyone willing to look past the usual national ice cream chains. Katie’s, Andy’s, and Freddy’s each bring something different to the table, and all three sit right inside Waco, easy to reach no matter which part of the city you are visiting from.
If you only have time for one stop, start with Katie’s for the most consistent, classic frozen custard experience in town. Then work your way through Andy’s and Freddy’s on your next trip through Waco, since each one earns its place on this list for a different reason.
Plan your custard run before the summer crowds catch on, grab a friend to split a sundae, and see which one of these three Waco shops earns your own personal top spot.