Fosters Freeze facts for kids
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| Industry | Fast food |
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| Founded | Inglewood, California, United States (1946) |
| Founder | George Foster |
| Headquarters | , |
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Number of locations
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62 (2024) |
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Area served
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California |
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Key people
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Neal Dahya (President), Nimesh Dahya (Head of global business development), Sanjay Patel (Chief marketing officer) |
| Products | Soft serve, hamburgers, chicken |
Fosters Freeze is a popular chain of fast-food restaurants found all over California. It's famous for its yummy soft-serve ice cream and thick milkshakes.
The very first Fosters Freeze opened way back in 1946. It was started by a man named George Foster in Inglewood, California. That first store is still open today! Fosters Freeze uses the slogan "California's Original Soft Serve" because it's been around for so long. Their friendly mascot is Little Foster, a smiling ice cream cone.
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How Fosters Freeze Started
After World War II, George Foster moved to California. He wanted to open restaurants like Dairy Queen there. But California had rules about using the word "dairy" in restaurant names.
So, in 1946, George Foster decided to open his own restaurant. He named it Foster’s Old Fashion Freeze after himself. Later, the apostrophe was removed, and it became "Fosters Freeze."
By 1951, Fosters Freeze had grown a lot! George Foster sold the chain, which had 360 locations at that time. However, over the years, the number of stores went down. By 1987, there were 189 locations.
Working with Other Restaurants
In 1994, another restaurant chain called El Pollo Loco teamed up with Fosters Freeze. This allowed El Pollo Loco restaurants to sell Fosters Freeze soft-serve ice cream.
This partnership was a good idea! By 2002, many El Pollo Loco stores were selling Fosters Freeze products. This helped both companies. The agreement between them ended in 2014.
Saving Old Fosters Freeze Stores
Many people in California love Fosters Freeze. The old restaurants are important to their communities. Sometimes, people work together to save them.
For example, in 2006, people in Menlo Park, California tried to stop their local Fosters Freeze from being torn down. They gathered about 400 signatures on a petition. Even though it closed in 2015, their effort showed how much people cared.
The Fosters Freeze location in Santa Cruz is even listed as a historic building in that city. This shows how special these places are to many Californians.
Fosters Freeze Today
In 2015, a new group bought Fosters Freeze. They worked to make the brand more modern. Since then, the company's sales have been growing every year.
As of 2021, Fosters Freeze planned to open new locations. This was the first time they had planned to expand since 2006. As of January 2024, there are 62 Fosters Freeze restaurants. All of them are located in California.
