It’s a big change for an iconic Tacoma burger joint. People are holding their breath
It was a solid laugh line, according to The News Tribune archives. The timing was great. The truth it revealed was better.
It was early 2013. Nearly 1000 people gathered at the University of Puget Sound fieldhouse in Tacoma to pay tribute to one of the city’s political icons, Booth Gardner, Washington’s 19th governor, who had died two weeks prior at the age of 76.
Gardner, whose affinity for junk food was legendary, couldn’t remember the home telephone number of his own daughter, his grandson Jack recalled during the public memorial service.
But there were seven digits the proud Tacoma resident could rattle off without fail, Jack noted:
The number to Frisko Freeze.
It’s one of many anecdotes and stories that help to illuminate Tacoma’s lasting adoration for a transcendent burger and shake shack that transformed Division Avenue at the onset of the “baby boom.”
As my colleague Kristine Sherred reported, Frisko Freeze has new ownership; it’s now under the direction of someone outside the founder’s family — for the first time ever.
That constitutes huge news around these parts, and word of the transaction traveled fast Friday.
Among passionate locals and long-time Frisko Freeze diehards — of which there are many — it doesn’t get much bigger.
Iconic piece of T-Town
Opened in 1950 by Perry Smith, an entrepreneurial gas company driver, there are many reasons Frisko Freeze has stood the test of time in Tacoma.
For starters, Smith had a hunch that ice cream and burgers might just be his ticket, particularly if he designed a fast food destination capable of stopping Chevy Bel Airs, Ford Thunderbirds and Buick Skylarks in their tracks.
Smith was right. The soon-to-be iconic neon sign he erected didn’t hurt, either.
Today, the mere mention of Frisko Freeze in Tacoma elicits plenty of fond memories. As much as the burgers and fries, nostalgia is the appeal.
“That’s one thing Frisko Freeze has, the warm and fuzzies,” said local historic preservationist Michael Sullivan, some 15 years ago, when Tacoma’s quintessential relic of 1950s Americana was awarded landmark status.
Tom Llewellyn, one-half of the creative force behind the long-running Beautiful Angle pop-up poster project, put it another way shortly after news of Frisko Freeze’s sale broke:
“It tastes like Tacoma,” the artist, ad copywriter and proud Tacoman offered.
“I feel like the Frisko Freeze grease kind of holds your body and soul together,” he added.
Familiar new owners
Change is hard, without fail.
It also breeds uncertainty, particularly when it involves a local institution people consider one of their own — which helps to explain why news of Frisko Freeze’s sale inspired mixed reactions in the City of Destiny.
Thankfully, as Sherred reported, there are reasons to be optimistic about the future, even for old-school traditionalists.
The beloved, no-frills burger destination had been in the Smith family since the beginning, most recently under the stewardship of his daughter, Penny Jensen-Gerber, who took over with her late husband Mark three decades ago when her father died.
Jensen-Gerber passed away earlier this year. An executor of her estate shepherded through the sale of the family business.
The transaction became official on Nov. 1, when John Xitco, who has a long history in the Tacoma restaurant business, took control with his son Nico.
The homegrown fast-food shack won’t operate under the X Group Restaurants banner — which Xitco runs with his brother Luke and includes E9 Brewing Co., E9 Firehouse, Asado and The Valley. Nevertheless, locals can take comfort in knowing the new guy gets it.
Xitco described owning Frisko Freeze as a dream come true during an exclusive interview with The News Tribune., which was likely music to people’s ears.
“It’s been a lifelong goal,” Xitco said, indicating he has few changes planned, outside of upgrades to the out-of-date kitchen, which should speed up orders on busy Saturday nights.
“I grew up going here — my order was three double cheeseburgers and a shake,” Xitco added.
He sounds like the perfect restaurateur for the job.
‘Nothing like it’
Even with public assurances from the new owner in tow, people who grew up with Frisko Freeze as an iconic presence in the city, like Girl Trouble drummer Bon Von Wheelie, couldn’t help but have mixed feelings about the restaurant’s sale.
Across Tacoma, one thing quickly became clear: Plenty of people are holding their breath, at least a little, waiting to see what happens next.
“We’ve gone there for a long time,” Von Wheelie said, staying in character as a strident champion of Old Tacoma and the way things were. “Those burgers — and especially those fries in the greasy bags — couldn’t be beat.”
Llewellyn agreed on Friday. He’s now called T-Town home for three decades, and admitted consuming more than his fair share of fishwiches, onion rings and root beer shakes over that span. Like many, the place is special to him.
Llewellyn has one simple wish: that nothing much changes.
Rest assured, he’s far from alone.
“On a summer night, there’s nothing like it,” Llewellyn said, describing the familiar Tacoma ritual of waiting for your order to be called in the Frisko Freeze parking lot.
“This isn’t one of these places where you want it to move into the future,” Llewellyn added.
“You want it to stay firmly embedded in the past.”
This story was originally published November 4, 2023 at 7:30 AM.
