Tuesday, May 31, 2011

Randy’s Frozen Custard



Oh-so-conveniently located across from our beloved Happy Fisherman, this Osage Beach favorite has been around for decades. Randy’s Frozen Custard is one of those places that drips with cool, sweet happiness every hot summer evening, as folks line up for frozen treats.




Every vacation area has a place like this. In northern Ohio, for instance, up by Cedar Point amusement park, there’s the Pied Piper—been around since the fifties.

At Missouri’s hot and humid Lake of the Ozarks, by evening, most vacationers have already spent hours in the sunshine, boating, fishing, swimming, golfing, jet-skiing, staggering in and out of shops, and all the rest of that tourist stuff. (Don’t forget the skee-ball, go-karts, and bumper cars!) Naturally, you work up an appetite for frozen custard!

And hey, the locals enjoy Randy’s, too—they’ve spent the day taking care of all those tourists, and they need to replenish the nine billion calories they burned up doing that!




Randy’s specialty is the Ozark Turtle—a sundae made with frozen custard, gooey-sweet, warm caramel sauce, hot fudge, and topped with plenty of incredibly well-toasted pecans, that have a superb crunch and just enough salt to balance the sweetness of the rest. Check out the sizes: the “small” one is what I’d call a “regular” serving!

Yes, there are other places to get frozen dairy treats down at the lake, but you should put Randy’s at the top of your list—just for the nostalgia factor, if not for the value and the sheer deliciousness of the Ozark Turtle.




I recently tried to order a mock turtle sundae at our neighborhood soft-serve place, and there was no comparison. The pecans were listless, bland, and lacked crunch. The caramel was more sticky than flavorful. And it was built of that soft-serve stuff, vacant, not like delicious frozen custard. They meant well; they tried. But you get the picture. There, I think I’ll just stick to blueberry milkshakes and chocolate dip cones.

When at the lake, go to Randy’s. (And don’t confuse it with Andy’s, which seems to be an explosively expanding joint from Springdale or Springfield or somewhere, coming soon with four-billion-watt bright lights to a development near you.) Go to Randy’s.




One more thing: If you need a Randy’s fix and you’re stuck in Columbia for some reason, don’t fret—just head to the Hy-Vee shopping area out on West Broadway: There’s a Randy’s outpost there! A bonus of that location is that it’s close to Shakespeare’s Pizza West! So close, in fact, you can smell the pizza while you wait for your concretes and sundaes. (Heaven must be a lot like this, huh?)

“Kid-friendly” is, of course, a given. —So bring the family! Don’t be put off by a long line during peak hours; that just means it’s totally worth it!





One more thing—true story—one night this past week, it was about eight o’clock, and Sue and I drove all the way to Columbia just to get Ozark Turtles. Yes: it’s that good.

Randy's Frozen Custard on Urbanspoon

Randy's Frozen Custard on Urbanspoon


6 comments:

Osage Bluff Quilter said...

For years I have gone past that place without stopping. you can bet your bottom dollar next time I won't!
Thanks for the tip.
Patti

Shelda said...

Randy's is the best! Back when I still ate ice cream, I was addicted to their chocolate malts. They're as close to my grandfather's malts as I ever found. MmmmM!

Julianna Schroeder said...

Notice: I accidentally deleted a bunch of comments from my posts. Here, I try to reconstruct what I can of the ones I stupidly deleted.

Unfortunately, I can’t reconstruct anything but the following, final post of a very pleasant exchange with a nice woman asking advice for dining in the area of Bridal Cave, where she was planning a family reunion including various out-of-state folks.

I suggested the Essen Platz as the nearest, but also suggested she ask the folks at Bridal Cave and also that she check Camdenton and Osage Beach on Urbanspoon.

Sorry to have deleted the comments, and my apologies to Moxie/Theresa. The deletions were completely unintentional.

--Julie (6-27-11)


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On 5-31-11, Moxie Rawlings commented:

Julie!!

Thanks so much! This is all very helpful. I have "liked" your page on Facebook!

You really are a great resource!

Thanks again,
Teresa

Julianna Schroeder said...

Shelda, I guess we'll have to try their chocolate malts now--but I'll bet it'll be one more thing to pine over, won't it!

How are you doing? We need to have lunch or something and get all caught up.

Julie

Stanford said...

Sadly, the Columbia location isn't the same. My concrete was a melted mess, and the "fresh apples" were clearly from a can of apple pie filling. Total miss.

Julianna Schroeder said...

Stanford, I'm sorry to hear you had a bad experience. I haven't tried their apple concrete, or whatever you had, and I have no idea if your experience represents a trend, or a fluke. I do know, however, that most restaurateurs will try to make it right when a customer is dissatisfied. Did you talk to anyone at Randy's about it?

Julie