Kopp's Frozen Custard is a

restaurant chain A chain store or retail chain is a retail outlet in which several locations share a brand, central management and standardized business practices. They have come to dominate the retail and dining markets and many service categories, in many pa ...

located in the

Milwaukee Milwaukee ( ), officially the City of Milwaukee, is both the most populous and most densely populated city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at the 2020 census, Milwaukee is ...

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

area. It specializes in

frozen custard Frozen custard is a cold dessert similar to ice cream, but made with eggs in addition to cream and sugar. It is usually kept at a warmer temperature compared to ice cream, and typically has a denser consistency. History Egg yolks have been integ ...

and large "jumbo"

hamburger A hamburger, or simply burger, is a food consisting of fillings—usually a patty of ground meat, typically Ground beef, beef—placed inside a sliced bun or bread roll. Hamburgers are often served with cheese, lettuce, tomato, onion, pickles ...

s. Founded by Elsa Kopp in 1950, the restaurants continue to be heralded by local publications for their quality food. They have locations in three Milwaukee suburbs— Greenfield, Brookfield, and

Glendale Glendale is the anglicised version of the Gaelic Gleann Dail, which means ''valley of fertile, low-lying arable land''. It may refer to: Places Australia * Glendale, New South Wales ** Stockland Glendale, a shopping centre *Glendale, Queensland, ...

. Kopp's was the first custard stand to offer a special "flavor of the day" in addition to the more traditional

chocolate Chocolate is a food made from roasted and ground cacao seed kernels that is available as a liquid, solid, or paste, either on its own or as a flavoring agent in other foods. Cacao has been consumed in some form since at least the Olmec civ ...

and

vanilla Vanilla is a spice derived from orchids of the genus ''Vanilla (genus), Vanilla'', primarily obtained from pods of the Mexican species, flat-leaved vanilla (''Vanilla planifolia, V. planifolia''). Pollination is required to make the p ...

flavors.

History

Founding

Elsa Kopp opened the first Kopp's stand at 6005 W. Appleton Ave., Milwaukee, Wisconsin (now the site of JJ Fish & Chicken) in 1950. A

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

immigrant Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not natives or where they do not possess citizenship in order to settle as permanent residents or naturalized citizens. Commuters, tourists, and ...

with no prior business experience, Kopp started the stand after her husband, Karl Kopp, developed

Parkinson's disease Parkinson's disease (PD), or simply Parkinson's, is a long-term degenerative disorder of the central nervous system that mainly affects the motor system. The symptoms usually emerge slowly, and as the disease worsens, non-motor symptoms becom ...

. Some support in starting the business came from Leon Schneider, a custard machine repairman (the founder of Leon's Frozen Custard in 1942), whom Elsa Kopp had met while working at a bakery. The Kopp's frozen custard stand rose in popularity quickly during the 1950s and was soon seen as a Milwaukee staple. By 1960 the Kopp's stand was successful enough that Elsa felt comfortable experimenting with more exotic frozen custard recipes. Initially she mixed chocolate and vanilla, a controversial act in the early frozen custard community. After this, Kopp's began offering increasingly diverse concoctions which became their well known "flavor of the day" menu option. Kopp's offers two unique flavors every day and a featured shake and sundae of the month. The featured flavors are often related to events for that day or month. The Glendale location (5373 N. Port Washington Ave.) is on the site of the former Milky Way drive-in restaurant, the inspiration for the external look of the ''

Happy Days ''Happy Days'' is an American television sitcom that aired first-run on the ABC network from January 15, 1974, to July 19, 1984, with a total of 255 half-hour episodes spanning 11 seasons. Created by Garry Marshall, it was one of the most succ ...

'' diner, Arnold's Drive-In. Kopp's is now owned by Elsa's son, Karl Kopp, who also owns Elsa's on the Park on Jefferson Street in downtown Milwaukee, which opened New Year's Eve of 1980. He has also opened restaurants in Arizona and New York. Each location prominently displays a portrait of Elsa Kopp. In September 2004,

Vice President A vice president, also director in British English, is an officer in government or business who is below the president (chief executive officer) in rank. It can also refer to executive vice presidents, signifying that the vice president is on t ...

Dick Cheney Richard Bruce Cheney ( ; born January 30, 1941) is an American politician and businessman who served as the 46th vice president of the United States from 2001 to 2009 under President George W. Bush. He is currently the oldest living former U ...

made an unannounced visit to a Kopp's Frozen Custard location while campaigning for his and

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, Bush family, and son of the 41st president George H. W. Bush, he ...

's reelection.

Joe Biden visit

In June 2010,

Joe Biden visited a Kopp's Frozen Custard location while campaigning for Democratic senator

Russ Feingold Russell Dana Feingold ( ; born March 2, 1953) is an American lawyer and politician who served as a United States Senator from Wisconsin from 1993 to 2011. A member of the Democratic Party, he was its nominee in the 2016 election for the same U.S ...

. Biden asked Scott Borkin, the manager of Kopp's, what he owed for his custard. In response, Borkin joked, "Don’t worry; it’s on the house. Lower our taxes and we’ll call it even." In response, Biden came back later to the manager and said, "Why don’t you say something nice instead of being a smartass all the time?" Just a couple minutes after that interaction, Biden approached the manager again and apologized, saying that he was just kidding. Borkin appeared on ''Fox & Friends'' to discuss the incident, which was covered by local and other national news agencies.

References

External links

* {{Official website, http://www.kopps.com Companies based in Milwaukee Restaurants in Wisconsin Privately held companies based in Wisconsin Restaurants established in 1950 Frozen custard Ice cream parlors in the United States 1950 establishments in Wisconsin Family-owned companies of the United States

History

Founding

Joe Biden visit

See also

References

Further reading

External links