RESTAURANT REVIEW - Ok, this is getting a little ridicules now. First there was Super King Burger, then the Red Onion opened. Now Frosty Queen has jumped onto the bandwagon. All three of these restaurants basically offer the same menu and same quality of food. I challenge anyone to tell the difference in the food at any of these three places. This isn't a bad thing. The quality is exceptional at each place. The bread is fresh as are the ingredients are, but the taste is the same.Like the Red Onion, there are inconsistencies in the combo prices. There are several burgers priced at $3.49 that when you order them in a combo, the prices are different. Yet the combo is the same medium Pepsi and large fries. The same goes for the numerous $3.99 burgers. Even with all that, the prices at each of these places is much better than McDonald's, Burger King or Carl's Jr.
The best thing Frosty Queen has going for it is that it is next to the Movies Madera on North Gateway Drive. This building has housed failure after failure as far as restaurants are concerned and in the 30 or so years since it was constructed, it has been empty and unoccupied more than it's been open.
It started as Naugals, a burger/taco joint in 1983 and has since hosted several different Mexican restaurants including Bobby Salazar's. Either the rent has been way too high for even a successful restaurant to afford or movie-goers just aven't wanted Mexican food before they sit for a couple hours in the theater.
Fortunately, Frosty Queen is different from anything else that has based out of this building. Hopefully, they will be able to stick around, especially in this location. It would be nice to be able to grab a good burger quickly before or an ice cream treat after seeing a movie.
But it's not very different from the other two restaurants I have reviewed in the last few weeks. In fact many of the names of the burgers at Super King Burger are identical at Frosty Queen. Both places call the pastrami burger the 'San Joaquin' Burger and at Frosty Queen their largest burger is called the 'King' Burger.
I don't know why the legal departments at Burger King or Dairy Queen haven't called the owners of both restaurants about the names they are using. Both of these restaurants would have probably received five stars in my reviews had they had a little more originality in their names. I just hope when that time comes that it doesn't cost these two so much in legal fees that they have to close. Because I very much like and would really miss the food.
Now there is one slightly negative point at Frosty Queen that really stands out. They didn't put much time into proof-reading their menus or signage around the restaurant. I counted at least twenty-five typos just around the restaurant interior. There is a sign on the door that reminding me of an email I once received from a prince in Liberia that needed help moving money out of his country.
But even the typos can't take away from the fact that the food and service is great. If you are there with a group, take the typos and turn it into a game. Who can find the most? Use it to show your kids the proper spellings or usage. It's not a bad thing having typos, I've had several on Big Valley News and Madera Online over the last 16 years.
Frosty Queen has a large indoor seating area and an outdoor seating area. It will soon have a drive-thru and has operational hours that complement the next door theater. They are open until 11pm on Friday and Saturday night. Their parking lot is well lit and best of all there are free refills on sodas.
The owner told us that this is not the only Frosty Queen. They also operate restaurants in Bakersfield and Dinuba. This another item all the new businesses have in common. Super King Burger has another location in Delano, and The Red Onion has two Porterville locations. All I can say is "Welcome to Madera! We hope you will stay."
