All around town, St. Louisans are paying tribute to Ted Drewes Jr., who died Aug. 26 at the age of 96. Ted Drewes Frozen Custard, with its neon lights and long lines of eager customers, has become synonymous with the city itself. It’s a true piece of St. Louis history, a history rich with Jewish and kosher connections.
For the uninitiated
The legend began in 1929 when Ted Drewes Sr., a champion tennis player, opened his first frozen custard stand in Florida. He soon expanded to St. Louis, where his son, Ted Drewes Jr., took the business to new heights. By 1985, the Chippewa location had grown to 12 serving windows to meet soaring demand. The stand became famous not just for its rich, creamy custard, but also for the “Concrete,” a thick shake so dense it could be served upside down without spilling.
The friendship that changed everything
What some St. Louisans may not know is that most Ted Drewes items are certified kosher through the Vaad Hoeir of St. Louis. Taped to one of the windows at Ted Drewes is a letter from the Vaad Hoeir, noting which products are kosher.
The journey to making Ted Drewes custard kosher is as unique as the custard itself. According to a report from the St. Louis Jewish Light on July 6, 2005 (Page 6), and further detailed in a 2016 article from Tablet Magazine, the transformation began with a life-saving friendship.
In the late 1990s, Ted Drewes Jr. faced serious health challenges following prostate surgery.
“I had to get nine units of blood, and there were about eight hours when I was really under the gun, and they didn’t know if I would make it,” Drewes told Tablet Magazine, which noted that the cardiologist had remained by his side throughout the ordeal.
That was Dr. Craig Reiss, an Orthodox Jewish cardiologist, who not only became Ted Jr.’s doctor but also his close friend. As their friendship deepened, Dr. Reiss began to inquire about the possibility of making it kosher. He realized that this small act could allow his family and others in the Jewish community, who had long admired the custard from afar, to finally enjoy it.
Dr. Reiss (who was one of the Jewish Light’s 2022 Unsung Heroes) facilitated the connection between Ted Drewes Jr. and the Vaad Hoeir, leading to the discovery that most of the ingredients in the custard were already kosher. With only a few adjustments, the custard stand received its kosher certification.
The story of how Ted Drewes became kosher, according to the Tablet Magazine report, “emerged as a sort of urban legend — at least around Friday night Shabbat dinner tables.”
Reflecting on his role, Dr. Reiss humorously remarked to Tablet: “When people in the Jewish community see me they say, ‘That’s Dr. Reiss who made Ted Drewes kosher,’ instead of ‘That’s Dr. Reiss the cardiologist.’”
Show us your photos
As a proud Jewish resident of South St. Louis, Ted Drewes has been a huge part of our family life as my kids, Mallory (23) and Max (20) basically spent their summers in the back of the minivan, when they were’nt at Camp Thunderbird. Here are some family pics and I would love see yours. Email to [email protected]
