Hank’s Frozen Custard – Pretty Important Thing

Saving room for dessert

Sorry this week’s episode of Pretty Important Thing of the Week is a tad late – my internet went down yesterday for no good reason (thanks for nothing, Verizon). This week we’re looking at the importance of the most famous dessert spot in the Meadville/Conneaut Lake area for more than 60 years – Hank’s Frozen Custard.

Anybody can mix some salt with some milk and make ice cream (at least I thought that’s how you make ice cream, or something like that) but it takes skilled hands, determination and patience to wait around for custard to be made. But boy, is the payoff delicious. Hank’s opened in 1952 by Marg and Ernie Hild. Marg’s father Henry (a.k.a. Hank) opened a “Hank’s Frozen Custard” in New Brighton, PA in 1942, and he let his daughter use his name. The Hank’s in Conneaut Lake has never had a single employee named “Hank”. Business boomed thanks to lake vacationers. Ernie has passed, but Marg is still around to see her children who still own and operate the custard stand.

One “pretty important thing” about Hank’s is the machines they use – they’re the same machines they’ve always used, manufactured between 1947 and 1950. The shop says this is unique because most custard places have replaced their machines because the old ones are far too difficult to operate.

Hank's Frozen Custard. They still operate out of the same produce stand they purcahsed in 1952. Wow. (Image courtesy of Hank's Web Site)

“They cannot be started and left alone, or they can literally self-destruct. An operator must be within earshot of them whenever they are running, and that is why the person behind the machines does not serve customers. When a machine starts making noise, it must be attended to immediately.” – Hank’s Web site

But my favorite part of Hank’s is the menu – chocolate, vanilla and light vanilla custard is served everyday while other flavors like black raspberry and peanut butter are offered on certain days of the week. Then there’s Hank’s unique menu items you can hardly find anywhere else, like the Dusty Road: vanilla custard topped with hot or cold fudge and a generous dousing of malt powder (y’know, the stuff inside Whoppers). I promise it’s the most delicious thing you will ever eat.

But you might say “Hey, YourBoro, these times…they’re economic…they’re tough…tough economic times. How am I supposed to support a family when I’m out buying all this stupid ice cream?”

Well, first I would say this: Hank’s prices are extremely reasonable – I believe a regular-sized Dusty Road is like $3.25, maybe less. You don’t have to go their everyday. In fact, if you want to maintain a healthy BMI you probably shouldn’t go there everyday. But say your nephew’s T-ball team won their first game, or your girlfriend finally told her boss what she really thinks of him. Little special occasions, I find, are made all the more special when you celebrate them with a special little sweet sumpthin-sumpthin, and Hank’s is perfect for that.

Secondly, I would say this: It’s not ice cream, doofus; IT’S CUSTARD.