‘Like no other place.’ Morro Bay restaurant has been serving burgers, ice cream for 70 years

Growing up in Morro Bay, Eric Meyer and his mom would hop in her 1962 Volkswagen Beetle and go to Fosters Freeze for corndogs and chocolate milkshakes.

“I remember being fascinated, watching the server make the milkshakes behind the glass ... or dip the soft-serve cone into the chocolate ‘dip,’ ” Meyer, who’s now a Morro Bay planning commissioner, wrote in an email.

Meyer remembers getting fries and a cola at “Fosters” — as it’s still known to locals — after playing basketball in a nearby park or skateboarding around town.

In the 1970s, as a teenager with a car of his own, “I would meet friends there after surfing, getting the biggest burger they had,” Meyer said.

Today, the Morro Bay fast food joint is the only Fosters Freeze location in San Luis Obispo County, and one of the few remaining local restaurants with a focus on soft-ice cream.

“This is like no other place now, with the old-fashioned burgers, the fried burritos and real ice cream that isn’t icy like other soft ice creams,” said Paso Robles resident Mona Becerra, whose family visited Fosters Freeze in early August. “We’ve loved coming here for years.”

What was SLO County fast food restaurant like in 1960s?

Although it’s not clear who built the first Morro Bay Fosters Freeze or when it opened on the corner lot at Piney Way and Morro Bay Boulevard, a 1957 ad in The Tribune mentions the fast food restaurant, according to Brittany Webb, collections manager and archivist for the History Center of San Luis Obispo County.

The Shell Shop owner David Thomas, whose family has operated a shell store on Morro Bay’s Embarcadero since 1955, remembers when “my dad took me there in the late 1950s or early 1960s..”

At the time, Fosters Freeze and A&W, then located on Main Street, “were the fast food options in town where teens hung out,” Meyer said.

“You would usually run into locals there,” he added. “It didn’t feel corporate in the way fast food places feel now. Even though it was a large chain, it never felt that way. It felt local. It still does today.”

In the 1960s, Meyer said, Fosters Freeze was located in a smaller building “more towards the corner than the mansard-roofed building there now.”

“It didn’t have any indoor seating,” he recalled. “It was just a little sliding window you walked up to …”

Later, the Morro Bay Fosters Freeze expanded further back on the lot into the blue-and-white building that’s familiar to customers today, complete with a trademark sign, outdoor walk-up order window and architecture hearkening back 1950s burger joints.

The eatery has indoor booth seating as well as big, round concrete table-and-bench combos between the building and Piney Way that are easy to clean if dipped cones drip.

Who owns Morro Bay Fosters Freeze?

Soula and Constantine “Gus” Rangousses have owned the Morro Bay Fosters Freeze for 36 years.

Born and raised in central Greece, the couple moved to the area from Long Beach, when Soula Rangousses was 30.

Now, three generations of the family work together at Fosters Freeze, which is open six days a week, she said.

Daughter Angeliek “Angie” Rangousses works there between her shifts at Tan de Soleil salon, which she’s owned and operated in Morro Bay for about 20 years, her mother said.

Angie Rangousses’ daughter, 17-year-old Alexi Shepherd, works at Fosters Freeze at nights.

Soula and Constantine “Gus” Rangousses also have a son, Steven Rangousses, who lives in Arizona with his son Niko.

What’s on the menu?

Popular menu items at Fosters Freeze include hamburgers, hot dogs, deep-fried burritos and grilled or crispy chicken sandwiches. The restaurant also offers special or seasonal items such as bacon-jam cheeseburgers and sriracha chicken strips.

Rangousses can provide lettuce wraps instead of buns for customers trying to limit their intake of carbohydrates or gluten.

But the classic draws are the desserts that feature the fast food chain’s signature soft-serve ice cream, made with 100% dairy — from chocolate-dipped cones, sundae cups and shakes to malts, freezes, floats, parfaits, Twisters and banana splits.

Soula Rangousses’ favorites include Twisters featuring Reese’s Pieces candies and Oreo cookies.

Entree prices range from $3.24 for a chili cheese cup to $12.74 for a double-decker burger combo with small fries and a medium drink. Dessert costs range from $2.75 for a small soft-serve cone to $11.14 for a large Twister.

“Our customers today are from 6 to 96 years old,” Rangousses said with a smile.

Many patrons who started enjoying Fosters Freeze goodies as kids now bring in their children and grandchildren, Rangousses said.

Those longtime customers can get a bit prickly if their favorite treats aren’t available.

“I understand,” she said, nodding, “but when the company has a shortage of the chocolate dip for a month and a half, it’s not something we can buy at Smart and Final.”

Who works at Piney Way eatery?

Rangousses has 14 employees helping her turn out the Fosters Freeze specialties. Most of her workers are students, ages 16 to 22.

The hardest things to train new staffers to do properly, she said, are to “be on time, follow the rules and be consistent.”

One of the trickiest menu items to perfect is the soft-serve ice cream cone, Rangousses said. “They struggle with it.”

She’s so fussy about the ice cream’s perfect swirl and curl on top that she’s posted a large photo chart by the dispensers, showing the ideal looks for the junior, small and large cones and banana split.

Fosters Freeze locations close in SLO County

SLO County once was home to Fosters Freeze locations in Arroyo Grande, Morro Bay, Paso Robles and San Luis Obispo.

With the exception of the Morro Bay Fosters Freeze, all of those have now closed, with the SLO location shuttering in 2014 after six decades at the corner of Marsh and Nipomo streets.

While the Fosters Freeze corporation, which is headquartered in Pomona, has some new, redesigned franchises — including one in north Salinas that opened in December — others are closing.

A Fosters Freeze in Fresno is being replaced by a new Starbucks coffee shop, according to the Fresno Bee.

That’s a shame, according to local Fosters Freeze fans.

Back in the day, “You would usually run into locals” at the Morro Bay Fosters Freeze, Meyer said. “It didn’t feel corporate in the way fast food places feel now. Even though it was a large chain, it never felt that way. It felt local. It still does today.”

More about Fosters Freeze

Fosters Freeze is open from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Thursday through Tuesday at 801 Piney Way in Morro Bay.

For details, call 805- 805-772-8373 or follow the restaurant on Instagram or Facebook.