Dickey’s Frozen Custard

A limited menu, and rude service makes this a place to avoid. There’s plenty of better places nearby for food or ice cream, so don’t settle for here.

I received a $ 10 gift certificate for Dickey’s from work and decided to try it out for lunch. I ordered a small broccoli soup and my boyfriend ordered a sandwich: the total came out to be around $ 14. I handed the man at the register my gift certificate and my boyfriend handed him his credit card for the difference. The man, very rudely, said he couldn’t process the transaction. The sign for minimum credit card purchases was $ 3, so we were a bit confused. He, again, very rudely said the system didn’t let him use both certificates and credit cards. He offered no solution and even had the nerve to tell my boyfriend «maybe you should get me a new system.»
Will never go here again. There’s no excuse for that type of poor customer service. Not to mention the food is mediocre at best– not sure what all the fuss is about.

I’m shocked to see all these photos of lines out the door and around the corner for Dickey’s. I got the vanilla/​chocolate twist custard in a cone and it honestly just tasted like obesity. Perhaps I would have been better off with the ice cream over the custard. The custard, especially the chocolate, had absolutely 0 flavor and just tasted like sugar. It was a super disappointing experience. (But the people behind the counter were very nice!)

Wasn’t particularly impressed by the service or the flavor. Had kind of a chemical after taste to it, like there were a lot of artificial ingredients.

I had the most amazing Thai tea bubble tea here. Just enough sweetness from Thai tea and the semi frozen bubbles add texture. The lady employees are more friendly than men, and they make better versions of the tea (personal opinion).

Dickey’s Frozen Custard —
The absolute best soft serve ice cream, general ice cream and/​or frozen custard that I have consumed in quite some time, let alone in DC.
«Wait! Isn’t that a sandwich place,» you ask. Ignore that. This cat is all tail. Maybe the soft serve machine is small, has only two flavors and is in the corner, but don’t be fooled. This is the main attraction. Don’t believe me? Stand here with me on the street outside in the middle of the business day and watch the people in their suits patronizing this place. Men, women, friends, groups swarm to this place (there’s usually a line at lunch, and its unbelievably not even open past 5PM or at all on the weekends). And watch them. For every 10 that walk in, 10 walk out with a cone or a cup of soft serve custard — and 1 walks out with a sandwich too. Yah, he was the hungry one. So walk in and order a small chocolate-​vanilla swirl. No dip, toppings or whipped cream necessary in my opinion, but go to town if you must. The treasure will remain in the base.
«So what makes this stuff so great, anyway,» you ask. Grab it, hold a 6-​ounce cup of it. It just feels heavy. Like the density of a solid metal bar verses any other metal bar — hollow. It pulls you down more than it appears it could. Look at it. It has a great looking texture and thick body. It appears like a fluffy little mound, is heavy to the hand but goes down ever so smoothly. And dip your spoon in and pull it out, hold it upside down — the entire spoonful is motionless. The taste is just the epitome of flavor and creaminess, thickness and richness. You only really need a couple bites to feel the magic, but there’s no real cap on how many bites of this your brain and stomach will let you enjoy. The two don’t really know how to react.

PRAISE THE LORD BABY JESUS a fairly decent boba joint. While absence of an ice cream counter dashed my hopes for a rocky-​road cone, I saw that they had boba and decided to give it a shot. Because every other boba I’ve had in this city has been terrible and why not?
I braced myself for another saccharine, unnaturally orange-​colored drink, but imagine my surprise when I was handed a boba slushy! The slushified tea was tasty and refreshing and kept me cool for the rest of my walk home. The boba wasn’t sweetened, which for me is also a plus. The only con I can think of is that they freeze their boba, so there were some stragglers at the bottom of my cup that weren’t quite pliant enough to come through the straw. But if I ever need boba again and can’t wait to get to NYC, I know where to go!

This review is for the Bubble Milk Tea smoothie! A little pricey (almost $ 6) and the smoothie was WAY too sweet for me. Now, I love my share of sweet bubble teas, but I could not even finish half of it. If there is a next time, I will ask if they can make the drink less sweet. Overall, the service was great and I liked the variety of menu options and soups.

I have walked by this place many times and they always seemed to be closed… until this afternoon! I got a vanilla frozen custard in a waffle cone and it was amazing! It was a tad pricey at $ 5.35 but maybe not that unusual for DC. The person who took my order was very nice. Another plus is that they have bubble tea. :) I wish Dickey’s was open more.

I stopped in here with a friend after lunch at nearby GCDC. We originally set out to get custard, but when I arrived and saw bubble tea on the menu I knew I was going to order a boba drink as a post-​lunch treat instead.
I ordered my go-​to flavor when trying out a new bubble tea place: honeydew. They offered me the choice between skim and whole milk and I chose skim. I’m not sure I would have known the difference anyway because my drink turned out delightfully frothy. The boba were a little on the chewy/​gooey side for my liking (as if they had sat around for awhile and developed a thicker «skin» on them). They honeydew flavor was nice — just sweet enough.
My only complaint is that the drinks only come in one size and cost $ 5.98 — that’s pretty steep for bubble tea.

Great frozen custard and sandwiches. I recommend the vanilla frozen custard with hard chocolate shell. The people who work here are also very nice. Plus you can sit outside to eat and enjoy the day.

Before I discovered Loeb’s I went here for breakfast… worse way to spend money in LIFE! I can not believe they charged my over 5.00 for a sandwich they created in a microwave! Save you money on breakfast here and head to Loebs where you can see them crack eggs, fry bacon and cheaper!

Very Full-​filling. It’s very hearty with strong old-​fashioned comfort flavors. This place gets packed but is pretty quick.

We made our way down to Dickey’s after doing some meetings in DC. My boss makes it a point to walk to Dickey’s every time we are in Washington. This apparently is THE PLACE to get Frozen Custard. So we made the trek from the Capital to Dickey’s for custard.
Full Disclosure: I have never had frozen custard.
Though, after having it: WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN ALL MY LIFE?! Basically, higher fat content ice cream? OMG YES.
I got Chocolate/​Vanilla Swirl on a cone with chocolate jimmies. We sat down at one of the several tables outside, chatted, and enjoyed this ridiculously good and tasty treat. A colleague got a turkey panini and devoured it! Hot sandwiches on the go are always A+.
But you go here for the bloody Custard. They do have Low Fat Soft Serve too… but do yourself a favor get the Custard. I won’t say anything but do it, and you wont be dissapointed. Full stop.

Can’t speak for the custard. However, I submit my RAVE review for the sandwiches, made right in front of you with fresh carved meat and all. Makes a trip to physical therapy worth it.
They could use better signage though — have the kind of storefront you can walk by every day without ever noticing it’s there.

I’ve probably passed this place a hundred times, and it wasn’t until I received word that this is the best place to get frozen custard in DC that I actually went inside. My expectations weren’t very high. I’m a cupcake fiend by nature, but ice cream gets me going as well. I opted for a frozen custard sundae with hot fudge, Oreos, and peanuts. Totally saw that’s what my colleague ordered, so I had to have the exact same thing. I displayed zero creativity in this instance, and man did it pay off.
The custard looks like the consistency of butter. And the texture is smooth and creamy. But, don’t be fooled. This stuff is thick! The group I was with were all surprised just how thick it was. I had vanilla, and it was bursting with flavor. There’s nothing I hate more than bland ice cream. Wait, there is– a nasty cupcake. Dickey’s hit the spot. There are just the right amount of toppings to choose from, including fresh fruit. They aren’t stingy with the amount of custard or toppings they pile on either. A small sundae definitely filled me up, so I think the price point is good at less than $ 5 bucks. I had this on a Friday, and then like a fat kid needing their fix, sadly planned my upcoming Monday so that I could fit in another Dickey’s outing! It was totally worth it! I’m a fan!

A simple, delicious, throwback. Dickey’s serves frozen custard in two sizes (small and large) and two flavors (vanilla and chocolate). Yes, there are other things on the menu, (including soft serve ice cream in the same two flavors, and sandwiches) but Dickey’s has earned its fame as a frozen custard shop and you should stick to its wheelhouse.
The flavors aren’t sophisticated. But the thick, creamy, texture and cold temperature are perfect on an extremely hot day. Make it part of your summer work routine.

When I worked in Farragut Square I would go to Dickey’s at least once a week. They have really great sandwiches but more than that… they have fantastic frozen custard. Didn’t matter if it was cold or hot, a stressful afternoon at work always called for Dickey’s.
Tip — you can ask for your custard in a to-​go cup so you don’t have to worry about it dripping or you can bring some back for your boss (ultimate kiss ass gesture).

The frozen custard is smooooooth and creeeeeeamy!
I got choconilla and it was very nice. It’s also very slow to melt on a super hot summer day.
$ 3.60 for a small!

After Googling «frozen custard» in the Washington DC area, only Dickey’s popped up. The rest were basically Pinkberry wannabes, so I can get that on the left side.
Anyway, Dickey’s was on the way back to the hotel, so after forgetting about it, then remembering, then backtracking a block, we stopped by I think right before they closed and got a small to share. We walked in and it was Korean-​owned. They seriously own everything, everywhere! These people get around and certainly know how to penetrate the small business market.
We got half/​half chocolate vanilla, and it was super creamy, but kind of disappointing in the sense that I remember it being so awesome from my first frozen custard experience back in 2004 in Virginia. I don’t think it was a Dickey’s and I think they had different flavors. I think it was off some road on the way to Mt. Vernon, but Dickey’s definitely was a dream-​crusher. It was like soft serve, but creamier. If you haven’t had frozen custard, you should at least try it once to say that you have, because I’ve never seen it on the west coast.
Glad we didn’t go too far out of the way to have it, and at least my brother got to experience it for the first time. And probably the last.