WAUKESHA — It all started with a scoop of frozen custard. Forty years ago, Susie Taylor started working for Oscar’s Frozen Custard in West Allis on the day it opened. Her future husband Jim owned it along with his uncle Charlie Randa, who owned other restaurants and bars.
“Jim admired Charlie and worked really hard side by side with him. He told Jim, ‘Ok let’s do it together,’ and that is how it started,” Susie said.
Three months later Susie was promoted to manager. Several years later Susie and Jim started dating and eventually were married.
Several years later and a trillion ice cream cones later, things have grown. Today the couple, along with their sons and other family members, own and operate three Oscar’s locations (West Allis, Franklin and Waukesha).
“Without them I don’t think we could do it. It definitely is a family business. It is in our blood,” Susie said.
On Tuesday all three Oscar’s held a birthday celebration with balloons, hats and Oscar’s Delight and Birthday Cake custard. They also had birthday cake to make the sugar overload complete.
The Taylor family also owns People’s Park in downtown Waukesha and Taylors in Milwaukee.
Susie explained how the success of the business is credited to their employees who they treasure.
“We also treasure our customers because without them we would have nothing,” she said.
Jimmy Taylor, their son, is manager of the Waukesha location. He has been working for Oscar’s since he was 14. He enjoys seeing his employees working together as a team and people feeling happy about their work.
“We have a really good team. We make sure we have the right people in the right spots. There is a lot of moving parts to this operation. We have machines, fountain, drive through, grill and people doing dishes, people at the registers and so on,” Jimmy said.
Jim added their sons Jimmy, Zach and nephew Grant work very hard and help keep things moving smoothly.
If you say “ice cream” that makes the Taylor family cringe in disgust. They will quickly correct you that they serve frozen custard. Oscar’s uses the old school custard machines which produce “a really good custard product,” Susie said.
There is less air in the custard and the consistency is firmer.
Oscar’s is known for its different flavors and patrons are not shy about letting the owners know their favorites. Susie has run into customers who asked when a specific flavor is coming back.
Some of the most popular favors include butter pecan, M&M cookie dough, turtle sundae and mint chip.
“I’ve done the flavor list since we opened 40 years ago. I typed it up out on my dad’s typewriter,” she said.
People make their schedules around certain flavors of custard.
“It is so funny. I will get ‘you can’t have a turtle sundae on a Wednesday. You always have a turtle sundae on a Sunday.’ They have their favorites and they want to see those flavors,” Susie said.
It’s not just the custard but the other food items on the menu that people crave, such as the Oscar Burger, sloppy joes, fish sandwiches and more.
The menu hasn’t changed much, which is good for those hankering for something familiar.
“Customers have their favorites,” she said.
The couple finds it rewarding to get compliments from people about their products.
“Seeing the families with the smiles on their faces after they have custard,” Jim said.
Frozen custard brings people together. A customer said his grandson’s baseball team lost a game, and he brought them into Oscar’s for a special treat.
“He said they forgot about the loss once they got a cone of custard,” Susie said.