Best Frozen Custard in the Milwaukee Area, Ranked
Milwaukee calls itself the frozen custard capital of the world, and the title is earned. The metro is stitched together by neon-lit drive-ins, family stands going back four generations, and a handful of newer upstarts that have quietly entered the conversation. Ranking them is a dangerous business. Everyone has a hometown favorite and a strong opinion about butter pecan. With that disclaimer firmly in place, here is one honest ranking of the best frozen custard across the greater Milwaukee area, from bottom to top.
For the broader picture, see our full guide to the best frozen custard in Wisconsin.
10. Culver's
Culver's earns its place on any Milwaukee custard list because it's the most accessible scoop in the metro, with stores in every suburb from Mequon to Kenosha. But accessibility is also why it lands at the bottom. The vanilla is reliable and the flavor of the day rotation is fun for road trips, but side-by-side against the Milwaukee stalwarts the texture is thinner and the finish less rich. It's a fine scoop. It’s not the best in Milwaukee.
9. Georgie Porgie's
Georgie Porgie's is a full-service burger-and-custard spot with a sundae-of-the-month program that keeps the rotation interesting. The custard is solid, the kids' menu is generous, and the Mount Pleasant location anchors the Racine County southern flank of the metro. It's a fun family stop more than a custard pilgrimage, which is exactly why it sits here.
8. LeDuc's Frozen Custard
Push west into Waukesha County and you find LeDuc's, a tiny stand that has built its reputation on a stripped-down menu: vanilla, chocolate, and one rotating flavor of the day. The custard is dense and clean-tasting, and the line out the door on a summer Saturday is part of the appeal. The narrow flavor list keeps it from climbing higher, but for purists, that's the point.
7. Kitt's Frozen Custard
One of the oldest stands in the city, Kitt's opened in 1952 with help from Leon Schneider himself. Ownership has changed hands, most recently in 2019, and the product has stayed consistent through every transition. It's a no-frills neighborhood drive-in with deep roots, the kind of place where the regulars know the staff. It doesn't get the love it used to, but the custard still earns its history.
6. Ferch's Malt Shoppe and Grille
Ferch's holds down downtown Greendale with a chalkboard wall of flavors and a seasonal walk-up sister counter at Grant Park Beach in South Milwaukee. The lakefront location alone earns it points — eating a butter pecan cone on a bench overlooking Lake Michigan is hard to beat as a Wisconsin summer experience. The custard is excellent, the family-friendly atmosphere is the real draw, and the Grant Park spot is one of the metro's most underrated summer destinations.
5. Big Deal Burgers & Custard
The newest entry on this list, Big Deal opened in 2013 on S. 84th Street and is run by three brothers, one of them a Kopp's alumnus. The custard pedigree shows. Specialty flavors like Irish Cream Cheesecake and Honey Jack keep the calendar interesting, and the 24-ounce Big Deal Blender shake is exactly as serious as it sounds. It hasn't been around long enough to crack the legacy tier, but it's already outperforming a lot of stands that have.
4. Gilles Frozen Custard
Gilles is the oldest custard stand in Milwaukee, opened by Paul Gilles in 1938, and the stretch of Bluemound where it sits now feels frozen in time. The custard is velvet-smooth — Gilles' chocolate in particular is the one most often cited as the perfect example of the form — and the menu hides a beloved off-script item called Those Things, a peanut cookie topped with vanilla custard and dipped in chocolate. The intimate interior sends customers spilling out into the parking lot in summer. It would be the best in most cities. In Milwaukee, it's fourth.
3. Kopp's Frozen Custard
Kopp's is the heavyweight, the loudest name in Milwaukee custard, and the stand most non-locals are taken to on their first visit. The three locations all gleam with stainless counters and front-and-center custard machines, the butter burgers are legendary, and the flavor of the day program has cult-level following — devotees call the hotline before they leave the house. The custard itself is thick, almost architectural in how it holds a cone. Kopp's lands at three rather than higher only because the flavor itself, while excellent, can read a touch heavier than its competitors. The variety and the experience more than make up for it.
2. Leon's Frozen Custard
Leon's is the soul of Milwaukee custard. The neon-lit walk-up stand at 27th and Oklahoma has barely changed since the 1950s, the menu is intentionally narrow (vanilla, chocolate, butter pecan, and a rotating fourth flavor), and the operation is still family-run. The butter pecan and raspberry are legitimately some of the best individual flavors anywhere in Wisconsin, and the Tin Roof sundae with vanilla, chocolate syrup, and Spanish peanuts is a Milwaukee rite of passage. If you only have one custard cone in your life, this is the one.
1. Oscar's Frozen Custard
The surprise (?) winner. Oscar's was founded in West Allis in 1984 and has built itself into the quiet consensus pick of serious Milwaukee custard people. The vanilla is the cleanest version of the form in the metro — bright, smooth, and finishing without the heaviness that can weigh down its bigger-name competitors. The Brookfield original was destroyed by fire in November 2024 and just reopened in May 2026 with a larger footprint and a new two-lane drive-thru, joining the Franklin and S. 108th Street locations. The custard is still made on the original machines built by Leon Schneider himself, a direct line back to the source. It doesn't have the neon, the line, or the merch. It just has the best scoop.
Vote for your favorite!
That's our ranking. Whether you'd swap Leon's and Oscar's, defend Kopp's as the rightful number one, or argue that no list is complete without a shoutout to your neighborhood stand, the truth is that Milwaukee is the rare city where the tenth-best custard would be the best in most American cities. Vote and prove the ranking wrong!
🍦 Reader vote: Milwaukee's best frozen custard
We ranked greater Milwaukee's frozen custard stands from bottom to top, with the underdog that quietly beats Kopp's, Leon's, and Gilles.