Frequently Asked Questions

Location and Hours:

Address: 2506 Jena Street, New Orleans, LA 70115

Near Freret Street and Jena Street, a block from Napoleon Ave.

Future Hours: Closed Monday/Tuesday.

Wed-Friday: 2p-10:30p | Sat-Sun: 12p-10:30p

FAQ’s

  • The Basics:

    Frozen custard is a lot like ice cream with a couple key differences. Simply: It contains egg yolks, and it’s thicker and richer than traditional ice cream. Don’t worry, if you like ice cream, you’ll love frozen custard!

    We make it fresh every day, because that’s the best way to do it, and have it ready to scoop for you!

    The Details: 

    Egg Yolks: Even the most premium ice cream is not required by the FDA to contain eggs or egg yolks. Frozen Custard, however, is required to contain at least 1.4% egg yolks by weight (we use a little more because we think it’s delicious). 

    If you’ve made ice cream at home, you may have used egg yolks. Turns out, you were probably making custard! At home, the egg yolk is being used as the emulsifier in your recipe. Instead of eggs, many ice creams use synthetic emuslsifiers and and stabilizers to get the job done, none of that at Ruthie’s!

    Overrun: Overrun is the industry term for how much air is churned into ice cream or custard during production. In traditional ice cream overrun can vary widely based on quality, from 40-100%. Cheaper ice cream usually has more air in it, because turns out air is free, but higher overrun products can also be great! Gelato, for example, is a high overrun style of ice cream. 

    Our Frozen Custard overrun percentage is between 20-22%. Making it twice as dense, rich, and creamy as the most premium ice cream. When you put a spoon through our Frozen Custard, you should not see any air bubbles, it should be as smooth as glass. It will be rich, creamy, and delicious, and if it isn’t please let us know and we’ll replace it.

  • Because of the low overrun of Frozen Custard, if we kept it in the freezer overnight, it would be too hard to work with in our scoop shop setting. It’s still great as a pint or quart if it’s allowed to soften slighly, but if you’re trying to make a Spinner or a shake like we do, it becomes too hard.


    So, everything you eat at Ruthie’s, we make that day, within the last couple of hours. We use no stabilizers, and our only emulsifier is natural egg yolk.

    The drawback of that is that we only have the capacity to produce a few flavors a day. Usually we have Vanilla, Chocolate, a Flavor of The Day, and a Dairy Free option. The good thing, is that it may be the best frozen dessert you’ve ever had! 

  • The parking lot across Jena Street, towards Napoleon, is free 24 hours a day!

    Use the address: 2501 Jena Street New Orleans 70115 for your GPS.

  • Adam Gerber is the owner and operator of Ruthie’s Frozen Custard. People have all sorts of dreams, Adam’s has always been to do exactly this, run an incredible ice cream (or in this case frozen custard) store. Since he was a little kid, he collected ice cream scoops (over 300!), worked at 2 shops, and never let it leave his mind.

    After a 12-year career in the music production and touring industry, it was time to pursue the dream, with the wonderful support of his wife Marion, his family, and freinds, he is so excited to bring Ruthie’s to New Orleans and the world!

  • There are two Ruthie’s! Adam’s Grandmother and Great Aunt were both named Ruth. One was his grandfather Sol’s wife, the other was Sol’s sister.

    They were two prototypical Jewish grandmas, who loved fiercely in their own unique ways. The name Ruthie’s is to honor their memory, love, and kindness, and to continue to let that love and kindness live in the world.

  • It’s a hit TV show on Hulu about stressed chefs.

    Or, in this context, Ruthie the Bear is a Louisiana Black Bear! Fun fact, they really have long tounges like that!

    Louisiana Black Bears are also a shining example of a sucess due to the protections offered by the endagered species act, becoming delisted in 2016.

  • Yes! We have an awesome vegan ice cream we serve daily