I heard the buzz about Freddy’s Frozen Custard & Steakburgers coming to Poplar Avenue in East Memphis before I even saw it was being built. Give folks ice cream — sorry, custard — and they get excited.

Keep in mind that the excitement was back in warmer days, before Memphis entered the ice age.

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Still, when Freddy’s opened on Feb. 11, there was a line that stretched from the parking lot out onto Poplar, so beware of the Chick-fil-A-style traffic situation at Poplar and Perkins now.

Here’s the deal. Sure, we want our ice cream, our sundaes and milkshakes, but the real reason to go to Freddy’s is the burger, at least for now; it’s going to be in the teens tomorrow.

I was surprised to find that the dining room was closed when we showed up for lunch, which might explain why the line was so long. An employee told me it will open as soon as “the mandate is lifted,” and friends told me that all fast-food dining rooms are closed now.

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I read the Health Directive and saw nothing about fast-food dining rooms being closed — not even anything that could be misconstrued. I called a few people I know who eat fast food and they all agreed that the dining rooms are closed because why should they be open? They’re set up for drive-thru, after all.

But the reason Freddy’s on Poplar is only drive-thru for the moment is that current maximum occupancy in restaurants is 50% and through training, there are 33 employees in the building. As soon as training is complete, the dining room will open, Freddys’ public relations specialist Kim Huynh said (she also said the other area locations have open dining rooms).

So with a friend, I sat in a long line while we argued about eating at Freddy’s in Cordova; I don’t remember it, but he has details. All I remembered was that Chef Erling Jensen loves the burgers, so I was ready to try one as that’s a good recommendation.

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We ordered plenty: Freddy’s Original Double with cheese; Freddy’s Original Patty Melt; Chicago Dog-Freddy’s Style; shoestring fries, onion rings, cheese curds; and a chocolate malt.

The bottom line: That’s a good fast-food burger. The patties are thin with very crisp and lacy edges that are deliciously savory, meaty and salty. Here’s how Jensen describes it:

“I mean, they are well-done burgers which I normally don’t like, but they taste good and they are greasy and nasty, and that makes them so good.”

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Either we were accidentally served a chocolate milkshake instead of a malt, or the malt tastes like a milkshake. In any event, it was extremely chocolatey and very, very thick. The large straw that came with it should be a spoon; this isn’t a sipping shake.

And let’s give Freddy’s some respect for putting the patty melt on rye, which is how nature intended it. The Chicago dog is not a Chicago dog, though. To its credit, Freddy’s says it’s “Freddy’s style,” but I’d love it to be Chicago style, with a poppy seed bun, a Vienna beef dog and nuclear relish.

Thin fries were solid, onion rings above average, and I don’t think commenting on the cheese curds is fair. I think they would be good if they were hot, but these were a little chewy by the time they made it back to my house.

This is the sixth area Freddy’s, and Jensen has a little advice for all of us when it comes to the burger:

“Just get it once in a while. If you eat them too often, you might die soon.”