Muffler Man: Super Freeze

After visiting a Frank Lloyd Wright house in Derby, New York (about 20 miles southwest of Buffalo), I consulted my roadtrip map and realized that we were right by the Super Freeze. I knew the Super Freeze was home to one Muffler Man, but I was surprised to discover that it was an all-around delightful place, bursting with roadside kitsch.

Speaking of the Muffler Man, his name is George and he's 14-feet tall. I somehow wasn't prepared for the fact that he was holding both a cheeseburger and an ice cream cone—look at that face!—and he is perfect in every way. George is the sixth Muffler Man I've seen in person (including two Paul Bunyans, a clown, a half-wit and Pecos Bill), and I'd love nothing more than to visit every single one of them across the country.

Everywhere I looked I encountered another fiberglass figure—Mighty Mouse, Big Boy and the crème de la crème of self-garnishing hot dogs—or wonderful signage. The multi-colored plastic sign letters are so great, and I love how generic the name "Super Freeze" sounds. If I had to come up with a name for an American roadside ice cream/burger joint, I could never come up with something better.

The inside was great, even if some of it was a bit too faux retro. They hit all the classic diner decor notes with black-and-white tile, counter stools, vinyl booths, a jukebox, a Coke machine, Friday Fish Fry tartar sauce on every table and vintage milkshake machines. We got enormous soft serve cones, played Theatre of Magic pinball and thanked the roadtrip gods for leading us to such a wonderful place.