Springsteen Fulfills Post-Pandemic Wish: A Jersey Freeze Visit

FREEHOLD, NJ - As the coronavirus pandemic spread throughout New Jersey in 2020, many residents spent months dreaming of what their first "normal" excursion would be. Rocker Bruce Springsteen publicly vowed that his first trip outside would be a return to Jersey Freeze once the pandemic subsided.

And Springsteen followed through. Former Freehold resident and realtor Spencer Freedman was lucky enough to take a picture with Springsteen during his latest visit on May 7.

“I was eating lunch in the back of the restaurant part. I got a milkshake and called my wife to ask her what she wanted,” said Freedman, a Freehold Township High School graduate. “I don’t know if it was one of the owners or managers or something, but one of them walked in and they were like, ‘Do you know you just served Bruce Springsteen?’ to the kid behind the register. He didn’t even realize it.”

Freedman, whose family grew up blocks away from the Springsteen household, returned to his car to find Bruce Springsteen inside a Range Rover in the parking lot. The fan pulled up next to The Boss and asked to take a picture through the window. Springsteen gave him a thumbs up.

“I took a selfie in my driver’s seat, but you can’t see it because of the windows and the glare. So I put my car in park and I ran to the door where he’s sitting,” Freedman said. “I said something like, ‘Thank you so much. I’m a huge fan, you’re awesome.’ And he said something like, ‘Absolutely. You’re welcome.’ It was cool, even though I interrupted his phone call.”

Springsteen had previously said that, when the coronavirus pandemic is "over, I want to get an ice cream cone at the Jersey Freeze — to walk inside, step up to the counter and say, 'Soft vanilla dipped in chocolate, please.'" That's what Springsteen told AARP magazine last year. Read more: Bruce Springsteen's Post-Pandemic Plans? A Jersey Freeze Visit

But Springsteen hasn't always been a fan of ice cream. In fact, the musician would only request broken cones to snack on as his family drove through Monmouth County, according to his 2016 memoir "Born To Run." But that hasn’t stopped him from returning to his hometown ice cream haunt in 2021.

Springsteen, 71, now a resident of Colts Neck, is still recognized throughout the region, including during his Jersey Freeze stops.

While Freedman, a self-described “huge” fan and two-time concert ticket holder, was surprised to meet Springsteen in the parking lot, he tells Patch that it wasn’t his first encounter with The Boss on May 7.

“20 years ago, my friend and I worked at this restaurant together called the Gibson Place Grill, and we somehow got word that [Springsteen] was in the building for a banquet,” Freedman said. “My friend Pat and I were like, ‘should we follow him into the bathroom?’ We’re 20 years old at the time, huge fans and just saw him in concert that summer … we ended up waiting for him in the hallway. He was like, ‘thanks guys for the support, I really appreciate it,’ and shook our hands.”

Jersey Freeze has been a Freehold staple since 1952, offering an array of food beyond ice cream including hot dogs, hamburgers and milkshakes. It opened up a Holmdel location in Bell Works in 2019. Read more: Longtime Freehold Ice Cream Spot Named Local Business Of The Year