History Lost Drive-In Restaurants

I did a search for Drive-Ins and Drive-Inns and came up with a couple threads for Drive-In Movie Theaters but none for Drive-In Restaurants, so, with the closing of 58 year old Porky's Drive In in St. Paul Mn. this past weekend, I thought there should be a thread for Lost Drive-In Restaurants only! No Theaters! It would be GREAT if pictures of these lost TREASURES could be posted, so those not old enough to remember them could get an idea of what they looked like.

This is for anyone and everyone, not just Minnesota. At one time Drive-In Restaurants were the place to be!

You can read about Porky's here;

http://www.jalopyjournal.com/<wbr>forum/showthread.php?t=564970&<wbr>highlight=porkys

http://www.jalopyjournal.com/<wbr>forum/showthread.php?t=575860&<wbr>highlight=porkys

http://www.jalopyjournal.com/<wbr>forum/showthread.php?t=576638&<wbr>highlight=porkys

 

Gary and Kathy ( last names left out to protect the innocent) wrote there Drive-In Restaurant memories for the March 2011 MSRA Linechaser.

Kathy wrote;

Picture this, it's 1955. Tom is the reining King of Forest Lake's Skateland. God's in his heaven, all's right with the world!

You and your steady girl have just exited the Rose Drive-In Theater. There are some cool sounds coming from your car's Motorola by a new kid from Memphis. You're cruising to find the Drive-In Restaurant that your buddies are hanging out at tonight. If this evening is going to proceed the way you want it to, you are at least going to find a nice California burger and cherry coke to feed your girl.

You passed the Roadside on your drive down Snelling but tonight your friends seem to be elsewhere. Maybe down by the fairgrounds at Sugar Dan's. As you take a left off Snelling and pass the place, you realize that you will have to search further.

OK...let's head over to St. Paul's east side. Maybe the Roller Rink has now let out and they will be somewhere on Arcade Street at Nelson's Drive-In.

A distinct sound of Porter Mufflers is coming up behind you. You proceed thru the yellow light knowing full well that by the next red light, he will be right along side of you in the other lane.

Is this going to be another night where your car and your driving ability are about to be "tested"? Maybe he'll just think he's not up to it and you and your girl can go on to meet your friends and do a bit of bragging anyway.

Come on "old timers"...SNAP OUT OF IT! It's 2011. Please help the rest of us revisit, in print, some of those wonderful memories of the great "eating emporiums" that were around the Twin Cities in the '50s, '60s, and '70s where so many of us hung out.

 

Gary wrote;

THE TWIN CITIES DRIVE INN SCENE, CIRCA 1960-1970

Back when gas was about 35 cents a gallon, we likely had a part time job at a grocery store making less then $1.00 per hour. After school, when we got real jobs, money was not quite so tight so filling the tank was not a hardship.

For me, in 1962, venturing out from Midway all the way to Porky's on the west side of Lake Calhoun in Mpls. made you think twice about your budget. With stops at all three Porky's locations (owned by the Truelson family then), even driving a stock 283 in my '57 Chevy, one could go through $3.00 in gas. Add a cherry coke and maybe fries, cruising was cheaper if a few of you piled into one car.

I recall Porky's on University being the biggest attraction followed by the Three Bears also on University, just east of Lexington. The stretch between Porky's and Bridgeman's downtown to "cruise the loop" you would find yourself driving alongside "Raggedy Ann", a '57 Ragtop, "Miss Mn", a turquoise '55 Ford, "Cheyenne" and "El Vega Baca", both red Chevy's if I recall. Remember, you had to have a name on your car either on the continental kit or more likely the front quarter panels to be truly cool.

Other stops included the Sun Drive-In on Central, Sandy's on Lexington and the Aloha near the old Holman field. My favorite was the Roadside across from the HarMar Mall as you had to use special coins to get out because they had so much traffic that they wanted paying customers. I found one of those coins not so long ago with a pinkrabbit's foot in a junk drawer. A real treasure!

Now for a fun story which is completely true. A fellow MSRA member, (whose name shall remain anonymous but drove a plum '49 Merc.) on the Avenue had a favorite trick. Mr M would stop by the Three Bears, pour a can of "carb out" in the engine and by the time he got to the Drive-In, he would rev up the engine and nobody could see anything for several minutes. By the time, the manager was called, he was long gone.

Gary wrote the following about a picture that was included in his article that was way too small to post here;

This photo is of the crowd that virtually shut down University Avenue and the cops got so scared they left. Bleach burn outs were going on with room for only a one car width as you pulled into Porky's. You pulled out to your right, stopped, then did a burn out and the crowds just egged everyone on.

A couple friends were with me and we got a little nervous and left as it was totally out of control. MSRA got called to talk to the police after that. "Back To The Fifties" has tamed down since the early days.



!

 

Kathy Adds;

Ah......The Roadside. That's where Ster and I went after our first date in 1957.

I remember when McDonalds built their first burger place in St. Paul and it was almost next door to the Roadside.

Teens had been going to the Roadside for years for their "goodies" like their lemon lime, but since a new place went up, we all had to "try" it out the first night it opened.

Next night.....right back to the Roadside and there we stayed!

 

Here in the Lake Minnetonka area we still have an old fashioned Drive-In, the Minnetonka Drive-In that started in 1961 and basically, hasn't changed since then. Still the best onion rings you can get! (As good as Porky's, maybe even better) I'm biased. They have Hot Rod Thursday Nights and they really pack them in.

 

Dog and Suds, Clarence, NY, late 60's, early 70's, (footlong chilli dogs,mmmmm)similar to Sonic today...
Oh, yea, Sonic, Boynton Beach, FL. (the best milkshakes)

 

Here in Abilene Kansas we have Kuntz's Drive-In. It was originally an A&W in the 1950s. We all head there for dessert for the Annual Mid-West HAMB-B-Q.

Here's a pic from '07 taken by Toast:

 

I was just thinking this week, Jim, about THE cool place in our little town of Logan, Ohio. It was called the Shake Shoppe and featured a sign depicting a guy and gal on 1890s period dress on a big-wheel bicycle. It was THE west terminus for all us cruisers, before we burned gas to go back the other way, trying to make noise -- and impressions -- all the way. Yeah, we had to keep an eagle eye for the cops.

As many times as my dad and mom took me there when I was little AND all the times I ran my various V-8s through there later, I NEVER once though to keep a napkin, a wax cup NOR take a photo showing the sign and similar logo! Now, I kick myself, the same as I mentioned in my Old Time Junkyard regrets on that thread. I suppose that I just thought that it should ALWAYS just, well, BE THERE! Forever.

It is now a Burger King.

When John Milner lamented in "AG" that, "It used ta take an hour and a tank o'gas" to make the round trip from one end of town to the other, it was like an arrow in my heart.

Now, the Shake Shoppe is gone, and it's a chain fast-food restaurant. SAD thing is: The young kids don't know what it was like "in the day."

Milner knew, even if his comment was made in a "movie."

 

Lost drive-in restaurants? There was Henry's Rite-Spot across the Colorado Street Bridge in Pasadena, CA, and hundreds of Bob's Big Boys, Pasadena, Burbank, Glendale, etc, Carl's on Colorado Blvd across from Pasadena City College...still miss 'em

 

It is 7:00 in the evening, 1953 at the Olive Way Triple XXX in Seattle.
The roadsters and coupes start drifting in and parking back on the bank
where Nick the owner said we could hang out...A few hot street bikes show up also.
I am the envy of many because I am going steady with the best looking car hop
working there and that gets me free coffee.... Soon the cars started pairing up for
a friendly race at the various little used streets....Bikes are welcome also but they almost always win the street races....They don't fair so well against the cars at the drag strip though...
After the evening races, it is time for more grease burgers.
One of the biggest events of the evening is after the restaurant closes and all the cars
leave it is time for "hot laps".....One car at a time to see who could can get around the building the fastest.
I quit doing that event when some guys started bringing out street legal track roadsters running alcohol....Eventually the Olive Way barrel closed and everyone moved either to the Rainier barrel or the Ballard barrel....it was never the same though.

 

Jim,

Although everybody remembers Porky's east and Porky's west in Minneapolis, there was another drive-in located between the two... just off Lake Street on 28th and Grand Avenue. It was called the Chat 'n Nibble, but nobody seems to have a picture of it. I spent many days and nights there, but as jimi'shemi291 says, "I never once thought to... take a photo!"

I do have a photo of the menu board that I got from a buddy who used to be one of their cooks in the 1960's. I'll post it later.

Also, two blocks up on Grand and Lake Street was Doyle's Chicken Shack. It wasn't a drive-in, but they had the best chicken in town... battered and deep-fried...buttered toast...dill pickle... and some of the best fries in the land. Every booth had a mini juke box selector that fed the main juke box on the floor.

If you were low on funds, you could get a whole tray of fries for 25 cents and you could sit by the window and watch the cars cruise Lake Street.

 

Here in Pasadena TEXAS there was Traynor's, The Corral, Vickie's in nearby South Houston, and across the Houston area were many Prince's and Ritzee drive-ins. All but the Prince's are gone.

The first and last Prince's Drive-In was in the middle of downtown Houston and closed quite a few years ago. Several Prince's have been built over the last years since but none are drive-ins.

C&D Burgers is still in business but eat in not drive in any more. Broiler Burger still has a couple of locations...eat in only I think. There are others as well in the Houston area and smaller towns around that survive.

 

For the older Michigan crowd, how many remember seeing Frank Mack's Roadster at the Northwestern Drive In at 9 mile and Northwestern Hwy. I lived 2 blocks away and it was Friday night hot rod heaven.

 

Hey, I remember that! Need to get back up there

 

We still have a drive in with car hops and all. It is located in Oglesby, Illinois. My dad worked under the same owners in the 70's there. They make their own rootbeer and everything is homemede to this day. Ever in the area check it out. It is right off of I-39, perfect pit stop on your way to the Hunnert car pileup.

 

28th and Grand...I live just a few blocks from there and drive past that corner every day on my way home from work. There are 1960s era apartment buildings on the NE and SW corners, an older duplex on the NW corner that's been there forever, and on the SE corner is a small neighborhood market that's pretty old as well. Was the drivein on one of the corners now occupied by apartments? You can call it up in Google Street View and look around.

 

Stuart in mn,

In answer to your question, the Chat 'n Nibble was located on the NE corner of 28th and Grand... Rosen's Grocery was on the SE corner...large house on the SW corner and the Duplex that you mention sat on the NW corner.

On Pleasant Avenue, directly east of the Chat, was Havir's DX gas station.

I have attached a photo of the menu board from the Chat. It is the only picture that I have ever found of the Chat 'n Nibble. (Thanks Jerry.) The car hops in the photo are facing Grand Avenue.

 

Here in CT We have Harry's Place near the town green in Colchester, CT. Its celebrating 91 years this year!!! It's not lost, and it hasn't been bulldozed yet but i figured it was well worth sharing. It's a little white shack that has been painted over and over again with the original lettering painted over and over again. It truly is the BEST burger you have ever had.

Their burgers are small but juicy topped with fresh tomatos, lettuce, onion, etc. Their burger buns are homemade at the local vintage colchester bakery just up the street. Fries are awsome and they even serve ice cream and hot dogs, etc. They have a big menu but you really cant go there and not have a burger....or two. They close for the winter but they recently just opened. there is a line no matter what time of day it is, if its frezing, pouring, or sweltering hot.

Back before there was highways Harry's was on the main route to get to the shoreline. Back in the day, the CT shoreline was the place to be for family vacations, etc. People coming and going from the shore still pass by and stop to eat here.

My grandmother used to tell us stories every time we went to eat there. she used to explain how her and bunch of friends use to jump in her convertible and they would all take car loads and go to harry's for a night out.

I live about 40 minutes away and we still managed to get there maybe once a week if we're really tempted.

Harry's just secures the fact that CT is the capitol for the best cheeseburgers

http://www.roadfood.com/photos/2139.jpg

 

there also to be another drive-in right down from the American Thread mills in Willimantic, CT. Its gone now, but the lot is stil empty. always dreamed of opening another in the same spot.

 

Here's one in our town. Closed I believe in '06, it's still there but they are talking re-model and re-open. It wont be the same.



It has had one name change since the '40s, my dad used to eat there when he worked for an old AM radio station outside of town (KTKC). It is now in the middle of town.



The old radio staion was another neat building, art deco with plenty of glass brick, they recently "re-modeled" it. Just an ugly box now.

 

....Here in Wisconsin...we have a drive-in restaurant in East Troy called Gus's.........every Saturday night in the summer, lots of hotrodders and their cars meet for great food and fun......sometimes there more that 600 cars...

 

About what year did it close? I grew up around 27th and Fremont and vaguely remember a drive in there. And don't forget after hours the White Castle on Lake street was always open.

 

Excellent burgers at Harry's! I go there (season permitting) every time I am back visiting family.

 

hi Jay, We were all their in aug 08. I hope that sonic across the street is closed down by now. lol

 

wow that place is COOL! i hope they keep it vintage, put in the word

 

Uncle Ken's was the place place in Willimantic

here it was:

http://www.agilitynut.com/p/kens304.jpg


and there it goes:

http://www.threadcity.com/gallery/albums/photos/11/UncleKens-a.jpg

Uncle Ken's was a former Tastee Freez opened in the 50's.

http://www.agilitynut.com/eateries/tastee.html

I'm not sure why they demolished it. I don't remember it being there so it must've been demolished several years ago now. The lot is sitting emty and the only thing left is the pad it once sat on. Extremely frustrating...why didnt they just sell it to someone who would take care of it and open it? I have no clue what happened to the sign but it looks like it was saved (from the demo photos) .... and then probably re-sold.


That lot is just itching for another cool drive-in!

 

My mom used to work at Hallmark Ice Cream in the 60s when it was on Boston Post Road in Old Lyme Conn.

It moved in the early '70s a few miles away, but closer to the beach. Great ice cream and burgers.




Another great ice cream place is Salem Valley Farms at the end of rt 11.



I used to work at the UConn creamery when I went to ag school there.




And I love Frostee Freez in Middletown Rhode Island too.



And you have to go to Grey's down in Tiverton RI.



I guess these aren't "lost", but maybe not discovered yet by some people. All great reasons to get out and drive the old car or hotrod or custom though.

 

Anyone in the Richmond Virginia area can stop by Bill's B B Q on Meyers Street right off the Boulevard which is off I-95 at exit 78. Cruising is on Friday and Saturday nights , complete with curb service ......... see ya there . scrubba

 

Hey sunroof,, how about, 10 acres drive in in the so aera, and watts cookin on the good ol, west side my stopin grounds, I trying to figure out what the daryette over on the east side was "back in the day" their still open, and connys, creamy cone, on maryland and dale best dam german choc. malts around!!! late dude lookin forward to seen around this summer.....gord.........................................oh I did not build this body on not knowin where the good places are...............hey sun nites at hardees is cool....its a hoot good ol time bullin pretty kicked back,but being a brad deal thats what one would expect!!!!

 

I hate to go all the way back to the first couple of posts and not quote, but they were pretty long and would take up a bunch of space. At the relatively young age of 46 I remember The Roadside and the Rose drive in theater that was mentioned in the second post. My family home as a kid was at Fairview and county rd. C. Dad was a hot rodder, and the first place either dad's or mom's T-Buckets went when the snow melted was The Roadside! And I have to admit that later, when my mom remarried, a memoralbe evening was spent at the Rose where our newly united "Brady bunch" type family watched "Blazing Saddles" from two cars... Station wagon full of kids at one end, parents in another!