Tuesday, November 01, 2011
Don's Drive In - Traverse City, Michigan
Don’s Drive In – Traverse City, Michigan
2030 N Us Highway 31 S
Traverse City, MI 49684
(231) 938-1860
http://donsdrivein.com/
August 2009
Our friends Dick and Cheryl spend a lot of their summers in the Grand Traverse area of Michigan. It fell to them to be our guides on our first trip to the area. We were auto touring in Traverse City near lunch time and they wanted to take us to a local, long enduring institution they are fond of, Don’s Drive In. The drive-in restaurant was founded in 1958 by none other than Don himself. Don is no longer with us and a new owner has continued the tradition started so very long ago.
It was a small drive-in restaurant when it first opened on a nearly vacant stretch of two-lane road overlooking a part of Lake Michigan. Over the years Don’s has grown a bit bigger and the local area has developed. The multi-lane highway out front is a busy thoroughfare and the view of the lake is obscured by large buildings, all part of the development and growth of Traverse City.
If you needed a prop setting for a remake of Happy Days or American Graffiti then Don’s would do nicely. It is a 1950’s drive in caught in a time warp. If you can fondly remember that period of time, hot rods, transistor radios, poodle skirts, duck-butt haircuts and the like, then you will already have a liking for Don’s. Grab a pocket full of coins for the juke box, pick up your girl and head to Don’s for burger and a malted (made with fresh Michigan fruit, of course).
Their menu offers soups, including a soup of the day, hot and cold sandwiches, hamburgers, hot dogs, cold drinks and their locally famous malted milks. They offer a basic burger and burger baskets that include creamy coleslaw and French fries. They advertize, “We cook em the way you like em – rare, medium, well.” Additions to your burger are charged extra and things like cheese, mayo, lettuce, tomato, bacon and fried onions will quickly raise the price. Fountain soft drinks are small ($1.25), medium ($1.50), and large ($1.95).
The interior is bright white, chrome and red and filled with things hot rod. It is actually a smaller than it appears from the outside place. Seating can be at a premium on a busy day and a wait to get in is not uncommon. Strictly by chance our timing was good and our party of four was immediately seated in a booth. The tables are a bit on the small side and you can knock knees with the person seated across from you.
I ordered the ¼ pound burger basket ($5.95, American cheese $0.50, lettuce $0.10, tomato $0.10, ketchup, mustard and raw onions free for the asking) and it comes with coleslaw and French fries. The burger patty is large and I am told the weight advertized is after cooking and not before as is the usual. Personally, I prefer ground meat served in a food establishment to be cooked to the 140 degree mark if not a bit more. I may cook them rarer at home but out I feel safer when I know they are cooked through. I ordered mine medium well and it was cooked through but not dried out. If you have a lot of burgers going at the same time to get each one right must prove to be a challenge and in this case they got it right. The French fries are the thick cut variety. These don’t fry crisp like the smaller shoestring styles but they have the advantage of mass and keep warm throughout the meal whereas the smaller fries are stone cold by the time they reach the table.
I ordered a real fruit milkshake. Strawberry, cherry and raspberry are offered. It was Michigan and the cherry harvest was in so I went with the cherry shake (medium $3.80). That is a premium price for a milkshake but I think it was worth it. It was a nice large glass of thick milkshake. I had to start out with a spoon and it wasn’t until later I the meal that the milkshake softened enough to sip through a straw. The fresh fruit swirled through the shake really make the drink exceptional.
We all enjoyed the excursion back through time. It is quite an illusion and you can remember the dates, the drive-in movie and the hamburger after. It was a great time to be a teen. I can remember it so well when gas was 25 cents a gallon, and a hamburger was less than a quarter at the local drive-in. I guess I had better stop now before I ruin the rest of the illusion created by Don’s Drive In in Traverse City, Michigan. Be sure and stop in when passing through. I think you will like it.
Don’s Drive In – Traverse City, Michigan
2030 N Us Highway 31 S
Traverse City, MI 49684
(231) 938-1860
http://donsdrivein.com/
August 2009
Our friends Dick and Cheryl spend a lot of their summers in the Grand Traverse area of Michigan. It fell to them to be our guides on our first trip to the area. We were auto touring in Traverse City near lunch time and they wanted to take us to a local, long enduring institution they are fond of, Don’s Drive In. The drive-in restaurant was founded in 1958 by none other than Don himself. Don is no longer with us and a new owner has continued the tradition started so very long ago.
It was a small drive-in restaurant when it first opened on a nearly vacant stretch of two-lane road overlooking a part of Lake Michigan. Over the years Don’s has grown a bit bigger and the local area has developed. The multi-lane highway out front is a busy thoroughfare and the view of the lake is obscured by large buildings, all part of the development and growth of Traverse City.
If you needed a prop setting for a remake of Happy Days or American Graffiti then Don’s would do nicely. It is a 1950’s drive in caught in a time warp. If you can fondly remember that period of time, hot rods, transistor radios, poodle skirts, duck-butt haircuts and the like, then you will already have a liking for Don’s. Grab a pocket full of coins for the juke box, pick up your girl and head to Don’s for burger and a malted (made with fresh Michigan fruit, of course).Their menu offers soups, including a soup of the day, hot and cold sandwiches, hamburgers, hot dogs, cold drinks and their locally famous malted milks. They offer a basic burger and burger baskets that include creamy coleslaw and French fries. They advertize, “We cook em the way you like em – rare, medium, well.” Additions to your burger are charged extra and things like cheese, mayo, lettuce, tomato, bacon and fried onions will quickly raise the price. Fountain soft drinks are small ($1.25), medium ($1.50), and large ($1.95).
The interior is bright white, chrome and red and filled with things hot rod. It is actually a smaller than it appears from the outside place. Seating can be at a premium on a busy day and a wait to get in is not uncommon. Strictly by chance our timing was good and our party of four was immediately seated in a booth. The tables are a bit on the small side and you can knock knees with the person seated across from you.
I ordered the ¼ pound burger basket ($5.95, American cheese $0.50, lettuce $0.10, tomato $0.10, ketchup, mustard and raw onions free for the asking) and it comes with coleslaw and French fries. The burger patty is large and I am told the weight advertized is after cooking and not before as is the usual. Personally, I prefer ground meat served in a food establishment to be cooked to the 140 degree mark if not a bit more. I may cook them rarer at home but out I feel safer when I know they are cooked through. I ordered mine medium well and it was cooked through but not dried out. If you have a lot of burgers going at the same time to get each one right must prove to be a challenge and in this case they got it right. The French fries are the thick cut variety. These don’t fry crisp like the smaller shoestring styles but they have the advantage of mass and keep warm throughout the meal whereas the smaller fries are stone cold by the time they reach the table.
I ordered a real fruit milkshake. Strawberry, cherry and raspberry are offered. It was Michigan and the cherry harvest was in so I went with the cherry shake (medium $3.80). That is a premium price for a milkshake but I think it was worth it. It was a nice large glass of thick milkshake. I had to start out with a spoon and it wasn’t until later I the meal that the milkshake softened enough to sip through a straw. The fresh fruit swirled through the shake really make the drink exceptional.
We all enjoyed the excursion back through time. It is quite an illusion and you can remember the dates, the drive-in movie and the hamburger after. It was a great time to be a teen. I can remember it so well when gas was 25 cents a gallon, and a hamburger was less than a quarter at the local drive-in. I guess I had better stop now before I ruin the rest of the illusion created by Don’s Drive In in Traverse City, Michigan. Be sure and stop in when passing through. I think you will like it.
Labels: cherry, Don's, drive in, hot rod, Michigan, Traverse City
¶ 12:23 PM
