Don’s Drive-In
2030 US-31 The Cherry Classic has quickly become one of our favorite ice skating competitions. L had a pretty successful weekend skating again this year, the Centre Ice Arena is fantastic, and, of course, it’s in Traverse City.
L had one event early Saturday afternoon. We got to sleep in a little bit then headed over to the rink. Once she was done, we were heading home. We needed to get gas and wanted to grab something to eat first.
As we were leaving the arena, J noticed a poster for a drive-in. She had no idea where it was but asked if I had looked it up yet.
I didn’t have to. I had already passed it and it’s right next to the Speedway we were heading back to to get gas.
Don’s Drive-In is on US-31 near Four Mile Road in East Bay Township just to the east of Traverse City proper. The drive-in, which has been there over 60 years, sits just across from Grand Traverse Bay in a bright pink building.
There is a dine inside portion to the drive but we didn’t want to get out of the car. That’s why we picked this place. We didn’t want fast food so we thought this would accomplish the same thing. We had to go all the way around the building to find the drive in stalls. I was able to find one open where there wasn’t a car parked diagonally through two stalls.
The menu is on a call box that I’m going to assume is original to the building. We were looking it over and I was just about to this the switch to call for service when a car hop came out to go to another car and said she’d be right with us. No idea if this feature still works but it’d be super cool if it did. I was tempted to flip the switch just to see what would happen.
The car hop came right over when she was done with the car she was heading to when she acknowledged us. We put in an order for some pretty basic stuff…the kind of stuff you’d expect at a drive in.
I picked the Big D 1/2lb Burger. I added on cheddar cheese and bacon plus made it a basket. The sandwich that came out isn’t the prettiest burger you’re ever going to see, but oh man, was it good. The burger patty was so tender, so juicy. Wrapping the sandwich in wax paper softens the bun up so it doesn’t keep it’s shape but just makes biting through the sandwich a nostalgia inducing experience. This was so much better than any fast food burger we could have gotten along the way.
The basket came with fries and a drink. To my surprise, the fries were not crinkle cuts. They were still frozen food service fries but they were the steak fry version. There were packets of salt included with each order of fries so you could decide how much or how little to put on.
J and L both ordered the grilled cheese. It was a simple sandwich…you know, bread and cheese, but it was done exactly how you’d expect from a classic drive in. Simple and delicious.
J also got a strawberry milkshake that was made with (a lot) of fresh strawberries. It wasn’t very big but she said it was amazingly fresh.
Our bill for lunch was about $40 before tip.
Don’s Drive-In is classic comfort food. We chose Don’s over stopping at a fast food drive thru. While this took slightly longer, it was so worth it. The food was much better and the experience of the original 60’s style is something you can’t get from Wendy’s.
SW Michigan Dining 