18 Vintage Photos of Classic Drive-Ins Restaurants

Whatever happened to drive-in culture? You’d cruise your car to the restaurant (not to be confused with drive-in theaters, though those two together made for perfect date nights), flash your lights to get the attention of a rollerskate-wearing carhop, and dine on burgers and root beer floats. It was a young adult ritual in the 1950s, ‘60s, and ‘70s, but it seems to have been lost with the times. Relive those drive-in days with these throwback photos.

Colonel Jim’s Tasty Thrill is a great name for what looks like an incredibly fun and stylish drive-in. The string lights and palm trees really set the vibe. 

If you ever need proof that the drive-in was the place to see and be seen in the ‘50s, this is the photograph to show someone.  

Between the glass-walled building and the carhop’s hat, this drive-in almost seems like it’s modeled after an airport and flight attendants. 

Politicians love turning lunch into campaign stops, including Robert F. Kennedy in this photo. He’s at a drive-in in Bluefield, West Virginia, and it looks like he’s eating a bowl of chili and a shake. 

This is a photo at Ted’s Drive-In in Gary, Indiana. Those outfits look like marching band uniforms, but apparently were standard carhop getups here. 

Long before it was a social media app, Tik Tok was also a drive-in. The coffee cup with a plume of steam in lights let you know they were open early, too. 

This is an early Sonic location in Florida, which started in 1953 in Oklahoma. It proves that rollerskating carhop jobs weren’t just reserved for young women. 

The carhop at this Dallas drive-in has a much more relaxed outfit, including some short shorts. What’s not short? That old Mustang.  

These old cars are looking pretty with a backdrop of the Boulevard Drive-In and the Pennsylvania hills.  

Scrivner’s was a chain of drive-in restaurants and diners in California, including this one festooned with neon lights. Unfortunately, they’re all gone now.  

This Texas family is getting cool air pumped into their car while they eat, which was a huge draw for hot customers in the summer heat.  

A&W had the best root beer around, and you could even buy it in gallon glass jugs to take home. We love the yellow station wagon in this one. 

This is Herbert’s in Los Angeles, with amazing neon lights and design. Unfortunately, it was torn down in the 1950s.  

We adore the retro architecture on Genie Boy’s, a drive-in and ice cream stand. Those frilly umbrellas really make it feel homey too. 

The hair and glasses on this carhop are almost as stylish as the car she’s serving the tray to. And check out the menu: gallons of root beer were 75 cents, and hamburgers were only a quarter.  

With these uniforms, these carhops at Busch’s Drive-In in Tacoma wouldn’t be out of place in an expensive hotel lobby. Though with steak advertised on the building, it must be a fancy place. 

This A&W location has some interesting items on the menu. A tuna burger was 30 cents, and a Big ‘O’ Burger was the most expensive item at 65 cents.  

The vintage sign at this drive-in includes a cartoon corndog advertising its “food on a stick”. We don’t know about you, but a place to get fair food year round sounds like a genius idea to us.