The Rise & Fall Of America’s Drive-In Restaurants
In the mid-20th century, there were 40,000 drive-in restaurants across America, complete with intercoms for ordering and carhops who brought out food on steel trays. They were the beating heart of the US’s emerging car culture.
But today, there are only a handful of family-owned drive-ins left in America. Superdawg is Chicago’s last remaining one. Its carhops ferry out its famous “dawgs” 362 days a year. An hour north, the Miller family has kept the Dog N Suds name alive thanks to foot-long hot dogs, classic car cruise nights, and homemade root beer.
Chief correspondent Abby Narishkin visits these two legendary spots to see how they’ve kept cars pulling into their lots and what the future might hold for the dying drive-in.
00:00 – Intro
01:09 – Chicago’s Last Drive-In
03:00 – The Superdawg
06:20 – 1950s Intercoms
08:26 – History of Superdawg
09:53 – Carhops
11:09 – Superdawg Taste Test
13:28 – The Rise of America’s Drive-Ins
15:39 – Dog & Suds
16:33 – The Fall of Drive-Ins
18:24 – Homemade Root Beer & Coleslaw
20:15 – The Next Generation
21:57 – Dog & Suds Ordering
24:27 – Foot-Long Hot Dog
26:13 – How Two Survived
28:18 – Cars As The New Dining Room
29:55 – Credits
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#drivein #restaurants #eateries #carculture #riseandfall #bigbusiness
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The Rise & Fall of America’s Drive-In Restaurants | Big Business | Business Insider
