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The drive-in restaurant. It was the place where you meet with friends, take a date, and of course enjoy some greasy drive-in chow. Anything from a burger and onion rings, to a coney dog with fries, and everything in between. A frosty mug of root beer was mandatory, to wash it all down. All of this, in the comfort of your own car. Parking under a large canopy, your order was placed from a convenient light-up menu equipped with a speaker, right in your stall. Your fresh, hot meal was delivered on a tray by a carhop, usually on roller skates. Lansing outdoor diners had many drive-in's to choose from; several Dog 'n Sud's and A&W's, Henry's Hamburgers, Satellite, Varsity, and the cruisers favorite, Sully's on West Saginaw. What happened to all these great eateries? The drive-in's had a relatively short season thanks to Michigan's weather. Most had limited indoor seating, and no one really wanted to eat in the car when it's 10 degrees out. They also faced stiff competition from eat-in, and drive-thru equipped, fast-food joints such as McDonald's and Burger King. Over time, like the drive-in theaters, the drive-in restaurants faded away. The Lansing area was once home to nearly forty drive-in restaurants, today there are just two.

HAMBURGER HEAVEN DRIVE-IN Hamburger Heaven was a popular east side burger joint. It served up "Big H" burgers near Frandor from 1960 to 1972. These 1974 pre-demo images were submitted by Vince Macek. It was located at 401 N. Clippert St., a mini-mall now stands on the site. This image compares the 1974 view with a current Google street view.

SULLY'S DRIVE-IN Sully's Drive-In, a very popular cruisin' destination in the 50's and 60's, was located at 3920 W. Saginaw Hwy. A 1967 ad indicated Sully's curb service and inside dining room was open 7 days a week, year-round. Sadly, Sully's served it's last Hy-Boy Hamburger in 1975. It's replacement was a Wendy's fast food restaurant which opened in 1976.

KITCHEN'S DRIVE-IN Kitchen's, home of the Heap-Hi Burger, was a popular southside Lansing drive-in. It was located at 3812 S. Logan St. Today, Logan's Family Diner is located there.

HENRY'S HAMBURGERS Henry's Hamburgers was a short-lived small national chain with two area restaurants. East Lansing's Henry's opened in 1961 at 1153 Michigan Avenue; it lasted just two years. Today, an apartment building stands in it's place. Lansing's Henry's also opened in 1961, at 3301 S. Cedar Street. It served up 15-cent burgers for ten years, closing in 1971. The South Cedar Henry's building remains, disguised as a truck cap sales lot. The original signs also remain, now covered by plywood replacement signs.

A&W DRIVE-IN The A&W Drive-In at 3200 S. Cedar Street was the second of several A&W's to open in the Lansing area, opening in 1959. It remained an A&W until 1981, when it became Jim's Root Beer Drive-In . Next, it became Backyard BBQ in 2001, which closed in 2003. Today, the original A&W building is home to C&J Tax Service.

DOG 'N SUDS DRIVE-IN Delta Dog 'n Suds opened in 1968 at 4919 W. Saginaw Highway. It survived until 1989, the last Suds in the area to close. The site became Fredrich Fried Chicken in 1990, then Bell's Greek Pizza in 1992, and eventually a non-drive-in A&W. Minus it's drive-in canopy, the original Dog 'n Suds building remains in 2007, as evidenced by it's v-shaped roof. A newspaper ad from 1968 offered a coupon for free gallon of rootbeer, and this 1979 ad advertised a $1.50 fish dinner at Dog 'n Suds or Olympic Broil.

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TRIO DRIVE-IN The Trio Drive-In on South Cedar was one of three Trio locations in Lansing, it was originally at 1905 S. Cedar from 1945 to 1954. It was relocated to 4113 S. Cedar in 1955, closed in 1967, and was replaced by The House Of Ing in 1969. This 1957 ad offered a Mother's day meal, and this 1957 ad offered movie tickets to the Lansing Drive-In. Trio #1 was at 516 S. Washington from 1945 to 1966, and #2 was at 1012 E. Michigan from 1945 to 1959. These sites were apparently sit-down only. The Trio's were owned by Clyde & Frieda Rice, who also owned Sully's.

Lansing-Area Drive-In Restaurants
Drive-In	Address	Year Open	Closed	On Site Now	Notes
A&W Drive-In	623 S. Washington	1958	1970	Office bldg	Demo'd
A&W Drive-In	902 E. Grand River	1958	1994	Mexican restaurant	Bldg remains, canopy gone
A&W Drive-In	3200 S. Cedar	1959	1980	C&J Tax Service Bldg remains	aka:Jim's Root Beer 1981-86 aka:Jim's Drive-In 1987-89
A&W Drive-In	315 S. Homer St.	1968	1973	Oriental restaurant	Bldg & canopy remain
A&W Drive-In	1120 E. Grand River (EL)	1961*	1961*	n/a	n/a
A&W Drive-In	628 N. Cedar (Mason)	n/a	n/a	Open (non-drive-in)	Bldg remains, canopy gone
A&W Drive-In	810 E. Saginaw (GL)	n/a	1971?	Baryames Cleaners	Demo'd?
A&W Drive-In	525 E. Saginaw (GL)	1971	n/a	no longer a drive-in	Bldg remains, canopy gone
Alibi Drive-In	3030 E. Michigan	1948-52 1963	n/a	n/a	aka:Chick-Inn Drive-In 1964*
Anthony's Big Boy Cone Drive-In	1200 E. Michigan	1971	1987	Medical bldg	Demo'd
Bar-B-Q Drive-In	2512 E. Michigan	1948	1955	n/a	aka: Bob's Bog Boy in 1956
Benny's Drive-In	1226 E. Michigan	1953	1955	n/a	n/a
Carl's Drive-In	1578 E. Grand River	1958	1960	Party store	Demo'd
Carol's Drive-In	2900 E. Saginaw	1960	1965	n/a	aka: Jill's Drive-In 1966-67
Dog 'n Suds Drive-In	1320 N. Grand River	1968	1970	Olympic Broil restaurant 1978-08	Bldg & canopy remain vacant 1973-77
Dog 'n Suds Drive-In	1431 E. Michigan	1971	1977	Medical office	Demo'd aka:Nip n Sip II 1979-81
Delta Dog 'n Suds Drive-In	4919 W. Saginaw	1972	1989	A&W (non drive-in)	Bldg remains, canopy gone
Dog 'n Suds Drive-In	1629 S. Washington	1961	1975	Closed Lil Ceasars	Demo'd aka:Washington DI 1976-78
Dog 'n Suds Drive-In	2755 E. Grand River (EL)	1968*	1970	Oriental restaurant	Demo'd
Dog 'n Suds Drive-In	222 N. Cedar (Mason)	1973*	n/a	Hungry Howies	Demo'd
Dot Drive-In	3906 S. Cedar	1951	1956	Dairy Queen	Demo'd?
Golden Point Drive-In	3121 S. Cedar	1961	1961	n/a	n/a
Henry's Hamburgers Drive-In	3301 S. Cedar	1961	1971	Truck cap sales	Bldg & signs (covered) remain
Henry's Hamburgers Drive-In	1153 Michigan (E.Lans)	1961	1963	Apt bldg	Demo'd
Hamburger Heaven Drive-In	401 N. Clippert	1960	1972	Radio Shack	Demo'd
Hob-Nob Drive-In	2622 N. East	1953	1955	closed Hungry Howies	Demo'd
Hollywood Drive-In	2706 N. Grand River	1949	1968	Empty lot	Demo'd
Jon's Country Burger	3109 S. Cedar	1968	n/a	Open	Open in 2007
King Kastle Drive-In	216 E. Grand River	1968	1970	Demo'd Parking lot	aka: J&L 1971-76 aka: J&B Drive-In 1977-85
Kitchen's Drive-In	3812 S. Logan	1959	1966	Logans restaurant	Demo'd? aka: Bar-K-Ranch 1967-72
Nip 'n Sip Drive-In	2603 N. East	1951	n/a	Open	Open in 2007
R&W Drive-In	4805 N. Grand River	1956	1958	Pat's Pantry (closed)	aka:Taylors DI 1959-63 aka: Wel-Com DI 1965-69
Rodeo Drive-In	3908 W. Saginaw	1961*	n/a	Subway restaurant	Demo'd
Satellite Drive-In	2650 E. Michigan	1960	1972	n/a	n/a
Satellite Drive-In	5414 S. Cedar	1959	1960	K-Mart lot	Demo'd
Starlite Root Beer Drv-In	2110 N. Larch	1958	1958	Thai restaurant	Bldg remains?
Sully's Drive-In	3920 W. Saginaw	1968*	1975	Wendy's restaurant	Demo'd
Swannee Drive-In	2015 S. Washington	1960	1967	party store	demo'd
Trio Drive-In	4113 S. Cedar	1955	1967	House of Ing restaurant	Demo'd
Varsity Drive-In	1217 E. Grand River (E.Lans)	1949	1994*	Spartan Sports Den	Demo's
Westgate Drive-In	2704 W. Michigan	1951	1973	n/a	Demo'd
Yogi's Drive-In	2124 S. Cedar	1960	1960	n/a	n/a

Drive-In's are not dead! To find an Open Drive-In Restaurant in Michigan, visit Michigandriveins.com.