The Parkette Drive-In in Lexington, KY has become something of a local landmark. Originally opened in 1957, the place was like so many other drive-ins across the country. It was a place where a family could pull their car in, order through a box and have their food delivered without ever stepping foot on the pavement.
In 2008 a couple of brothers came along and rescued the then closed Parkette, restoring it to what one could easily believe to be its ‘50s style glamour. Since then it has gotten a reputation among the locals not only for its food but for the kitschy reflection of a bygone era.
Located at 1230 E. New Circle Rd. in Lexington and on the web at http://theparkette.com/, the Parkette had its reputation enhanced when Guy Fieri brought his Diner’s Drive-Ins and Dives to town to feature it on the show. The show highlighted the restaurant’s Poor Boy (which is really a burger), it’s chili dog and it’s chicken, it is the Double Cheeseburger that supposedly made the original restaurant’s reputation.
Burger
Not too long ago Mark was down in Lexington meeting with a few old college friends and decided to stop at the Parkette for lunch.
The Parkette is everything that you would expect from a classic ‘50s era drive-in. I pulled into one of the parking spots and read the menu posted on the kiosk setting beside me. On the menu was the Double Cheeseburger and that’s what I was going to have. I pressed a button and immediately got a reply. I ordered away, adding tater tots as my side over the more conventional French fries.
I remember as a kid going to places like this. My dad would drive us there and we would happily juggle our food as we sat in the car and ate. Frisch’s was the most popular such restaurant but there were a few others that weren’t part of a chain. About the only place where you can get this kind of service these days outside of the retro-chic places like the Parkette is Sonic Burger.
My food came very quickly and I indeed had to do that juggling act, balancing the basket on my lap. Sure, I was taking picture with my iPhone for this blog but the nostalgia was kind of running thin. It’s little wonder that we as a society decided to forsake the comfy, yet annoying, confines of eating in our car in exchange for standing in line and sitting in a booth.
The burger was good. There was nothing special about it but then I imagine that when I was a kid there wasn’t much special about any of the burgers I ate at similar restaurants. There was good flavor and everything was fresh.
It would have been nice to say that the burger at the Parkette was one of the best I’d ever had but truth be told, the nostalgia of the place is the real reason to go there. Granted my friends who live in the area and who eat there a lot say that the fried chicken is very, very good and that when you go inside it seems as though everybody knows everybody. In any case, it’s worth heading to the Parkette Drive-In if you are ever in the Lexington area, if for no other reason than to enjoy a trip back in time and experience the way “fast food” use to be.
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