JD's Drive-In — Restaurant in Appleton

OK, this is a bit long but I hope it will be worth the read. A couple of weeks ago, our 8 year old grandson from Chicago spent the week with us in Menasha. The day following an ice cream visit to JD’s in Appleton, we realized that our grandson, Walter, could not find his glasses. Now, because this is the 3rd pair of glasses he’s lost in the last year, we were overjoyed to find that he left them at JD’s and they were returned to us. Now, a few days ago, my son, Walter’s dad, called and asked if I had found Walter’s wallet. Searching through my house & car, I didn’t find the wallet & expected it to be gone forever. Walter and Dad were both very sad as there were eight hard earned $ in the wallet, library card, family photos & other things an 8 year old might carry. Fast forward to earlier today...I received a call from my son, Walter’s dad, saying that he got a call from their Chicago bank, who had gotten a call from a restaurant in Appleton, WI (JD’s) looking for the owner named Walter __ of a wallet with $8 in it. As you can imagine, we were all happy & relieved that the wallet was found. I was especially elated & impressed that, after waiting a couple of weeks for the owner to claim the wallet, Joe from JD’s took the time to call the bank on Walter’s savings account card, who in turn tracked down Walter’s dad to report the missing wallet as found. It’s a simple story yet, for myself & Walter’s dad, it was an act well above & beyond what might be expected by other establishments. THANK YOU Joe, from JD’s Diner in Appleton. Well played,...

We have been going a lot to JD’s, once a week for our granddaughter to get ice cream because it’s always been good in the past and to eat a little something. The last months of our noticing it’s not it’s not as clean at times, one time there was like a half of inch dust build up on the window sills. Anyway we went there yesterday and they didn’t make the sandwich with bacon and the works as ordered. Mistakes happen and that’s fine. The sandwich was already bit into. We told them about it and instead of the owner giving us a new sandwich, he had his young workers come and ask us for the sandwich back so they could go fry the bacon and put it on the sandwich. Meantime the sandwich gets cold if they did that so we said that would not be good. Usually places would just let the customer keep the old and give a new for the mistake. I tried to explain to the owner but he said he just only wanted to give us the bacon. We asked for our money back and they gave us money back for just the bacon, like 55 cents. We said no, sorry, please take the food and give us the full refund. They gave us the full refund and the owner seemed still confused. It has been a nice place in the past but unfortunately the owner is getting old and should think to retire and enjoy his golden years. We went to Culver’s and wish we would have thought to go there before this instead, Culver’s was perfect food and serve was good,...

As a professional food critic, I eat at many places all over the USA. I recently was asked to eat at JD's and critique them on service and food quality for a fast food restaurant by an independent firm. I did. Boy am I glad I stopped. If the owner wasn't a drill sergeant in the army, he should have been. Those workers are drill sergeant tight in their workings. You notice this as soon as you walk in the door. Focused and communicative folks. No long wait, order is quick and precise. they even bring your food to your table for you with a polite and joyful smile.

On to the food off the menu. I chose to take an everyday item they make often and I chose the double cheese double burger I saw advertised at the counter. Juicy, piping hot, well melted cheese and the works to boot. They made one mistake and only brought me 1 burger when I ordered 2. they very quickly brought me another and apologized for my inconvenience. I thought as long as I am in WI I better try the fried cheese curds along with a fry and a milkshake. I must say the quality and temperature of the side items was perfect. Not to mention their very healthy portion sizes for the price.

If you have not tried JD's, you must try it soon. You will be glad you did. Your children will thank you too. Thank You JD staff for making me feel very welcome and...