Yesterdays Drive-In — Restaurant in Carmi

We're lucky to live so close to this family-friendly drive-in restaurant! Delicious, varied menu with something for everyone. We love the fish. It's battered and cooked to order. We're also fans of the slaw, which has been popular to diners since the 1950s. You can get a fish basket or sandwich. You can't go wrong.

Fresh barbecue sandwiches are always available. On the weekends, Yesterday's offers delicious brisket and ribs fresh from the on-site smoker.

The restaurant is exclusively carhop now. There was a small dining area prior to the pandemic. There are picnic tables available for warmer weather. You can always call in your order and carry-out.

If you want lunch, my advice is to call ahead and pick it up. The restaurant is crazy busy around noon.

My only negatives would be, as with many places, there is a lot of staff turnover. Be patient with the carhops. The food is with the wait. Also, the restaurant closes early evening, so keep an eye on the clock!

If you're in Carmi, stop by and try...

Yesterday's has never pretended to be anything it isn't. The food is hearty and greasy, tasting exactly like you expect. Some people don't like it, but they're usually expecting the flash of a cooperate restaurant. This is a small business in a smaller-by-the-year town. It's a hole in the wall in a lot of ways, and that should earn it a badge of honor in and of itself. The car hops work hard and deserve every tip they get and more. Considering all food is made fresh to order, start to finish, they're incredibly quick. You may get on the road faster going through a fast food place; but if you're hoping to slow down a step and enjoy your meal, even though you still have somewhere to be, Yesterday's provides that option. To me, there's 4 (still open) businesses that are synonymous with life in Carmi. 1) DiMaggio(specifically the Carmi location). 2) Yesterday's. 3) John Brown Melons. 4) Little Giant. Whether you're from Carmi or just stopping through, Yesterday's is a spot you just can't...

This place is a gem tucked away in Carmi. The workers are diligent and do care and work hard. You won't find a huge staff here though because it's not like other fast food chain restaurants, yet they still often outperform in service and food quality consistency. What you have here is a handful of elite workers on shift at a time. You really need to taste the burgers for yourself. It has an old school taste to it and I would encourage you to get more than one burger since although tasty they run on the smaller side. That's just the burgers though.....try a HUGE fish sandwich! The fried fish is bigger than the actual bun and made fresh! I still have not had a bad fish that has had that "funky" taste in years....not ONCE. Definitely a go to for fish lovers!You really need to check the menu options out because there is a lot of variety such as chili cheese fries, fried mushrooms, coney island(hotdog),mozzarella sticks and so on. God bless all those workers...