Simonton Lake Drive-In — Restaurant in Indiana

Elkhart Indiana is a happening place. The traveler has three choices for dinner: the new, few and boldly priced restaurants in historic downtown; every chain restaurant on the planet except Bonefish Grill; and an eclectic mix of grills, bars, traditional, ancient places, and so on.

Read the reviews, virtually every restaurant in Elkhart gets 5 stars and a glowing review. From Texas Roadhouse to Chubby Trout (avoid). For the last hour and a half, as we approached Elkhart by car, we searched for the best place for dinner. We were confounded. So we got to our down-at-the-heels hotel, opened a bottle of wine in the room, fed the dog, and relaxed until sheer hunger forced us out.

On our way to some other place, we passed the Simonton Lake Drive In and immediately did a U turn and pulled into space # 8 under the open lanai roof.

There’s a menu on a lighted board next to your car door. Decide what you want, press a button on the menu, send your order in via voice to the cheerful girl on the loudspeaker and voila, a few minutes later out come your two half pound Big Burgers with melted American cheese, lettuce and mayonnaise, plus crispy fries and your personal bottle of Heinz ketchup. We finished the bottle of wine off as we ate.

The young women serving - runners, really - were superb. They knew exactly when to stop placing food trays on the car window due to the gathering storm and approaching high winds. Not all the cars at the drive in are sheltered by the lanai roof. The young ladies served the cars open to the rain without hesitation, America is alive and well with young people like this coming up through the ranks.

If you are ever in Elkhart, and you only have one night, hit the Simonton Lake drive in - and hope for a side of classic mid-west American thundershowers to go with your burger, fries...

I was on my way to Flippin Cow, and on my way I drove by this location, I thought maybe I should try the burger dining experience here instead so I turned around and pulled into a spot.

Sure, I could have stopped at Buffalo Wild Wings or some other chain or franchise. I didn't have any feedback from any locals or anyone at my hotel, so I didn't know what to expect as far as price and value. While ordering, I received a tornado/thunderstorm warning. I figured it was no big deal. So, I ordered from the menu and chose the Bacon Cheeseburger and a Drive-in Chicago Dog. While waiting, I took a few pictures of the location, and not more than a few minutes later, the light sprinkles turned into high winds and some heavy rain. These poor women were definitely not dressed for the downpour, and I wasn't prepared for any storm surprises.

The lady handed me my food, and I was highly surprised by how light my bag weighed. We all know how it feels to spend $20 on wrapped and bagged food to go and judge its heft for content value. The burger and hot dog literally weighed about the same, if not less than a Carl's Jr. Famous Star.

I got back to the hotel and opened it up in front of the desk clerk, and we were quite surprised at how small the burger and dog was. I guess I must be too used to Portillo's, In N Out, and other places. Yes, I was disappointed, but I can't deny the great customer service and the fact it's a mom and pop business in a competitive arena.

So, in conclusion... it was decent tasting food with excellent customer service while providing the continued experience of in-car dining. Give them a try. They deserve a visit if you're...

Accidentally got off the toll highway to find food during a road trip and came across this nostalgic drive-in diner, the kind that they attach the food tray to your window.

Service was great and there were alot of people there in their cars or bicycles. This seemed like the Happing place to go hang out.

We ordered the Mushroom and Swiss burger, Chicken Fritters (aka Chicken strips), fries and onion rings. I thought my burger was a little dry, but the mushrooms were good. The Chicken Fritters were amazing and I would highly recommend them. We got chili and ranch dipping sauce. When I ordered the chili dipping sauce, I thought I was ordering a sweet chili sauce, nope this is actual chili, you know the kind with beef in it. It wasn't what I was expecting, but it was awesome!! I have never been served chili as a dipping sauce.

The fries were good and fresh but not salted, they provide salt packets so you can salt to taste. Next time I would pass on the onion rings, they remind of of the frozen onion rings rather than fresh made ones.

Only thing that would have made the experience better, is if the waitresses were wearing...