Parker's Drive-in and Catering — Restaurant in Lone Oak

We recently visited Paducah, Kentucky for the first time. We live in Louisville and would rather get out of town on Derby weekend, so this year it was Paducah. After doing some record shopping we asked "Where's a good place to go for lunch" and there was a unanimous "Parker's" from standers by. It was also, literally, about 3 blocks away.

There's a menu board mounted behind the counter and they can hand you one so you don't have to squint your eyes to see all they have to offer. And this menu is ENORMOUS

Parker's is a very cool throwback to the car hops of the 50s and early 60s. You can order outside on the speaker or go inside for the full-on experience. The inside is decorated with movie and music memorabilia and neon. Lots of neon. If you're eating inside you order at the counter, they give you a number, and you find a seat. The menu is hand-held/bar food. Burgers, hotdogs, onion rings, and fries, and a variety of sandwiches and a HUGE selection of sides. My wife had a mushroom and swiss burger, I had your basic cheese burger. Our sides were onion rings and fries.

Our food was delivered hot, fresh, and accurate within ten minutes. My wife's burger/onion rings came on a basket shaped like a guitar. #AWESOME!!

The food was tasty and delicious. I asked for tomato on my cheeseburger and they were able to add it, but was sliced probably 3/4 of an inch thick! It made the burger look a little lopsided, but it was still good.

The staff was friendly and didn't look at me funny when I asked for a side of mayonnaise for my fries (yea I'm that guy).

The dining room was authentically decorated, like I said, with vintage movie and music stuff down to the chrome chairs and the soda fountain seat with silver, twirly seats...even the floor tiles were like something you'd see in a movie from the 50s.

Our first visit was a great experience and we had a lot of fun despite unrelenting rain. If we get to Paducah again, Parker's Drive In is definitely our lunch...

Some restaurants you love to walk into. Parkers Drive-In & ‘50s Diner is one, with its multi-colored neon lights, glossy purple booths, silver ice cream chairs and round Formica tables, spotless purple, pink and black tile, framed prints of ’57 Chevys and other classic hotrods, Elvis and James Dean, everything ‘50s plus two Pinball machines! I was 12 in the mid-1950s when Elvis swivel-hipped his way into our lives and he crooned love songs, and everybody-get-up-and-jitterbug rock and roll from our local diner’s jukebox as I squandered my entire allowance week after week on the pinball machine. In the ‘50s, before McDonalds invented fast food, diners were everywhere, but I know from experience that Parkers is cleaner, more cheerful and better decorated than any of the “real” diners that dotted the local landscape back then.

Parkers’ catfish filet sandwich is huge: eight inches Iong. I know because I took out my tape measure and measured. And the price is right: sandwich and fries for only $6.99. I added slaw for an extra 99 cents, and iced tea, so my tab was $9.45. The fish was crunchy good, but the fries were only so-so, and the slaw was watery but the tea could be the best in Paducah and Ricky Nelson singing “Just Ask Your Heart” followed by oldies like What’s your Name?, This Should Go on Forever, Sincerely, Whole Lotta loving’, and and My Prayer made up for any deficiencies in my order. My eight-year-old great granddaughter and I recently watched the classic movie, “Stand by Me” which was set in the 1950s and featured songs like those at Parkers. “Granny,” she said, “I liked the movie a lot, but I LOVED the music.” Floyd Cramer’s “Last Date” was echoing across the parking lot when I left the restaurant, thinking about what she said. The music is reason enough to go back. That, and the fish sandwich and the feel-good environment which is much, much better than the original diners...

Well... this used to be my favorite place to eat. The food and service was always spectacular. However, the last few visits have notably declined. This particular visit saw something that just had to be shared. My food is getting cold while I'm typing this, because I literally cant eat it. I will try to share a photo of my issue but idk if it will let me. I ordered 2 Reubens (fries instead of chips & 2 drinks). First, 9+9+2+2=30 here. I asked for fries INSTEAD of chips but was charged for both and given one. My Reuben was a disaster... all of the contents were in the paper, not even on the bread. The sandwich, usually cut in half, was 1 heel flipped upside down and slathered in sauce, causing EVERYTHING to slide completely out of the sandwich BEFORE I EVER GOT TO IT (meaning it happened in the restaurant and they sent it out anyway). I asked for extra pickles, and received NO pickles. I am having to eat this sandwich with a fork, like a salad, and using the bread like a crouton (it is actually as crunchy as a crouton). I dont know the new owner, but RD would have a heart attack if he saw this. I'm sorry, but this is JUST SORRY! The fries were (before I began this review) cold, greasy, and barely salted. We ordered BASKETS and didnt get any slaw (I guess they dont have BASKETS anymore, would have been nice to know when I ordered a BASKET). No ketchup for fries, but I guess that's my fault, I didn't ask for any. The food... well... soggy or crunchy bread... cold fries... but the INTERIOR of my sandwich WAS DELICIOUS, I just had to eat it out of the pocket with a fork (good thing I had one...