Clyde's Drive-In — Restaurant in Moran Township

Let me start by saying that the Resteraunt was very busy the day we went; so with some grace in mind I’ll share my experience.

When we went this place was packed. There was no discernible line and the staff seemed to be picking people at random to take orders from. Understandably tough to deal with that volume; but still unpleasant after driving for hours.

When we did eventually get to order we were told it would take 45 minutes to get our food. Which seemed odd since we ordered 4 cheeseburgers and they had 6 people working, but we decided to stick it out because the place had been talked up to us; and we thought it might be nice to support a local Resteraunt instead of going to a chain. My wife waiting for our name to be called and I took the kids outside so they could play while we waited.

After waiting roughly an hour we finally had our name called. During the wait the staff kept giving us odd looks and I have no idea why. Many other people were waiting. My wife sat in a chair and waited and said nothing to them. Not sure what they wanted from us. Or if they were having a bad day.

When we did get our food it turns out they made 2 of the 4 burgers wrong. Mine was correct - but it was somehow cold, not like it had been sitting out a few minute but like actually just room temperature. The burger might have been better if it was hot but as is it was mediocre and I would rate it slightly above McDonald’s but below Culver’s and no where near even a chain sit-down Resteraunt. The French fries were mediocre as well. I did like the coffee they served me!

After we ate my wife decided to go back in and order a milkshake. She had to wave down three different people to finally get someone to make it for her (place was no longer busy) and glared at her when she paid them cash (with a tip). Separately and right before we left I went back in to grab a drink for the road; and was tested the same; they gave me dirty looks and seemed weirdly reluctant to let me buy a root beer. No idea why they wouldn’t want to make more money off of us.

Overall I got a weird vibe from the staff: like something else was going on with them. Who knows maybe it was just to stressful to deal with a busy day.

I would not recommend this as a place to stop, I had a poor experience here and there are many other...

We were traveling with my Dad and he suggested we stop here for lunch. He said it he hadn't been there in years but he remembered the burgers being delicious so we stopped. There were no spots available in the car port, so we went in. There aren't a lot of seats. We were a little thrown off. It was so chaotic, but they were working their butts off. A young woman asked us almost immediately what we wanted. My husband had to use the restroom and was headed that way. I yelled for him to come back and told him we had to order. Again, the chaos through me off and her energy was giving us a order right now feeling. We ordered in a rush and the woman said ok check back in 30 minutes. It all happened so fast that I meant to order mushrooms with cocktail sauce and ordered onion rings with cocktail sauce by mistake. There wad no way I was going to ask them to fix my mistake. I forgot to order drinks and they never asked so I had to go back in. I asked for ice tea. Paid and went back outside. After 30 minutes I went back in and stood there and was ignored. I felt so stupid. I felt in the way and embarrassed. The young woman running all over the place didn't acknowledge me, so I said hi its been 30 minutes. I had no idea if I was supposed to ask them or if the orders setting somewhere and I'm supposed to go check? Talk about unnecessary anxiety. Bottom line, the burgers are good, it was an old cute burger joint atmosphere that you can get the grease burgers we sometimes crave. No more money than a large combo meal at a fast food chain. But the service needs a better attitude. At least make eye contact and give better directions such as try back in 30 minutes and let us know when you pop back in....Or better yet, get a dry erase board and put the names of those waiting for completed orders on it. You ask the customer name then hollar it when the order is done once and that's it. If we were outside when our name was called, how are we supposed to know?! It just isn't that hard to be kind. I would also suggest the one cook who announced with rolling eyes how busy they were and how she would rather go home and get drunk...to just go. Because those of us waiting for a burger for 30 minutes would rather you didn't obviously hate your job. Just...

I have mixed feelings about this place. Mostly positive, though. The major negatives I must note are the wait, cash-only, and the burger I ate. The issue with success is that this place had a 40 minute wait, not counting the line to even order at the counter. It's a good issue for them to have, and regulars we talked to said that there's always a wait like that. Which makes their being cash-only questionable, since they obviously have the customer base to deal with it and could benefit from the convenience. Then there's the hamburger I ate, which was pretty average in every way. I'm told, by the regulars we met, that I should have ordered the $10 bison burger.

But let me tell you about what this place does well. The people behind the counter are extremely friendly, even if a place like this could easily lean into the gruff attitude stereotype roadside diners that look like it have. If you choose to dine just outside the place instead of takeout or staying in your car at the drive-in portion, there are large tables that make larger groups possible as well as sharing with other small groups to make new friends. The fried vegetables are very good, based on our ordering the beans and the pickles. (The pickles are fried as spears, which I see as less common but I happened to love.) The ranch sauce has a little kick to it, which serves the veggies well.

Then there's the kids meals! These were sold in fold-up cardboard classic cars. Baskets of food sat in the car seats. Once the basket is removed, they can find fruit snacks tucked away in the engine compartment. My girls found this exciting. And they continued playing with their cars later.

I want to recommend this place just a little more, but I just can't. Despite some great things about it, I can't walk people into a 40 minute wait for what's basically a burger and...