Hayden Drive-In — Restaurant in Poplar Bluff

Today was my family anniversary so we wanted to do something a little special. My wife and I searched online for a good BBQ place to celebrate and we found Hayden's Drive - In and read all sort of glowing reviews on here, so we decided to try it. My wife ordered their BBQ plate which consisted of a sad little pork BBQ sandwich, a small wilted salad, and cold frozen fries. Her BBQ sandwich tasted a bit off and has her a bit ill at the moment. I had a double bacon deluxe cheeseburger and a side of chili cheese fries, my burger was good (only one patty with 2 slices of bacon which is why its a double I suppose and have no idea what made it a deluxe) but now my stomach is feeling a bit ill now too, they had run out of chili for my fries which came very late and cold with a barely melted slice of cheese on it. My daughter ordered the fish plate and liked the fish, but she also had a side of onion rings which were frozen and came cold. We also ordered the fried pickles which were very good, but not good enough for us to return and try again. After all that pretty nasty food we wound up paying 32 dollars and some change for a craptastic meal. Do yourselves a favor and don't listen to the other reviews and skip this place. I feel bad for posting such a bad review for a place that's been in business for over 65 years. I really do hope they can turn this place around either with a new cook, new management or both. I do have a tip for them and that is, to please stop serving frozen food and make everything...

Went on the weekend with my wife, my four children, and I. Took 25 minutes to get someone to even come to the table and get our orders (hadn't even gotten drinks yet!), and that's only because I walked up to the counter and asked for help. Food was delicious, but took almost an hour. I asked for a manager and she told me there wasn't one (??). I guess the manager thought taking the weekends off- arguably one of their busiest times- would be a fine idea. This is what happens when you have a handful of high school kids managing the place on the weekends. :) My wife worked here as her first job, and Jewel (previous owners) would have never found this to be acceptable service. She ran a tight ship and it showed with terrific food and outstanding service. The waitress was apologetic and clearly overwhelmed. Again, this was just a high school kid. These sorts of issues start from the top down- the manager should have been there paying attention to this stuff. I told her the service is definitely going downhill and she did apologize. Since there was no management oversight, I still left her a decent tip. Get a manager in there to clean house. Food is delicious as always, so we'll be back. On nostalgia and still delicious food... three stars.

We'll be back, and hope to see some...

Okay food. The fish had bones in it. someone should warn the customer, and the pork sandwich looked like it had been sitting out for days and microwaved right before plated. This is what happens when you let teenage children run a restaurant unsupervised. There was no adult manager or supervisor. The teenagers acted very unprofessional, yelling at each, playing practical jokes, never asking the customer if their food is okay or even right. With a manager present, they can make sure that the customer is warned about the bones, and that the customer received the right meal. We did not. We ordered the pork plater, we received a pork sandwhich with old, dried pork and when we asked about it they boldly confessed that it was not what we ordered. However, to make it up to us they offered to give us a side and toast that we would no doubtly have to pay for. This is poor business management and it saddens me because of the good memories that I have as a child. I do not recommend, and I will not be back. A adult manager must be present for me to return or...