Pete's Drive-In — Restaurant in Roseburg

A friend drove me down from Eugene specifically to get a cheeseburger here. She loves them and I'm very happy for her. To me though, there was nothing special about it.

We arrived about 15 minutes before closing and it took us a few minutes to decide. It took maybe 5 minutes to get our food. So it was fairly quick. It's a drive in, so we were parked and eating our food in the car. The place closed while we were still eating our food. Not much longer had we just finished our food when one of the staff came out and asked us if we could leave because they were closed. It's a drive in, so not sure what the big deal is. But we complied. I knocked a star off for that.

The food was ok. Obviously my friend loved her burger because that's why she goes there. She also ordered a side of Mac and cheese which she described as giant macaroni noodles with some sort of velveta sauce. It was edible, but not much more.

I ordered a burger and the server asked if I wanted onions and tomatoes. I said no. So my burger definitely came with onions and tomatoes. I took them off without complaint the burger itself was ok. Nothing special about it in my opinion. I've had worse. I've had better. I wouldn't drive from Eugene to go here though. I also ordered onion rings. The rings were also just ok. Their sauce, which I think she called goop sauce seemed to me nothing more than mayo and ketchup mixed together.

The staff were nice until they asked us to leave. I didn't see anything wrong with us being parked there, but again we complied. Overall, I gave it 3 stars. I knocked one off for them asking us to leave right as we just finished and another because I couldn't give the food 5 stars.

Also to note, the restroom was fairly...

Ugh. My memories of Pete's go back a ways--so far back that I don't think I've eaten there in around 20 years--former owners, certainly.

It's unlikely that I would have loved the fries from back then as much. I remember them as being shoestring and super greasy, so in that respect I enjoyed the fries this time more, I think. Thicker and certainly less greasy, though the amount provided was subpar.

But the burger ... My goodness, the burger. I ordered the mushroom/bacon/swiss burger and I hadn't anticipated that it wouldn't have any other toppings on it. It was just a bun and those items. I'm not sure there was sauce on it, even.

Furthermore, the burger looked smashed. You know those "what's advertised/what you get" pictures, where they show a beautiful, delicious burger, but then the burger received looks like the cook mashed it between their palms first? That's what this burger looked like. Smashed flat.

And then there was the service. There were only two young women working the customers, which is probably enough, but as other customers sat with their food or waiting for it, we waited about ten minutes before someone took our order. After we had finished we waited another ten before our tray was taken, as the employees came out to do one task individually (as opposed to bringing food, taking an order, and bussing trays in one trek); I don't blame the women working, it probably breaks down to a morale issue.

But honestly I wondered if I was expected to bus my own tray. I have no qualms with doing so, but I wasn't sure of procedure.

Anyway, the fries were the only good part of...

I think this place must be one of my favorite places to eat for two reasons the first reason is it looks like an old 1950s car hop, I mean they even come out take your order and serve you at your car. They have always been very fast to come over and take your order, and ate more than happy to make sure your meal is done the way you want it. And they usually have drinks like they did at the car hops way beck then. I used to love coming in for a coke with vanilla or syrup mixed in with it. Nine times out of 10 times that we go down there we will see an old vehicle. You can wander over near it ( being respectful of the vehicle) and the owners are always real nice, they let you go over and check it out and they tell you the history of it and have always answered all my questions . They alway keep it clean outside and the bathrooms have never been neglected. They have a very laid back and welcoming atmosphere there. The second reason we love this place is their broasted chicken. My mom and I go to Pete's Drive-In about every couple of weeks and we always get their 8 piece broasted chicken. It's nice and juicy, and always hot when we get it. I think our burnt tongues can testify to the fact that it's too good to wait till you're home it has nice crisp skin and enough spices to make it taste really awesome but not enough to overpower or burn your tongue. We have tried other menu items and the only thing we've been disappointed by Was the removal of mashed potatoes from...