Cookie's Drive In — Restaurant in Sacramento

Cookie's Drive In is an old fashion hamburger stand. It opened back in 1956 in East Sacramento on 57th and H Street, walking distance from CSU Sacramento's front entrance on J Street. It is awesome that they are still in business after all these years. It is divey, old school.

Their current menu is huge. But the pricing is not. They offer the classic burger in 10 different ways four exotic burgers (ostrich, buffalo, elk, and wild boar), four different kinds of vegetarian burgers, 20 sandwiches (includes pastrami, Philly steak, catfish, salmon) , teriyaki bowls (chicken or beef), shrimp basket, chicken strips, fish n chips, and dessert offerings (frosties, swirlies (aka soft serve), shakes (with malt), freezes, and banana split).

I luved the French fries. They reminded me of McDs. Same size. Crisp, golden fried fries. Fried to the perfect fineness. Touch of salt. Mmm. A small size cost $3.80. The baby burger ran about $5. Solid basic burger. It has chopped lettuce and pickles.The taco $3.80. I enjoyed it and hubs did not. The shell is a fried flour tortilla, he thought the shell and meat was too greasy. I disagreed. The meat was saucy and not greasy. I found the meat to be flavorful, and no not in a fatty greasy flavor kind of way. It had flavor from the seasoning. Sloppy goodness. Same taco, two different perspectives.

This place is take out. Patrons can call in orders ahead of time. Time saver.Expect long waits during peak rush hours They have a few tables outside right along the parking lot, and to the ordering line and folks waiting. It gets awkwardly cozy crowded. Plus another important note is there are...

Honestly, I was a little shocked in a couple of ways. First and foremost, by-and-large, we are fairly past the pandemic. But not according to these guys. They are still very over the top with precautions. I only say this because it makes the service they offer take longer and is more complex. I feel bad for them. You can’t go in. You have to order from outside. It’s hard to hear them because they double masked up. On top of this, if you can’t pay cash, they charge you a “credit card usage convenience fee”. 🤦🏼‍♂️ Nothing comes in a meal, it’s all a-la-carte. Fries don’t come with burgers. They cost extra. Burgers are roughly $9 each. The place has very little parking. The building is run down. The signs need to be repaired and painted so that you can read. The portion on the burgers are small. 1/5 pound, 1/4 pound… anyhow, the positive in all of this was that my grease burger was decent tasting. Overall, its spendy, low quality, not easy transaction, not quick, but at least you’ll get a decent hamburger...

I can't believe I used to drive by Cookie's every week and not stop in to try it. Since they're known primarily as a burger place and I'm vegetarian, I just assumed that it was another grilled meat drive-in. However, they do have Beyond burger on the menu, which was excellent: juicy, tender, loaded with flavor. (Vegans, ask them to leave off the cheese if you order their "everything" burger, which also includes tomato, onion, and lettuce.) I didn't order a milkshake, another house specialty, but the friends who were with me said theirs were "the best." It does get extremely busy between noon and 1:30 p.m. (You put in your order at the window and wait for them to call you when it's done, which seems to confuse some people. It's not fast food, everything is cooked from scratch.) The small indoor dining room is closed at this time, though there are tables and...