Outside of the fully-automated restaurants found on public-domain clip-reels, the most daring innovation on the restaurant front was the mid-20th century idea of a meal served right to your car, pre-drive-thru. It was a great time to be a fan of portable hamburgers, French fries, and a shake, all for usually fifty cents or possibly less.
The drive-ins, as they were called, were a booming business, but now—outside of a Sonic or the occasional small town haunt—they've left a greasy corpse.
Fortunately, one of these small town drive-ins has stood the test of time – Shawnee’s Brown Derby Drive-In (1830 North Kickapoo).
Located between OBU and Shawnee High, all you need at the Brown Derby is a date to the sock hop, or in my case, a mannequin named Becky, to get an authentic drive-in experience. For my meal, I went with a time-warped classic – a burger, tots and a shake, all for about 10-bucks.
Normally, I would never begin a review by talking about a regular milkshake, but this one—the Brown Derby Shake ($3.65)—is far from regular and truly magnificent. Out of the three flavors available, I chose chocolate.