Whether you’re craving a double bacon cheeseburger served
carside, a classic Hoosier State tenderloin or a towering ice cream cone nearly
a foot tall, this pocket of southern Indiana delivers the tastes (and the
atmosphere) that’ll take you back. Vintage eats never go out of style.
If you’re planning a visit to French Lick Resort this
summer, build in some time to stop at some of these vintage eateries that are
well worth the short drive from the resort. These are the sort of places you
can still put a coin in the jukebox. Or walk up to the window and order an ice
cream cone. We’ve got more vintage experiences to tell you about in a blog
later this week — but we’re hungry, so we’ll start our vintage series with some
throwback eats.
Bo-Mac’s Drive In
Established by an attorney and doctor by the name of Bob and
Mac, Bo-Mac’s still maintains the type of old-school, drive-in vibe as it did
when it opened in 1957. Current owner Cecil Ragsdale grew up in the place when
his parents and grandparents owned it, and he remembers the days when customers
would be there until 3:00 or 4:00 in the morning.
These days, they’re open until 9:00 on weekdays and 10:00 on
weekends, and they’re closed on Mondays and Tuesdays to prepare for the rush
that arrives later in the week. In a busy 5-day week during the summer, it’s
not uncommon for Bo-Mac’s to move 450 gallons of ice cream. It’s all delivered
right to your seat outside or your car window.
“The cars are 3-4 deep, basically where you can’t get
anybody else on the lot. It’s that busy. It’s unbelievable,” Cecil says. “People,
they come from everywhere. Bedford, Springs Valley, Washington, Jasper,
Bloomington.”
Stop on the way:
Swing by Bo-Mac’s if you’re making a visit to Gasthof Amish Village, West Boggs Park, or stop by for the town’s Catfish Festival
over Fourth of July weekend if you want to see Bo-Mac’s really hopping.
Birdseye Dairy Barn
Where to find it:
It’s a little off the beaten path, but the population of Birdseye, Indiana (24
minutes from French Lick Resort) seems to double on warm summer nights
outside the Dairy
Barn.
You’ve heard of footlong subs and footlong coney dogs, and
(almost) foot-high ice cream is a novelty that draws folks to the Dairy Barn
from as far away as Evansville and Louisville. If you order a large cone, just
be aware of what you’re in for.
“It’s 12 swirls above the cone,” says Betty Giddens, the Dairy
Barn owner going on 16 years. In other words, it’s 10-11 inches tall. Ask for a
cup to catch it on those really sultry summer evenings. “Everything you get
here is big.”
The medium (8 swirls) is still enormous, the small (5
swirls) can still be ambitious, and even the baby size (2 swirls) will satisfy
your ice cream fix. Named “Best of Indiana” ice cream twice in nine years, the
Dairy Barn serves Prairie Farms’ custom recipe, as “they fix our mix special
for the Dairy Barn, and it’s always been like that,” Betty says.
Betty is known around here simply as Grandma — “some of my
employees probably don’t even know my real name,” she jokes — and that’s just
part of how the the small-town, old-school vibe permeates here. Another reason:
they don’t take credits cards (only cash or check). Running credit cards would
back things up, Betty explained, and the lines already extend back into the
gravel parking lot most nights.
“We try to keep it as old-fashioned as possible.”
On the menu: Aside
from their famous vanilla, chocolate and swirl soft serve, there’s flavor burst
ice cream (everything from cotton candy to green apple) plus shakes, malts,
sundaes, dipped cones, floats and slushies. Or go big with a “Garbage Can,” which
is like a banana split in a cup.
They’ve got a savory side to go with their sweet tooth, with
loaded pizza, burgers, hot dogs and Stromboli. As you’d expect from any good
Indiana breaded tenderloin — especially one from the Dairy Barn — the
tenderloin practically fits the size of the plate.
Stop on the way: After
exploring Holiday World & Splashin’
Safari, the Dairy Barn is the ideal way to end a long day. It’s also in the
neighborhood of Lincoln
State Park and Dubois County Bombers baseball games at Huntingburg’s League Stadium.
Shakeburger
“My husband and I met here,” Rachel explains. “I worked here and we met here. We just couldn’t hardly bear to see it torn down, so we fixed it back up.”
From when Rachel started working here in the early 1980s, “the atmosphere was probably about the same as it is today – just laid-back, everybody knows everybody that comes in. We made shakes and ice cream and breaded tenderloins and chicken, and it was a boomin’ place.”
To give you an idea of how boomin’: The first day they reopened was November 29 — not really peak drive-in season — and they still served 800 people that day.
On the menu: Go for the hand-pressed breaded tenderloin, homemade onion rings and top it off with a peanut butter shake. Can’t go wrong with a broasted chicken dinner, too.
Hand-dipped ice cream is new to the menu, and if you’re feeling like something a little different, they serve a grilled peanut butter sandwich now. And if you’re in the mood for something really different, try a favorite of the locals — broasted potatoes with Shakeburger’s homemade tartar sauce. (Sounds odd, tastes surprisingly good.)
Homemade broasted chicken and hand-cut broasted potatoes are two Shakeburger specialties.
“There’s just very few little vintage 1950s restaurants still around,” Rachel says. “We like to pump our ’50s music outside for everybody to enjoy – sit outside in the sunshine and eat your ice cream. Customers just kind of like walking in and walking up to the window and ordering. It’s a little different than running through the drive-thru, and I think more personal.”
Stop on the way: Pay a visit to Shakeburger on the way to Spring Mill State Park. Or, reward yourself after a hike at Pioneer Mothers Memorial Forest or completing the Rugged Maniac obstacle race on August 31 at Paoli Peaks.