A&W Restaurants (root beer taste)
- Thread starter M3MEPLEASE
- Start date
Agreed on the taste difference. I still remember when Marshalltown had one until about 20 years ago. Being a little kid I can still remember the the glass mugs they used to serve it in and the taste was something I haven't experienced since then in the cans.
The Indianola A&W was from a different part of the franchise's history. It still has the name of the owner front and center, GIBS. There are pictures from when it was just a shack selling hot dogs and floats beside highway 69. They have little phones to call your order in from the tables inside. The menu has a pork tenderloin fritter topped with a hamburger patty, very unusual for any chain, this was my meal there last time:
The tray has a rubber mat to keep your food from flying away, i guess its needed more outside.
If you ate at this place in the early 90s and got ill, I know why. :no:
Some of my classmates were not all that bright, sorry.
Is the one in CR done since the flood? I know the water was up to the roof. I've seen crazier things happen in this town. Give me a second and I'll find a picture
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Even though the locations around me aren't the old original restaurants, they do still give you the frosted glass mug.
The original A&W in Ames is now Great Plains Prosthetics. It was moved to South Duff close to the current Wendy's. The restaurant root beer on tap is always better than the stuff in the bottles and cans; it was made on site and fresher. I knew some people who worked at the A&Ws when they were in Ames. I miss having A&W in Ames now that I think about it. One of the main "hang outs" during my Junior High and High School days.
I remember Dogs n Suds from my youth, we were not impressed from the few times we ate there.
My parents owned an A&W in Lake View back in the early 90's. We were the last people to own it under the A&W brand. I was only 10-15 years old when we owned it, but I still remember what goes on every burger as far as toppings and what not.
The rootbeer was made fresh everyday or when needed. Sometimes on a busy day you would make 2 or 3 batches. Plus you weren't suppose to keep rootbeer overnight in the mixing container. The main ingredient is sugar and rootbeer syrup and I think vanilla extract. Can't remember exactly. But it would be several big bags like 10lbs or more of sugar going into it. Nothing tasted better then it.
My favorite day was coney dog Tuesday.... I think they were 25 cents a coney dog. Very good stuff.
Sadly we sold off the building because the franchise fee was too high and we were only opened May, June, July, August, September, since we had no indoor seating. It later became DeeZ's or something and totally went down hill.
The rootbeer was made fresh everyday or when needed. Sometimes on a busy day you would make 2 or 3 batches. Plus you weren't suppose to keep rootbeer overnight in the mixing container. The main ingredient is sugar and rootbeer syrup and I think vanilla extract. Can't remember exactly. But it would be several big bags like 10lbs or more of sugar going into it. Nothing tasted better then it.
My favorite day was coney dog Tuesday.... I think they were 25 cents a coney dog. Very good stuff.
Sadly we sold off the building because the franchise fee was too high and we were only opened May, June, July, August, September, since we had no indoor seating. It later became DeeZ's or something and totally went down hill.
Still open on the north side of town on US 69:yes:. The current owners close it down during the winter (open middle of Feb, close around Thanksgiving I think).
Still use soft serve instead of hard ice cream in floats.
When I was a wee youngster in the 50's, the A&W in Creston, Ia. had punch cards that accumulated on the amount of mugs that were purchased and would reward the purchaser with a free mug. Yeah, Papa-Mama & Baby mugs. Creamy taste, was like heroin. Current Sonic's kinda live the dream.
When I was a wee lad there was a Dog 'n Suds in what was then the North Edge of Muscatine. The corner of Clay Street and Park Ave. It has been gone since at least 1970 when Sandy's opened up across the street.
There was a great A&W in Davenport on N. Division. Our car club used to go there as one of the Friday cruise night destinations. It became an independent operation called "Deans" that catered to the car culture and kept the orange colored decor.
It finally closed. Now there's just the combo A&W with LJS. My sister was in the Dog 'n Suds in Indiana and thought there were several of them opened up there as a revival chain.
There was a great A&W in Davenport on N. Division. Our car club used to go there as one of the Friday cruise night destinations. It became an independent operation called "Deans" that catered to the car culture and kept the orange colored decor.
It finally closed. Now there's just the combo A&W with LJS. My sister was in the Dog 'n Suds in Indiana and thought there were several of them opened up there as a revival chain.
Are you talking about the drive-in building right in front of Lake View on HWY 71?
I think its changed owners a few times in the past few years. Last time I was there in 2009 it was Outlaw's Drive-In, only open seasonally. The lady working there claimed to have fixed all the ordering thingamabobs herself. They had a horseshoe sandwich on the menu, I hope it was the open-faced hamburger topped with french fries popular in Central Illinois, but I didn't bother with it.
Sometime in the early to mid-eighties the place shutdown for good; a victim of the eighties recession. Afterward, the Bonanza restaurant moved from the corner of Lincolnway and Grand to that lot. Now I remember, the second A&W used to be where Hickory Park is now, then became a Bonanza, then Hickory Park moved in.
That is the one.... I think it has gone through about 8 or so owners since we sold it.
Probably more sudsy.
I used to drive out of my way as the root beer was the best that I had tasted.
