Old Drive-in Eatery (Closed)
Kingman, AZ Photo courtesy Paul Bauke
Winding through the rugged switchbacks of the Black Mountains, this lingering roadside skeleton is a quiet reminder of early desert motoring.
The Old Drive-in Eatery sits along the original mountain alignment of Route 66 heading out toward Sitgreaves Pass and Oatman. Built back in the mid-century boom before the faster Interstate bypassed the mountains, this drive-in canopy offered travelers a place to pull up and cool their radiators after tackling the steep grade. Decades of harsh sun and desert winds have stripped away the original signs, leaving just the weathered bones standing empty against the rocks. 08-06
UPDATE: The drive-in canopy structure remains abandoned alongside the old mountain road. 08-26
A&W Root Beer - 99 (Demolished)
Gila Bend, AZ Photo by RoadsidePeek.com
Cruising along Pima Street through the blistering desert heat, that glowing orange-and-brown bullseye and a frosty glass mug under a shaded carhop canopy used to be just what the doctor ordered.
The A&W Root Beer Stand was a classic highway pit stop for generations of motorists rolling through Gila Bend along the old U.S. Route 80 corridor. Long before the modern interstate bypassed these small southern Arizona towns, Route 80 carried heavy cross-country traffic, and pulling off the asphalt to order a quick burger and a cold drink from the comfort of your front seat was about as essential to the drive as checking the radiator. The little drive-in was still standing proud in its familiar corporate trim, complete with its covered pull-up stalls, when the camera caught it during a late-nineties run through the desert. 11-20
A&W Root Beer - 99 (Demolished)
Gila Bend, AZ Photo by RoadsidePeek.com
UPDATE: The vintage drive-in building was demolished and the classic sign removed. Today, a modern restaurant stands in its place serving up local plates as Sofia's Mexican Food. 08-26
Old Drive-in Eatery (Closed)
A&W Root Beer - 99 (Demolished)
A&W Root Beer - 99 (Demolished)
