Any time you run across a vintage business with a name ending in “ette,” you know you’re about to step into a time warp. A “superette,” for example, is usually a step above your typical convenience store — at least, where the signage is concerned. A “dari-ette” is in a wonderful category all its own. On the east side of St. Paul, Minnesota is the Dari-ette Drive-in. It is forever the 1950s here, as this drive-in retains its original novel use. You park your car in a spot next to a multi-use metal contraption that contains your menu, a speakerphone to communicate with your car hop, and a tray where your comfort food is deposited. All you have to worry about is perhaps unbuckling your seat belt to relax a little bit more, but how much more relaxed can this dining experience be? A drive-in that retains its original purpose, in actual fact, not merely in name, is a rare thing indeed in our homogenized world. What makes this drive-in even more wondrous is its menu. Sure, you’ll find all the road-food staples here, but the speciality is Italian American food. The meatball sandwiches come highly recommended. Owner Angela Fida keeps everything running just as her grandparents, who built the place, would have wanted. We are grateful to Fida and her staff for keeping this beautiful slice of roadside Americana alive for all of us to enjoy, 68 years after first opening as a stand serving burgers and hot dogs, and long before Guy Fieri found it. #retrologist #minnesota_captures #minnesotaexposure (at Dairy-Ette Drive-In)
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