Fast Food History
A November 22, 1963 copy of the Burbank Daily Review sparked an interesting telephone conversation the other day with Darryl Eisele of Paradise. That date may seem familiar --- it was the day President Kennedy was shot. 
On that date, Darryl, who was a senior at John Burroughs High School, bought a copy of every daily newspaper he could find near his Keystone Street home, and saved them for posterity. Apparently posterity has come and gone, as Darryl is selling some of the newspapers on Ebay . He read some of the ads in the Burbank Review to me. Many of those businesses are no longer around.
And that's what got us to talking about some of the old eateries we used to patronize. Now we are from back in the days when there weren't any McDonald's or Burger Kings.. However, in the "old days" we didn't lack for places to eat.
Victory Boulevard had more than it's share, starting with The Dip at the famous Five Points intersection (now reduced to Four Points and a motorists nightmare). I still remember the time The Dip had burgers on sale 5 for $1. They weren't all that good, but they were cheap. Heading south on Victory brought you to another "bargain" eatery, Scott's. You could get burgers, fries, and shakes to go. Kids with cars would head that way from Burroughs during their half-hour lunch periods.
Right across Victory at Olive was Roberts Drive-in. It had that classic round building with cars parked all around it for carhop service. I recall one Thanksgiving night, while on a date with a lovely young lady who lived on Sixth Street up on the hill, that all the regular hangouts were closed. Roberts was the only place open. We only ordered milkshakes because we were already stuffed with turkey. Roberts was torn down in the 70's and replaced, ironically enough, by a Van de Kamps restaurant that was round. The food there was reminiscent of frozen dinners and airline food, and mercifully, Van de Kamps was torn down and replaced by a mini-mall.
Further down Victory, at Alameda, was Arthur's Drive-in. This is the one made famous in the television show "Happy Days." It was used for the exterior shots of "Arnold's Drive-in." I don't recall every actually eating there, but I do remember that the place burned down sometime in the late 70's or early 80's.
The first time I ate taquitos was at the Tastee Freeze on Olive Avenue at Lamer Street. I can still recall the taste of those hot, crispy taquitos with a big scoop of guacamole. It was almost as good as the ice cream cones we used to get at the Foster Freeze on Magnolia Boulevard at Florence Street, where Mary Jo Hopkinson worked.
The Dip, Scott's, Roberts, Arthur's, Tastee Freeze, and Foster Freeze, are all gone now. Bulldozed in the name of progress. Fast food just isn't the same these days either. Would you like fries with that order, and please pull forward.
--- Stan
Posted on 3/6/05