Last Night
Last Night: Miner's Drive-In
Sorry to be last to the party here, but I've somehow managed to live in Washington State for more than ten years now without ever stumbling upon Miner's Drive-In in Yakima.
This weekend, I remedied the situation.
Miner's is an old-school drive-in of the pre-Sonic model that has been gradually surrounded by low-slung strip malls and highway on-ramps. Walk through the massive parking lot, though, and you'll find yourself in a cavernous dining area looks like it hasn't been updated since 1963. Outside, a half-dozen picnic tables recall a hundred family summer get-togethers in any small town you can name, if you can ignore the Value Village and Macy's just past the oak trees that provide welcome shade from the blazing sun overhead.
The menu, like the dining room, is enormous, with more than a dozen burger options including the Big Miner Burger, the Big Bacon Bleu, and the SW Ranch Taco Burger, plus almost two dozen shake flavors, a dubious seafood menu (in Yakima?), hot dogs, sandwiches, and, incongruously, glasses of cold buttermilk. Thanks to the presence of a dozen swarming employees, though, the food---made to order---arrives in less than 15 minutes, even at rush hour (1:00 on a Saturday).
I had the barbecue burger with Cheddar and tomatoes; my friend had the Buffalo chicken sandwich, and we split an order of onion rings and a garden salad (for roughage). Although the salad was, predictably, forgettable (iceberg, supermarket tomatoes, industrial ranch dressing), the onion rings were perfect---thick slices of Walla Wallas veiled in a shatteringly crisp breading that I would swear was panko if I thought a place like Miner's would use an ingredient so haute.
The chicken sandwich, a pounded-and-breaded chicken breast covered in a truly impressive portion of fiery sauce, was an inventive (and more portable) take on the usual pile-o-wings, but the burger was what really impressed us. A huge portion of juicy ground beef topped with tomatoes, lettuce, mayonnaise, melted Cheddar, and spicy barbecue sauce on a sesame bun arrived wrapped in a foil/paper packet---the better for saving half for later, because I couldn't even contemplate eating the whole, massive thing.
My only regret, in fact, is that my appetite wasn't big enough for me to dare ordering the curly fries (apparently legendary) or a shake (I appreciate the variety, but I'll stick with vanilla, thanks). Next time I'm headed out to Eastern Washington, though, I guarantee I'll make the detour for both. Even if it's too cold to curl my toes in the grass outside.
This weekend, I remedied the situation.
Miner's is an old-school drive-in of the pre-Sonic model that has been gradually surrounded by low-slung strip malls and highway on-ramps. Walk through the massive parking lot, though, and you'll find yourself in a cavernous dining area looks like it hasn't been updated since 1963. Outside, a half-dozen picnic tables recall a hundred family summer get-togethers in any small town you can name, if you can ignore the Value Village and Macy's just past the oak trees that provide welcome shade from the blazing sun overhead.
The menu, like the dining room, is enormous, with more than a dozen burger options including the Big Miner Burger, the Big Bacon Bleu, and the SW Ranch Taco Burger, plus almost two dozen shake flavors, a dubious seafood menu (in Yakima?), hot dogs, sandwiches, and, incongruously, glasses of cold buttermilk. Thanks to the presence of a dozen swarming employees, though, the food---made to order---arrives in less than 15 minutes, even at rush hour (1:00 on a Saturday).
I had the barbecue burger with Cheddar and tomatoes; my friend had the Buffalo chicken sandwich, and we split an order of onion rings and a garden salad (for roughage). Although the salad was, predictably, forgettable (iceberg, supermarket tomatoes, industrial ranch dressing), the onion rings were perfect---thick slices of Walla Wallas veiled in a shatteringly crisp breading that I would swear was panko if I thought a place like Miner's would use an ingredient so haute.
The chicken sandwich, a pounded-and-breaded chicken breast covered in a truly impressive portion of fiery sauce, was an inventive (and more portable) take on the usual pile-o-wings, but the burger was what really impressed us. A huge portion of juicy ground beef topped with tomatoes, lettuce, mayonnaise, melted Cheddar, and spicy barbecue sauce on a sesame bun arrived wrapped in a foil/paper packet---the better for saving half for later, because I couldn't even contemplate eating the whole, massive thing.
My only regret, in fact, is that my appetite wasn't big enough for me to dare ordering the curly fries (apparently legendary) or a shake (I appreciate the variety, but I'll stick with vanilla, thanks). Next time I'm headed out to Eastern Washington, though, I guarantee I'll make the detour for both. Even if it's too cold to curl my toes in the grass outside.
