Jobe’s Drive-In in El Reno, Oklahoma, is scheduled to reopen as a restaurant in June after it closed nearly a decade ago.
Oklahoma Route 66 Association President Rhys Martin noted early this summer that the sign for the Route 66 landmark had been spruced up.
According to a recent story in the Yukon Progress-News, longtime owner Robert Sanders decided to retire in 2015 after 46 years of making charburgers and cheese tots.
Jobe’s had originally opened in 1959.
Cliff Johnson purchased the property at 1220 Sunset Drive (aka Route 66) after Sanders stepped down, and he turned it into an antique store and western shop.
Johnson eventually died. Local contractor Eric Hughes, a fan of the fabled onionburger restaurants in El Reno, leased the property and decided to revive Jobe’s as a restaurant after consulting with Sanders.
Hughes’ experience in renovation will help bring the restaurant back to life.
More details from the newspaper’s story:
When complete, Hughes said the diner will offer patrons a place to eat inside as well as a drive-thru window that will be added.
Eventually, he plans to bring back car hop service, although technology may mean customers order using their phones rather than the speakers that once adorned the parking lot.
Hughes is still working on the menu for the restaurant. He would like to have items similar to the original Jobe’s, but even if that happens, he said there would be some new twists added to the menu.
Hughes said he wants to reopen the restaurant by early June.
More details on Jobe’s history from Route 66 Times:
J. R. Jobe opened Jobe’s Drive-in in 1958 featuring Charburgers with their own Hickory Smoke Sauce. That’s not enough to build business on of course so they also served fried chicken, fried shrimp, broiled steaks, and a complete fountain service with malts and sundaes. It’s easy to imagine car hops hurrying to a customers car to take their order and whisk it back to them as soon as possible. The canopy provided shelter from the weather for diners in their cars.
Route 66 News posted a story about Jobe’s Drive-In’s imminent closing in 2015.
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