Jobe's Drive-In

The drive-in restaurant was a defining feature of automobile-era American roadside culture. As the automobile reshaped American life in the early-to-mid 20th century, the drive-in emerged as a dining format perfectly suited to the car culture — automobile access, casual roadside dining, and the distinctive carhop service that brought the food to diners in their parked cars.

Drive-ins flourished along Route 66 and across America from the 1920s through the 1960s. The format was particularly suited to highway travel and to the car-centric culture of the postwar era. Drive-ins became gathering spots for teenagers, convenient dining for highway travelers, and a fundamental part of the roadside-America experience.

The decline of the classic drive-in followed patterns similar to the broader decline of independent Route 66 commerce — the interstate highways, the rise of fast-food chains, and changing dining patterns all contributed. The surviving classic drive-ins are now an increasingly rare resource, sought out by Route 66 travelers specifically for the authentic vintage experience they provide.

Jobe's Drive-In combines the classic drive-in format with El Reno's famous onion-burger tradition. The genuine El Reno fried onion burger — the Depression-era invention preserved by the town's restaurants for nearly a century — is available at Jobe's alongside the standard drive-in menu of fries, sides, and the various roadside-dining standards.

The combination of the vintage drive-in experience and the genuine onion burger makes Jobe's a distinctive El Reno stop. Where the downtown diners (Johnnie's, Sid's, Robert's) provide the classic counter-service diner experience, Jobe's provides the drive-in variation — the same genuine onion-burger tradition in the vintage carhop-service drive-in format.

For Route 66 travelers wanting the full range of El Reno onion-burger experiences, Jobe's adds the drive-in option to the downtown-diner options. The town's various onion-burger establishments each provide a slightly different experience of the same genuine culinary tradition.

Jobe's Drive-In operates with variable hours; calling ahead is recommended for travelers wanting to confirm current hours before planning a visit. The drive-in is located along the Route 66 corridor through El Reno.

Jobe's fits naturally into an El Reno Route 66 itinerary as the drive-in dining option. Travelers exploring El Reno's various attractions — Fort Reno, the Canadian County Historical Museum, the downtown Route 66 corridor — can stop at Jobe's for the vintage drive-in experience and the genuine onion burger.

For travelers building an El Reno onion-burger experience, Jobe's complements the downtown diners. A traveler with the time and appetite could experience both the downtown-diner format (at Johnnie's, Sid's, or Robert's) and the drive-in format (at Jobe's) — sampling the same genuine El Reno onion-burger tradition in two distinct classic roadside formats.