For many of us, the drive-thru is a spot to seize a greasy burger on the fly or hit the ATM with out having to enter a financial institution. But when you reside in Ohio, Texas, Wyoming or a handful of different states, the drive-thru can also be the place you would possibly choose up a six-pack after work, a bottle of wine to have with dinner, or a keg for the weekend—all from the consolation of your automobile.
Coinciding with the submit–World Conflict II growth of the car business, the drive-thru idea—initially food-focused—expanded to incorporate groceries and booze. The Copper Nonetheless, opened in 1955 by Ben S. Wooden in Hopkinsville, Kentucky, proclaimed itself the primary drive-in liquor retailer within the nation. Since a lot of the state was dry on the time, folks shied away from being seen at a bar. Wooden’s resolution was to promote liquor from a small, unobtrusive constructing with a window staffed by an attendant. Transactions have been temporary, permitting prospects to retreat to their properties, reputations intact. As we speak, two Copper Nonetheless areas stay in operation in Hopkinsville.
By the tip of the Nineteen Fifties, these handy beer and liquor shops—variously generally known as beer barns or brew-thrus—have been popping up in choose states within the Midwest and South. A extra literal strategy to the time period “drive-thru,” these companies required prospects to truly drive by way of the constructing, the place they have been assisted by an worker with out ever exiting their car.
Arizona, specifically, grew to become an epicenter of drive-thru liquor shops, particularly within the Phoenix metro space. (The Phoenix New Instances even printed a 2017 “area information” to 50 of the area’s greatest.) One of many extra iconic examples is Melrose Liquors, which opened in an aqua and Pepto-Bismol pink Googie construction in 1957; in 2017 it was slated for demolition, which was finally placed on maintain as a result of public outcry. “Phoenix underwent speedy bodily development within the submit–World Conflict II period, resulting in a robust vehicle tradition,” says Helana Ruter, performing historic preservation officer for the town. “Not like company fast-food chain drive-thrus,” she provides, “the independent-ownership mannequin of midcentury drive-thru liquor shops inspired kitschy roadside structure to draw commuters.”
However antiquated liquor legal guidelines, coupled with zoning adjustments and rising competitors from on-line retailers, are threatening the way forward for the nation’s drive-thru liquor shops. “A number of these legal guidelines simply don’t make sense,” says Robert Ellis, co-owner of Austin’s Social gathering Barn, noting that Texas’ ban on Sunday liquor gross sales hurts enterprise. “Eating places and bars serve alcohol to prospects realizing there’s a very good likelihood driving residence can be concerned, which is a better danger than a closed-container beer sale.”
Provides Philip Foreman, second-generation proprietor of North Carolina’s Brew Through chain: “We’re not encouraging drunk driving; we’re providing a service. We now have an off-premise license and our enterprise is only a handy solution to get your beer.” As some extent of satisfaction, the chain employs “cartenders” answerable for checking IDs earlier than any buy. “Certainly one of our guys nabbed 23 pretend IDs in a single day,” remembers Foreman.
Regardless of the challenges, these drive-thru liquor shops stay, partially, by prompting nostalgia of their current house owners. In reality, Ellis had no intention of working Social gathering Barn. However as a pupil on the adjoining College of Texas, he was an everyday buyer, usually cruising by way of to choose up ice and six-packs. In March 2020, after Social gathering Barn closed because of the pandemic, Ellis and his enterprise companion Meador Corridor jumped on the alternative to buy the shop, reopening it simply two months later. “The town’s modified a lot; there’s not a lot left right here that’s unique,” says Ellis, who notes that Austin carried out new zoning necessities that make opening one other drive-thru beer barn unlikely. “We wished to deliver again an ‘old-timey’ approach of doing enterprise, constructed on nice customer support, which we satisfaction ourselves on.”
Seventy miles north of Austin, Lampasas Beer Barn has been supplying locals with Coors Mild since 1986. Present proprietor Deanna Juarez, who grew up within the city of practically 8,000, purchased the enterprise from its second house owners in 2019. “I needed to do it,” she says. “My reminiscences of the Barn are vivid, even the occasions when my highschool buddy and I might become old patrons to purchase us Matilda Bay wine coolers,” she remembers. “These nights normally ended with one among us hugging the bathroom, however that is nonetheless the one place on the town the place you possibly can actually drive your automobile by way of a barn and be waited on.”
The unique Beer Barn had two lanes, however Juarez closed one to broaden storage for her stock. She additionally constructed a separate liquor retailer on the property that may quickly have its personal drive-in window. “I perceive why metropolitan areas might restrict or deny permits for drive-thru beverage retailers, however rural areas like this have traditionally had a necessity for them,” she says, noting that when Lampasas Beer Barn opened, close by chain shops weren’t permitted to promote alcohol.
Different beer barns, like Brew Through, which now has 5 areas all through the Outer Banks, cater to the wants of seasonal vacationers. The family-owned and -operated chain generally known as the “unique drive-thru beverage retailer” was began by Dana and Rebecca Lawrentz in Nags Head in 1977. After a summer season of regular enterprise, the couple rapidly realized they wanted a plan to maintain their household through the low season.
“Winter is brutal,” says Foreman, the Lawrentz’s son-in-law. (He and now-wife Brandy, Dana and Rebecca’s daughter, started working at Brew Through as teenagers and purchased the enterprise when Dana retired in 2002.) Merchandise grew to become the answer to survival; up to now, Brew Through has offered greater than $6 million in T-shirts, main the Foremans to open a devoted retail store. Nonetheless, solely two shops stay open year-round; the remaining shutter from late November till the week earlier than Easter.
In excessive season, Foreman says Brew Through gives nearly every little thing wanted for a day on the seaside, from native craft beers, wine, soda, ice, snacks and sun shades to cigars from the humidor. Even COVID-19 didn’t put a damper on gross sales, in response to Foreman. “We’re sort of constructed for a scenario the place individuals are afraid to get out of their automobiles,” he says.
Like journeys to Brew Through, visiting Lampasas Beer Barn is extra of an tour than a chore. “You come right here, place your order, we fill your cooler and chitty-chat for some time if there’s no line,” says Juarez. “It’s not your typical hangout, however our prospects are like household. We study their names and preferences, they usually deliver us produce from their gardens and do-it-yourself salsa, and eggs from their chickens.”
Regardless of the challenges, Juarez sees worth in sustaining the drive-thru—if solely as a cultural relic. “Beer barns are price preserving as a result of they’re such part of Texas tradition,” she says. “I don’t understand how they obtained began, however whoever got here up with the thought is a genius.”
