I THINK THE BEST ROOT BEER I HAVE EVER HAD IS JOHNSEN'S BLUE TOP DRIVE IN IN HIGHLND INDIANA . ITS MADE IN HOUSE FROM SCRATCH . ITS A OLD 1964 DRIVE IN WITH CAR HOP'S THATS STILL OPEN ! I ALSO THINK THEIR HAMBURGERS ARE QUITE GOOD AS WELL. I KNOW FOR A FACT THAT WHEN THE OLD WOMAN THAT OWNS IT PASSES AWAY , IT WILL CLOSE SO GO WHILE YOU CAN .

I've been driving by Jim's Hamburger Heaven at York Road and North Avenue in Elmhurst. Their root beer (which I gather they make) is quite good, as is their Olive Burger (double hamburger and green olives) and Cherry Malt (cherry malt?), and their redhot is quite passable as well (the relish is a little sweet for my taste). I wasn't overly impressed with the fries.

Here are a few images:

Isn't this the place that has the root beer dispenser made out of an olde tyme style root beer barrel? As I recall, it was prety good.

stevez wrote:Isn't this the place that has the root beer dispenser made out of an olde tyme style root beer barrel? As I recall, it was prety good.

That's correct. After I ordered the cherry malt, I realized that I should probably have ordered the rootbeer float - ah well, buyer's remorse.

The thing to get at Hamburger Heaven is a Root Beer Shake.

'jim's hamburger heaven'...

is jim the same 'sour pickle' proprietor who ran the place during the eighties and early nineties?

mighty tasty, fast food, double cheeseburgers (raw onions only, please) and the best dang root beer ever.

jellobee wrote:is jim the same 'sour pickle' proprietor who ran the place during the eighties and early nineties?

Unless something has changed in the last couple of years, HH is owned by the same people who bought it in 1977(?). Before that it was owned by members of one family going back to 1948. I think Jim was the nephew of the original owners. The current owner (since 77) is Angelo Kouretas (sp?).

Rene G wrote:The menu has some items rarely seen in these parts: Texas burger, pork tenderloin, Coney dogs, and homemade root beer.

The Frosted Mug was featured on last night's episode of Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives.*

Aside from the root beer, the homemade Italian Beef sandwich appeared to be their pride and joy.

E.M.

* I like the show, but I loathe the host.

Erik M. wrote:The Frosted Mug was featured on last night's episode of Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives.*

Aside from the root beer, the homemade Italian Beef sandwich appeared to be their pride and joy.

E.M.

What was with the steaming of the beef sandwich? I've never seen that done anywhere.

Artie wrote:What was with the steaming of the beef sandwich? I've never seen that done anywhere.

I don't know, Artie, but it sure made me want to try one real soon.

E.M.

d4v3 wrote:The thing to get at Hamburger Heaven is a Root Beer Shake.

Cock Robin [RIP] used to make a great Root Beer Shake.

Wah!

The current revival of this thread reminded me of a night a few years back in which we took in one of the last strips of Americana Aurora had to offer.

First off, it was a trip to the Doggie Diner drive in on Hill Ave. This is an old area on the Southeast side of Aurora that use to be Highway 30, back before they changed the path of it to better intersect with Highway 34. There are some quaint signs still around, pointing out Lincoln Highway attractions.

Anyway, the kids loved 2 things about Doggie Diner, the root beer and the fact that someone came to your car to take your order. Nothing remarkable, but decent food and a great novelty for the kids.

After that, it was couple hundred yards up the street to catch a double feature at the Highway 30 Drive In for $4 a car load.

Sadly, the Highway 30 fell into disrepair and is gone (just last year)

But driving down that section of Hill last night going to Oswego, the bright neon signs of both "Doggie Diner" and "Root Beer" could be seen as I approached. I then noticed a waitress, order book in hand, standing curbside taking an order.

I'll have to take the kids again this summer.

Thanks for the revival of this thread.

Doggie Diner
Address: 737 Hill Ave, Aurora, IL 60505
Phone: (630) 499-1063

side note, in looking up the address, there were 4 Doggie Diners including Woodridge, Glendale Heights and Bolingbrook. Don't know if these are old school "Root Beer" drive in's though.

There is also an A&W in North Aurora on Rte31. Its been years and I can't recall if its an old drive in, or the family restaurant variety.

While mapping the locations listed above I found two more Doggie Diner locations...

457 N Weber Rd
Romeoville
(listed as Doggie Diner Too)

723 W Armitage Av
Chicago

The one in Bolingbrook was listed as Doggie Diner 2

I might stop by the 3 locations near my work (Bolingbrook, Woodridge and Romeoville) for a root beer and a look see.

As promised I stopped by two of the locations today.

457 N Weber Rd
Romeoville
(listed as Doggie Diner Too in Google Earth but actually Doggie Diner III on the menu)

289 Bolingbrook Dr
Bolingbrook
(Doggie Diner, Too on the menu)

Nothing special. Not a drive-in or even a drive thru.
RC fountain drinks with Nehi root beer.

Pic's and menus available upon request.

My son went to school at Purdue at Lafayette, Indiana and they built a new Dog N Suds drive in there about a year ago. So they still are around.

Hi,

Last October I was visiting my niece who attends University of Illinois in Champaign. I found a new, though shuttered and available for purchase, Dog'N'Suds. I thought the design was George Jetson futuristic:



Car port:




Regards,

Hi,

I was in Elmhurst this evening for a meeting. While waiting for a traffic light at North and Elmhurst Roads, I saw a vision straight out of an LTHforum post: Hamburger Heaven!



I was fortunate my friends were all very willing to return with me to Hamburger Heaven for dinner. Most of them had known of Hamburger Heaven, though none had visited before.

Hamburger Heaven originates back to the 1940's. THe original owners sold it several years ago to people who maintain the same recipes. When I inquired what was their best or signature item, I was told, "We originated the double decker hamburger?" "Before McDonald's Big Mac?" "Yes!" Of course such boosterism sealed the deal, I had to have a double decker cheeseburger with everything on it:



I could hear MikeG's comments on 1930's style hamburgers ringing in my mind as I bit into this beauty. The hamburger even came complete with secret sauce that they gave us an extra serving to dip our French fries:



Their French fries, onion rings and mushrooms are fresh from the freezer. What made the fries was the special sauce as well as their use of Merkt's cheese for the fries. Unfortunately the sides accompanying the fries were better than the fries themselves. However you felt compelled to eat the fries to enjoy the charms of the sauce.

I ordered a rootbeer float that was smooth as silk from the soft serve ice cream:



(Jim's)* Hamburger Heaven
281 N York St
Elmhurst, IL 60126
(630) 832-3535

*I saw Jim's in the directory when I gathered the address and phone. None of the signage on the business indicates Jim's.

Hamburger Heaven was a wonderfully unexpected treat this evening.

Regards,

Erik M. wrote:The Frosted Mug was featured on last night's episode of Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives.*

Aside from the root beer, the homemade Italian Beef sandwich appeared to be their pride and joy.

I'm sorry to report that Frosted Mug's Italian beef is not good, not good at all (though much better than their Coney dog, see above). Leathery, tasteless meat on a soft, puffy roll. The sourish, not salty, giardiniera was decent. The high point of the meal, though, was the excellent root beer, served in a chilled mug. Quite sweet but with full, round flavor, carefully drawn in stages like a well-poured Guinness. Stick with root beer and a burger, perhaps a Char-co or Texas burger, and you'll probably be happy.






The Frosted Mug
11541 S Pulaski Rd
Alsip IL

C2,

RE: Hamburger Heaven

My mother grew up in Elmhurst during the 50's and 60's, every summer her father would take the rather large (8 kids) family to HH. Even to this day she and I make a run over there when we visit her mother. Nothing says home to her like the double decker and a root beer float.

FYI- they close for the winter, and it seems that every year they open later because someone broke in and stole equipment.

Flip

edited to correct to Hamburger Heaven from Hamburger Helper

Anyone know if there are any of these left?

My husband has on numerous occasions touted the greatness of the made-in-store A&W root beer, so on when we spotted one in some nameless Wisconsin town (really no idea where we were...there was a cheese shop there too, if that provides a clue) we had to stop.

He pronounced it disappointing. I, on the other hand, thought it was the best root beer I'd ever had - and realized that there must be much I have missed in life if the A&W truly produced top root beer I've consumed.

HI,

A&W 'All American Food' website has a restaurant locator. In Illinois, they are located as far north as Bloomington. In Indiana, they are in Indianapolis. Wisconsin they are as near as Fon du Lac.

They exist, just not in the Chicago area.

Regards,

Cathy, there's A&Ws in the Chicago area, including at Woodfield mall. Are you talking drive-ins specifically, not those A&W+Long John Silver's type locations?

As far as I know, none of the Chicagoland locations make their own in-store, while it was at the Wisconsin store we visited.

In this month's Saveur, there is an article about homemade rootbeer and a recipe. I'm ready to make my own right now! (Has anyone experimented using the real sassafras?)

Mike G wrote:Cathy, there's A&Ws in the Chicago area, including at Woodfield mall. Are you talking drive-ins specifically, not those A&W+Long John Silver's type locations?

I simply put IL for the search function. I thought it would pop up with all the IL restaurants. I guess I was wrong.

Regards,

Cathy2 wrote:I simply put IL for the search function. I thought it would pop up with all the IL restaurants. I guess I was wrong.

If you add Chicago to the store locator, it will list the 20 or so locations in the area.

The best root beer I ever had was in Peru, Illinois, on the way to Starved Rock at a place called Oogies. They make it themselves, and it is far out. The root beer, figuratively, and the joint, literally.

GAF wrote:I've been driving by Jim's Hamburger Heaven at York Road and North Avenue in Elmhurst.

What's the deal with this place? Sometimes I drive by on the weekend, around noonish, and it's open, other times closed, with no apparent link to weather. What are the hours? I often want to stop for a root beer but most times I go by it's closed.

Oogies was a wonderful place, they had a drive in, were open 24 hours, and had locations in Ottawa, Streator, and Peru. The rootbeer was fantastic, and served in thick frosted mugs.

Unfortunately they closed, probably about 6 or 7 years ago, Rumor was that the owner had gambling debts, not sure if that was true or not. I miss the place. Though in that general area, going to Ron's Cajun is not a bad consolation prize.