TLDR; No vibe at all. Weak car turnout. Mediocre food. Don't waste your time…read more
I feel like I need to write this to speak to the car guys and gals who have fond memories of the original Duke's. This is going to be long and you're going to be disappointed. I'm sorry.
The History.
I went to the original Duke's Drive-in with my dad for the first time when I was 6 almost 50 years ago. It was magical. The yellow lights, the sign, the soft serve ice cream, the oldies playing on the diner speakers, the full lot of hot rods and American muscle--moments etched into my brain for my whole life. I have some great memories from those cruise nights.
I was sad when the drive-in closed and sold the lot, but with the retirement community across the street, it was always destined to end.
Fast forward to the new location, some 20 or 25 miles south of Bridgeview. They have been here for a few years now, and I figured I had given it plenty of time to hit their stride. No longer close to where I live, it took a lot of time and effort to get there for the regular Saturday cruise night.
We missed the entrance to the location twice because we couldn't see the diner behind the gas station and car wash, and the one way lanes offered nowhere to park for non car show participants. Once we finally found parking at the tire dealer next door, the fun started.
The plan: food first, then walk the cars.
We entered the gas station back door and found a single diner counter inside the station, between the pop coolers and the Icee machines (that were out of order). We ordered our food and waited. The floor was sticky like fly paper. The pop machine spit out flat, warm pop as if it had been unplugged for the last week. The faint smell of bathroom cleaning chemicals and fry grease were wafting in the air. Yum.
We headed outside in order to not eat inside of a gas station, and found the only open picnic table 15 feet from a giant propane tank and ice bag chest. Wow. Looking around, there were not as many cars there as we expected--I figured we might be there a little early for the rush of muscle cars.
The Food.
EVERYTHING was beyond salty. I'm writing this a day later and my lips still burn. Holy crap, take it easy on the sodium. That's not flavor, that hiding a lack of taste. The beef was dry, cold and besides the salt, had no flavor. Even "baptized," the $10 beef was nowhere near the "Best Beef" (according to WGN). Standard fare at Portillo's is light years a better beef. Warm pop and cold beefs. Excellent.
To be fair, my wife did enjoy her chili cheese dog (also super salty) and my daughter liked her Chicago dog (though, we did have to make 3 emergency bathroom stops on the ride home, so do the maths).
The Cars.
I explained already my memories from Bridgeview. I also mentioned that I thought it was a light turnout for a beautiful Saturday night at 6pm. Turns out, once we sat down to eat, almost half of the cars in the lot decided to leave. I don't know where they were going, but the exodus of Challengers, Camaros and Mustangs was telling and hugely disappointing. I think I overheard someone say something about Rt66 drag strip in Joliet, but the empty parking spots they left behind was a bummer. Before we were finished with dinner, most of the cars I wanted to take a closer look at had left for who-knows-what reason.
The Conclusion.
I honestly went into our "new" Duke's experience with low expectations and a sense of humor about the "new" south side gas station locale. I wasn't disappointed--my low expectations were met, and the whole event made me laugh.
The vibe of the old drive-in was epic, and absolutely has not been re-created in Mokena. The food at the old drive-in was great diner food with awesome beef, burgers and dogs, and buckets of almost perfect French fries. The cars at the old drive-in were overwhelming and intoxicating to a youth in the 80s. The old drive-in was the only thing on my mind the second school let out on Friday afternoon.
The new Duke's is an inherited name and logo, and nothing else. It lacks character, charisma and any vibe of an old school cruise night drive-in. The food was mostly edible, and that's a low bar for a diner. The sticky floors and propane tank don't add to the mystique, they make you a punch-line.
You can't recreate an icon if you are just looking to slide by using someone else's brand.
