Friday, December 23, 2011

All American Hamburger Drive-In

Known to locals as just "All American", this local fast food joint is old school and more of a drive-up than a drive-in. It has been apart of Long Island life for over 40 years.  Serving beef burgers and franks, fries, knishes, and milkshakes, All American Hamburger Drive-In is a local favorite with modest prices to satisfy that greasy fix.

All American’s fries are one of the things that keep people coming back for: dark golden brown and crispy on the outside, and tender, but not soggy on the inside.  Hamburgers come in four varieties at All American: the Single, the Double Header, the Double Double (A Double Header with cheese) and the Quarter Pound hamburger. Cheese is optional for a small additional charge. The ordering system at All American is fast and efficient - just get in line and walk right up to the glass window to place your order. There is a small outdoor dining area, but unless the weather is nice and the place isn’t crowded (rare) plan on eating in your car or take it home.

Keith frequented All American during his high school days and when we come visit family in Massapequa, we sometimes stop by for lunch as we did this past Christmas vacation.  I was not in the mood for a full meal, so I opted to just try a strawberry milkshake and a hot knish (pronounced "kah-nish").  Made popular by Jewish immigrants, this snack food is described in the Oxford Dictionary of Foreign Words and Phrases as "a baked or fried dumpling made of flaky dough with filling" and is most traditionally filled with mashed potato. The ones at All American are square in shape and are best eaten with mustard. They are crispy out the outside and soft on the inside and the tang from the mustard marries so well with the potato making it a delightful little snack.

Keith ordered his staple burger which is a quarter pound of beef with cheese, pickles, onions and ketchup on sesame bun.  Being that is Christmas and all, Keith also picked up some goodies for his brother and father.  Don’t expect an elaborate gourmet burger, there are no fancy toppings here. This is as old school as it gets and it is a much better choice than the typical options when you’ve got that fast food craving. Make sure you bring cash!!

Total Rating: 3.95
Food: 4, Price: 5, Service: 3, Ambience: 3, Accessibility: 3

What I ate:
 Hot Knish

 
 Strawberry Milkshake



 Plus Keith ate:
 Quarter Pound with Cheese
pickles, onion, ketchup on a sesame bun

 French Fries



  All American Hamburger Drive-In on Urbanspoon
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