It has been for a couple months now, but that was news to me until owner Destin Clark gave a call the other day. Sounds like he’s brought it back to the roots of the dairy bar: He gets ground chuck from the butcher daily and marinates it over night. His fries are cut to order. Onion rings beer battered. He uses real fruit in his malts — he’s serving banana, peanut butter, chocolate and pineapple. He’s doing fried pickle slices. And from 3-5 p.m. daily he sells ice cream cones for a buck.

The Hop Drive-In’s hours are 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Saturday. The phone number is 907-5135 and faxed in orders are welcome at 907-5136.

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Anybody been lately? 

KAT: Funny you’d ask… since I was out there today in the noontime hour, scoping out a shake. Great minds? Perhaps. I waited with several other people for a bit of 50s style window service. Spent a while gazing at the possibilities while waiting for my shake. I’d gone for a pineapple shake, but the guy behind the counter talked me into adding banana. You know, he was right. Fresh fruit beats the tar out of artificial colors and flavors gathered elsewhere. A nice frosty cool milkshake made with real milk (see below — I watched the milk go in myself!) and real fruit hit the spot, though I found myself at the end of my shake with a good deal of fruity bits in the bottom of the cup.

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My recent appetite for investigating big burgers may bring me back soon; one of the items on the menu is the Double Platinum Record with Cheese ($10.79) — two 3/4 pound patties with mayo, mustard, pickle, onion, lettuce and tomato. I need a dining companion to get one that large, though.

My only disappointment has to do with the lack of a decent place to eat… I just saw the one table out there. Then again, I suppose that’s what my vehicle’s for. Though being so close to Cantrell kinda kills the nostalgia buzz of sitting in a car on a hot summer (or in this case, spring) evening (evening, afternoon, whatever). I’ll be back.

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