Peculiar Drive In

Local family owned/operated since 1978

Open Tuesday - Saturday
CLOSED Sunday and Monday
We accept Cash and Kansas City area Checks - Sorry, no debit/credit cards.

Check out our mobile site -- http://m.singlepage.com/peculiar-drive-in

Cooking oddly good food since the 1950’s
As far as we can tell it was built in the mid 1950’s and at one time the concrete in front of the building had 1957 written in it. When originally opened, the road in front of the building was 71 highway and the main route from Kansas City to the Lake of the Ozarks. PDI can boast that it is the longest continuously operated businesses in Peculiar.
Originally opened by the Goody family, they started slinging burgers fresh off the grill just like we do today. It has had a hand full of owners over the years but the doors have never closed. From one owner to the next, they all opened the next day.
The time line is fuzzy but somewhere in the early to mid 60’s, Herb Witiker took over and called it, what else, Herbs Drive in and ran it successfully until 1976. Herb was the mastermind behind the tenderloins that we make today. In 76 a couple named the Coens bought the drive in but didn’t have much success. They stopped making everything fresh. Frozen tenderloins and burgers don’t go ever well in Peculiar. The business was in trouble and this is where our family came in to the picture.
My mother Vi Cobern went to talk to Herb who still owned the building. She told Herb that if he showed her how to make the tenderloins like he used to and tell her the tricks of the trade that kept him in business so long she would buy it. He did and she did. Late in 1978 Peculiar Drive in was born again with a new owner, with the old style food and a new attitude. Now everyone called it Vi’s drive in and still do to this day but it was never really named that. Herb told Mom to used true tenderloin meat for the sandwiches, use the leanest beef you can get your hands on for the burgers, use hard white Idaho potatoes for your Suzy Q’s ,keep your grease fresh and treat your customers good you should do alright. It took a couple of years and some long hours but she built the business back to the family go to spot in town. With the help of many great employees over the years and my aunt Karen the drive in thrived. In 2003 Mom was getting tired and owner financed the business to Dennis and Christine Daley. They had it for about 6 years then decided it wasn’t for them and went off to try something new.
Mom was back in the restaurant business. It didn’t take long for the town to find out the Mom had it back and business picked up considerably so she let the place run its self for the last few years. Dad would go do prep in the mornings and go in at closing time to clean and shut the place down. Here is where I come in. Mom asked me if I would be interested in taking over the family business. She said if I didn’t buy it and run it she would sell it outright this time. I started working there when I was a kid but I never put much thought to owning it. But here we are Matt and Kellie Cobern running the Peculiar Drive In… That’s our story in a nut shell and we are so glad you dropped in to see us.