All American Hamburger Drive In

Review by: Roadfood Team

The All American Hamburger Drive In has been in business since 1963, this family-owned drive-in has been serving nice little burgers and French fries to generations of loyal customers. There is no indoor seating, but there are five picnic tables out front.

All-American is a Long Island institution. Most people from the Island know about it, and many have stopped there at least once. It is a small establishment, with no indoor seating and only a few outdoor tables. Most people buy and eat in their car or simply hang out in front. The lack of dining facilities hasn’t hurt their business; the place is almost never empty, and in the hours surrounding lunch and dinner times the lines for the indoor order counter pack the small indoor waiting area and spill outside. Maybe All American was once, indeed, a drive-in, but in the quarter-century I’ve known the place, you park and walk inside.

What to eat at All American Hamburger Drive In

The big sellers here are the hamburgers. The basic burger is small, probably three ounces before cooking, and good for a quick bite and quite reasonably priced. Most people will want more for lunch, though: the double-header is two patties between a bun  and a double-double is what you’d imagine it is. Alternately, a quarter-pounder can also be ordered. Though small, the burgers are intensely flavored, served with ketchup, pickles, and finely diced onions unless specified otherwise. They don’t have the flavorless, generic taste of the big chains.

The other mainstay of All American is the French fries. They are manually cut one potato at a time: a potato is placed vertically into the slicer and a handle is pulled down, pushing the potatoes through a die and into standard fast-food shoestrings. The fries are just right: crispy and brown on the outside, tender on the inside, and with enough salt and grease to let you know it’s fast food without becoming overwhelming.

Drinks are the usual sodas and thick shakes; I’ve never been one to order shakes, so I can’t comment on these, but other people I know have spoken favorably about All American’s shakes.

Hot dogs, knishes, fish filets, and tuna on a bun may also be ordered.

Original post by Scott R.

What To Eat

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All American Hamburger Drive In Recipes

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What do you think of All American Hamburger Drive In?

2 Responses to “All American Hamburger Drive In”

Ernie Searle

March 23rd, 2006

Evidently, rumors that the All American Hamburger stand was bought by McDonalds… or Wendy’s… or KFC… or whoever, and that they are going to tear it down and put up one of their own establishments, have been flying around the country and beyond. The rumors, I am happy to report, are NOT TRUE!

I went to All American today and there are printed signs at every window that say it is, always has been, and always will be a family-owned business, and they have no intention of ever changing that; they are here for good. It is such big news that it was on page 2 of Sunday Newsday. Here is a link to the article:

http://www.newsday.com/news/local/longisland/ny-liburg194668086mar19,0,4430091.story?coll=ny-main-tabheads1

… and they say that there’s never any good news! By the way, the lines are as long as ever (they move very fast), and the french fries are still fabulous, and the rest of the food is as good as it has always been. And everbody is smiling. Long live the All American Hamburger Drive In!

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Pete Genzer

February 11th, 2006

Stopped by for my first All American Burger experience. I know this place gets raves aplenty, but I left somewhat dissatisfied.

The fries were certainly excellent, and at $1.30 for a large, they were a great deal. These are fresh-cut spuds, perfectly fried and salted. The onion rings were also decent, but nothing special. They were slightly undercooked. The chocolate shake was similar to a McDonald’s shake – not bad but certainly not “hand-dipped”. More likely from a shake machine.

The real problem was the burgers. After all I’d read and heard about All American, I thought they would be a stand-out. I expected something more “homemade”, ala the White Hut in Springfield, MA for instance, which has a great burger and just-as-good fries. No such luck.

I ordered a single cheeseburger and a double hamburger, and a hot dog for my daughter. After the first bite of the cheeseburger, all I could think was, “This tastes EXACTLY like a McDonald’s cheeseburger”. Same bun, same taste to the burger, same tiny chopped onions and pickle slice, same mouthfeel. I finished it and moved on to the double hamburger and, no surprise, it also tasted exactly like a McDonald’s double hamburger. And my daughter, who loves hot dogs, hated the All American hot dog and wouldn’t finish it.

The fries certainly make this a better overall choice than McDonald’s, but the burgers are a big, big disappointment. One more positive comment, though – despite a line when I walked in, I had placed my order and was leaving with my food literally within 90 seconds, and everything was good and hot.

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