B-K Root Beer
 Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio        Date of Visit  05/22/13         No Known Website 

Looking for a quick lunch after finals Steph remembered the little drive-in stand right up the road which we had passed a couple of weeks ago. We made a couple of turns and pulled into one of the open spots facing the building. There were quite a few cars with trays protruding from their windows and everyone looked pretty happy. Our “hop” sidled over to the car.  She was much slower than you would find at Swenson’s, but she was wonderfully friendly and helpful. -professionalism throughout our stay.
 

Lots Of Options
 

I told her we hadn’t been there before and she made some recommendations, told us some things about the place.  Through her we found out the place has been serving for sixty years and they make their own coney sauce, root beer and sauerkraut. We also learned they use an air fryer, not for sixty years I’m sure, but it gives foods the texture of being fried with significantly less grease.

We ordered chicken strips, tots, a coney dog, cheese fries, a polish sausage with kraut and mustard and root beer. The tots, chicken and fries were fine but nothing memorable. There isn’t a lot of em but the serving sizes are pretty standard for drive ins, with everything served in waxed paper or foil. The air frying does make things a little healthier but it seems you do lose some of that texture and delicious brownness that comes with a dunk in the bubbles. I would probably adjust easily to keep the fat down but it would be really hard to pick them over duck fat fries.
 

There were some memorable offerings and all for good reasons. The coney sauce is simple and really tasty. It reminds me most of Amy Tucker’s sloppy joe mix…its been a long time since the blue tip extravaganzas. Plenty of small textured beef, tangy tomato and a hint of sweet worked well with the dog and was in a nice proportion to the dog and the bun. Where Netty’s was more single note and overly loaded with the coney mix, B-K’s all came together in a satisfying way. The polish sausage was also pretty good but was made much better by their sauerkraut and a splash of mustard. The kraut was darkly colored and had a sharp tang which stood up to the juicy fattiness of the sausage.

The belle of the ball was easily the root beer. There is a place in our hometown we will visit again soon for comparison. They also make their own root beer and I’ve only tried it once, not just because they are only open in the summer but because it was a thin and insipid attempt at the beverage. B-K’s is redolent with all things root beer plus a slap of vanilla which was delicious. It may not be the best food in the world but it is good, served by nice people, and convenient. We’ll be back.
 

Nice Combo & Balance