Taylor's Drive In since 1947

Taylor's Drive In.  Open since 1947 in downtown Springfield (MO). 

139 Memorial Plz, Springfield MO. North and West of the Shrine Mosque.

Mmmm….Taylor's.  My first thought on opening any jury duty notice over the past 35 years has been "Fantastic!  I'll be having lunch at Taylor's." 

According to their menu cover, Taylor's was one of the "it" cruising spots for teenagers of the 50's and 60's.  That's more than a little before my time but when I worked at University Plaza Hotel, also downtown, in the 80's and early 90's I'd been known to stop in at Taylor's fairly often. They are Springfield's original steakburger and shake joint, long before the Steak N Shake franchise came to town. The hubs, Gene, worked for a printing company in the 80's, also downtown, and he reminisced that he and all the guys would often call in a big order in to Taylors and they'd take turns making the grub run.

Let me make this clear: I love Taylor's but this is not a fancy Friday night place.  They are open Mon-Fri 10am-2pm. They only take cash.  This is a fairly simple menu with good, solid, no fuss burgers and shakes.  Thin, crispy, freshly ground on site steakburgers, with or without grilled deli ham on top.  Served with ketchup, mustard, pickle, and onion.  Patty Melts, Chicken Patty Melts, Bacon Dogs, Grilled Ham & American Cheese sandwiches, Pork Tenderloin Sandwiches the size of your head, Fries, Onion Rings, the Lemonade (which I LOVE) is Sprite with fresh squeezed lemon wedges. Hand made shakes.  The salads are iceberg with shredded carrots, BUT, the Thousand Island, Ranch, and Bleu Cheese Dressings are all homemade. And get this: the Thousand Island Dressing?  It's PINK.  Not mayo and ketchup coral, PINK.  Curious?  I have the answer to that question...

I love the pretty patterned vinyl tablecloths covered with easily cleaned clear plastic.  Not fancy. Very practical. But with definite feminine touches to "spruce up the place".  Blue silk flowers in white vases on the tables with little American flags.  Nat King Cole playing overhead. It's like being at my Grandma's house for lunch, and that is not an insult.  It's nostalgic. It's sweet. It's impressive in it's complete unimpressiveness.  Like the sign says, it's a good "Old Fashion" burger, although Gene grumped a bit that there wasn't as much ham on his double as he remembered and, funnily, he groused it wasn't as drippingly greasy as he remembered.  When it comes to burgers, you either know what he means or you don't. You just can't explain it.  On a celebrities from Springfield note, I bet both Brad Pitt and John Goodman have eaten their fair share of burgers at Taylor's and would say the same thing.

The pink salad dressing?  Let me explain this.  Classic Thousand Island Dressing is made basically from mayo, ketchup or chili sauce, sweet pickle relish and some spices.   Really classic Thousand Island was thickened with hard-boiled egg.  As far as I can tell from an internet search, Taylor's has never given up their recipe but it's sort of an open secret that they put minced beets in their dressing.  Yep.  Beets. I know. I hate 'em too but the dressing is delicious. You don't eat this salad for the greens. The iceberg is just a carrier to your mouth for the dressing. 

My Aunt Susan said she was in the restaurant eating one time (she too worked downtown years ago) and she mentioned something about the beets in the salad dressing to her waitress.  Susan said the lady looked at her, shocked, and said "How did you know that? No one's supposed to know that!" 

No one's supposed to know that because people are dumb, to put it unkindly, and if they knew hated beets were in the dressing they'd suddenly stop liking and ordering it. We all have food prejudices.  It's one of those silly things we all do.

(Keep scrolling for my best guess of the secret Thousand Island Dressing Recipe)

Gene ordered his double steakburger with ham basket and I ordered a patty melt basket with the small side salad with that pink dressing.  This patty melt would beat Steak n Shake's patty melt hands down any day, with its pickles and onions tied behind its back.  Just delicious. And huge. I had to cut it into thirds to eat it but I did. Every. Damn. Delicious. Bite!

Haha!  Gene hates having his photo taken but I managed a sneaky one.  

So Taylor's.  Last of a dying breed.  Lots of good memories there.  They've been open since 1947 but if you want your classic steakburger and chocolate shake don't waste time.  Who knows when the owners will decide that they've had a great run but it's time to retire and the name Taylor's will just be another restaurant name us old fogey's smile when we remind each other of great, fresh, all-American burgers and pink salad dressing.

Glenna's Copycat Taylor's Thousand Island Dressing

Recipe by Glenna Anderson Muse

Disclaimer:  I am in no way affiliated with Taylor's Drive In and have not been given their recipe. This is my best guess at their recipe but I, and my tasters, assure you this is a lovely creamy salad dressing.

Prep time: 15 minutes

Makes: 1 1/2 cups

Ingredients:

1 cup Hellman's Real Mayo

1/4 cup canned Beets, minced fine

1/4 cup Sweet Pickle Relish

1 Tbsp apple cider vinegar

2 tsp Onion powder

1/2 tsp salt

2-3 Tbsp beet juice to thin dressing

Directions:

1) Mince  the beets if you want to work on your knife skills.  Mash them with a fork if you're in a hurry.

2) Whisk together all ingredients except the beet juice until well combined and then thin with 1 Tbsp of the beet juice at a time until desired consistency is met.

Refrigerate.

Cook's Note:  For a spin on the truly classic Thousand Island dressing, finely mash up a hard boiled egg with a fork and add to the dressing for that extra "something something."  Be sure to use within a 2-3 days especially if egg is added.

Nutrition per 2 Tbsp (without egg):  Calories:  110; Protein: 0; Carbs:  5; Fat: 10; Fiber: 0.