“When it was gone you realized just how much you missed it,” said Michelle Bowen co-owner of the Laker Drive In. Bowen, a native of Stephensburg, grew up enjoying the deep-fried fries, cheesy burgers and creamy milkshakes the community cherishes.
Laker Drive In was originally built during the 1960s next to what then was a high school. In the mid 2000s, after almost 40 years of serving burgers, fries and shakes the doors were locked suddenly at closing time one night, and not reopened for several years. After disappointment spread through the community, residents of Stephensburg adopted the restaurant as a community project.
Bowen and her father, Mike Pirtle, became business partners and rejuvenated the Laker Drive In.The restaurant has been restored to look exactly as it did when first opened. The only major changes were inside the kitchen area. ”I stripped the restaurant down to three walls, and basically had to rebuild it all because it was in such bad shape,” Pirtle said.
Months after completing the restoration Pirtle underwent open-heart surgery wearing his trademark tattered khaki hat,”Everyone asks me why I don’t get a new hat but I’ve survived an open-heart surgery with this hat so I don’t guess I’ll get rid of it.”
Four months after the surgery Pirtle has slowed down the pace of his life and enjoys stopping by the restaurant twice daily in his signature hole ridden hat, “I don’t cook at home anymore. I just come in here and have the girls fix somethin’ for me to take back to the house.”
Residents have been flocking to the walk-up burger shack because, as Bowen put it, “It has always been about the community and family. That’s what the Laker is.”
