Polk-A-Dot Drive In

I love the Polka-​Dot, and always seem to forget about it. Right on the Mother Road route of 66, and the best malts around, with a 50’s diner motif. Nice staff, and good prices for something different and fun. Good fish sandwiches.

Friendly staff, cute place to eat! Food is good and ok priced! Everything comes out hot and fresh!

I’m not sure why this place has any claim to fame. I get that it’s on route 66 but aside from that I was not impressed. Yeah it has the statues and the 50’s feel but so do lots of places. Anyways, we stopped in here after a day of hiking for a quick dinner. We ordered burgers with fries and onion rings. Fries and onion rings were ok but the burger was McDonald’s quality. The burger patty was so thin! At least the prices were cheap. Lastly, I know I can’t judge a restaurant by the clientele who visits but I couldn’t help it in this case. While we were trying to eat this «lady» who looked strikingly familiar to Honey Boo Boo’s mom was screaming her head off at her five barefoot children who were running wild through the restaurant. I swear if I heard, «JOSH PUT THE TOWEL IN THE CAR!» one more time I was going to lose my mind. It was so bad that we ended up eating outside.

I’ve encountered some pretty ignorant people in my time, but the owner of this establishment takes the cake. We’ve been working on railroad property near his outdated little shack for a while now & have been subjected to his constant harassment on a daily basis. If you support the working man don’t support this d-​bag. Not to mention his food is awful.

As a native of the area, Polk-​A-​Dot has received its 15 minutes of fame here and there in books and documentaries, enticing visitors as a place to stop on your journey along Route 66. Why you should stop:
–take pictures with the statues along the perimeter of the building
–visit a summertime car show that’s being held in the parking lot
–check out the 1950s memorabilia inside of the drive-​in
Why you shouldn’t stop:
–the greasy, run-​of-​the-​mill fried food and drink that tastes like the fryer
Unfortunately, you’re better off hitting up the McDonald’s across the street. Make sure you take a picture with Marilyn Monroe though!

On February 14, I ordered a pizza puff basket as well as a cheeseburger meal. I’ve lived in Braidwood since 1997 and have been to this restaurant probably 50 times or more. The restaurant has changed management and the food has gotten worse and the price has gone up considerably. On my order on 2÷14÷2015, the restaurant burned the outside of the pizza puff while the inside was raw. The burger too was burnt on the outside with a raw middle. I called two days later to complain and I was called a «liar» and told, «take your petty business elsewhere.» The person on the phone said that her parents owned the restaurant and they didn’t need my business. I’m shocked. Is this how you treat a loyal customer who has been going here for over a decade?

Driving down RT66 we found Elvis hanging out front. If it’s good enough for the King! Ice cream was what we were looking for on a hot steamy day. And I haven’t had a banana split since I was 10. No glass dish like I remember and it was soft serve, but it hit the spot non the less. Clean place and appealing to the eye. They had 12 pieces of fried chicken for $ 13.50. That would make a great lunch! Until next time.

This is a pretty authentic, mom and pop drive in (with a drive thru window for the winter months, when it’s too cold to do drive ins).
The inside is diner chic — the old tables and booths. There is an old style juke box with RECORDS (note to those born after 1990 — these are flat plastic discs that has music pressed into the grooves, that get played through a phonograph needle — if you’ve never seen one, this is the place).
A bunch of the seats have wall boxes, so you can sit down, eat, and play music. It’s all stuff from the 50s and 60s for the most part.
Enough of that — on to the food. I was in for dinner, and ordered their Whopper sandwich, with everything (why not?) It was a double patty with cheese, and I never ran out of pickles. I think the bottom bun was painted with them — I had one in every bite. I’m not a big fan of fries, but these were fresh.
The place has all you could want — a kiddy car for a quarter for those with younger kids, 50’s and 60’s artwork all over the walls, and kind of a fun, retro-​look.
The next time you go by, stop in for a bite to eat. They have a wide menu to choose from. It’s worth a stop.