Wayne’s Drive In

WAYNE’S DRIVE INN

BY TIM FARLEY

LAWTON - First dates and marriage proposals at Wayne’s Drive Inn is part of the folklore that has been passed down from one generation to another during the last 71 years.

Wayne’s Drive Inn is more than hamburgers, onion rings and large Coke. It’s a Lawton institution that almost everyone in the city knows about. It’s a hangout and part of the drag strip where teenagers cruised on Friday nights starting in 1950. It’s also been a venue to show off some of the fastest and best looking hot rods in town.

“There’s a lot of stories about things that have happened here, ” said Joe Abshere, owner of Wayne’s Drive Inn, 6810 NW Cache Road. Abshere is the grandson of Wayne’s founder Wayne Abshere. Joe Abshere and his father opened the Cache Road location in 2006 after Joe decided he wanted to be involved in the family business.

“It’s been good for us and the community, ” Joe Abshere

said.

“The community takes care of us and we try to take of them when we can.

During the past few years, Wayne’s Drive Inn has expanded its menu while still providing quality customer service “with a smile on our face, ” Joe Abshere said.

Wayne Abshere, the family patriarch, died in 2001. His sons, Bobby and Chuck, still operate the first Wayne’s Drive Inn at Sheridan and Gore.

“When my grandfather started it was only hamburgers and hotdogs, ” Joe Abshere said.

The menu has expanded to include breakfast, complete dinners, pizzas, steak fingers, salads, kiddie food and a variety of sides. Burgers, still considered the top menu choice, ranges from regular-sized hamburgers to triple-

cheeseburgers to big-as-you-want-burgers.

“We always strive to keep moving forward to see where it takes us, ” Joe Abshere said. “It’s important we serve our customers because they’re the reason we’ve been around 71 years. We have customers who remind us of their first visits to Wayne’s or their first date or the time they proposed to their sweetheart. There are so many stories and we’ve probably heard each one a few times. ”

Employee loyalty has been one of the ingredients to Joe Abshere’s success with the second Wayne’s Drive Inn.

“A lot of people have been with me since we opened on the west side, ” he said. “For some it was their first job and for others it’s been their only job. That’s how long they’ve been with us.

The beginning

In 1947, Wayne Abshere began his restaurant venture in Arvin, Calif., after serving in World War II. He and his wife, Mary, and his best friend Charley Barrett decided California was the place to be so they loaded up and moved there to start a new life. Once in California, they opened a hamburger stand – a seven-foot by 14-foot trailer. That lasted about a year before Wayne and Mary returned to Lawton and opened a sit-down hamburger restaurant called

Nostalgic views of Wayne’s Drive In, starting with the original location (left).

Wayne’s Burger Bar, 201 B Avenue.

After expanding to three locations, Wayne changed the company name and reduced his operation to the Sheridan Road location. In the early 1960s, he decided to construct a new building and extend the parking lot so he could better serve his customers. The inside counter seating was removed and curb service by carhops was created. The carhops took orders on a pad and calculated the total price in their heads.

Several years later in 1974, an electronic ordering system was installed to increase customer service. Hours for the original Wayne’s Drive Inn are 7:30 a.m. to 11 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday and 7:30 a.m. to 11:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday. Restaurant hours for Wayne’s Drive Inn II are 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday and 7 a.m. to 11:30 p.m. on Friday and Saturday. Both restaurants are closed on Sunday and Monday.

This article was reprinted with permission from the Southwest Ledger. n