# Any root beer stands in your area?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-root-beer-stands-in-your-area/838433>\
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\
**Created:** [August 9, 2019, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-root-beer-stands-in-your-area/838433 "2019-08-09T22:14:44Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 20\
**Page:** 1

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Urbanredneck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ea5d25/32.png) [@Urbanredneck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Urbanredneck)\
**Post date:** [August 9, 2019, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-root-beer-stands-in-your-area/838433/1 "2019-08-09T22:14:44Z")

</div>

I love the old root beer drive ins where they would serve you an ice cold root beer in a frosty mug with burgers, hot dogs and fries. Here in Kansas City only one left - [Mug’s Up.](http://mugsup.com/). Mugs up brews its own root beer an they still have car hops with those little metal change dispensers.

Do you have one of these in your area?

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![california\_jobcase](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9d8465/32.png) [@california\_jobcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/california_jobcase)\
**Post date:** [August 9, 2019, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-root-beer-stands-in-your-area/838433/2 "2019-08-09T23:36:19Z")

</div>

There is one in Anderson, Indiana called Gene’s root beer. It’s still popular, but the dogs, buns, and sauce aren’t as good as they used to be. A bit north of there in Alexandria is a B&K Root Beer. Both are open only in season.

I don’t live there much any more, though.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![DorkVader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/73ab20/32.png) [@DorkVader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DorkVader)\
**Post date:** [August 10, 2019, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-root-beer-stands-in-your-area/838433/3 "2019-08-10T00:46:06Z")

</div>

Not root beer, but mountain dew. There was a delightful little coffee shop that I would go to when possible. Then one time, after a three week hiatus, it was suddenly this Mountain Dew themed fast food place. Well actually the food was an after thought. They had about 30 flavors of soda they mixed using a friggin Mountain Dew base. Now there’s two of them.  
BLECH!

Not since A&W stopped doing the mixing and making of root beer in house at each store jas there been a root beer stand that I know of around these parts

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\
**Post date:** [August 10, 2019, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-root-beer-stands-in-your-area/838433/4 "2019-08-10T01:50:32Z")

</div>

> [@DorkVader](#):
>
> Not since A&W stopped doing the mixing and making of root beer in house at each store jas there been a root beer stand that I know of around these parts

Likewise. The local A&W was in Springfield Mall.

There used to be a McDonald’s with carhop service at Leesburg Pike & Carlin Springs Road but it got turned into your standard MickeyD’s several years ago.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\
**Post date:** [August 10, 2019, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-root-beer-stands-in-your-area/838433/5 "2019-08-10T01:53:21Z")

</div>

My local A&W shares space with Long John Silver’s, and has a drive-through but no carhop service. There’s Sonic, but I wouldn’t consider what they serve food.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\
**Post date:** [August 10, 2019, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-root-beer-stands-in-your-area/838433/6 "2019-08-10T02:00:12Z")

</div>

> [@Skywatcher](#):
>
> There used to be a McDonald’s with carhop service at Leesburg Pike & Carlin Springs Road but it got turned into your standard MickeyD’s several years ago.

I just looked it up. It used to be a Roy Rogers and that’s the place which had the carhop service.

[![](https://live.staticflickr.com/3054/2785809614_4720cc884a_b.jpg) ](https://live.staticflickr.com/3054/2785809614_4720cc884a_b.jpg)  
[![](https://farm4.static.flickr.com/3262/2785809704_d4b6502012_b.jpg) ](https://farm4.static.flickr.com/3262/2785809704_d4b6502012_b.jpg)

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Urbanredneck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ea5d25/32.png) [@Urbanredneck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Urbanredneck)\
**Post date:** [August 10, 2019, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-root-beer-stands-in-your-area/838433/7 "2019-08-10T03:18:05Z")

</div>

> [@nearwildheaven](#):
>
> My local A&W shares space with Long John Silver’s, and has a drive-through but no carhop service. There’s Sonic, but I wouldn’t consider what they serve food.

Can you get the root beer in the frosty mugs or is it just in paper cups?

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\
**Post date:** [August 10, 2019, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-root-beer-stands-in-your-area/838433/8 "2019-08-10T03:35:32Z")

</div>

The last A&W place in my city closed years ago. I remember it as a kid, and it lasted until I was about thirty. I’m almost sixty five now.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\
**Post date:** [August 10, 2019, 3:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-root-beer-stands-in-your-area/838433/9 "2019-08-10T03:58:07Z")

</div>

> [@california\_jobcase](#):
>
> There is one in Anderson, Indiana called Gene’s root beer. It’s still popular, but the dogs, buns, and sauce aren’t as good as they used to be. A bit north of there in Alexandria is a B&K Root Beer. Both are open only in season.
> 
> I don’t live there much any more, though.

Union city Ohio, which is about fifty miles away, has a A&W old style restaurant. It’s nice.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![DorkVader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/73ab20/32.png) [@DorkVader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DorkVader)\
**Post date:** [August 10, 2019, 4:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-root-beer-stands-in-your-area/838433/10 "2019-08-10T04:38:44Z")

</div>

> [@Urbanredneck](#):
>
> Can you get the root beer in the frosty mugs or is it just in paper cups?

In my locality, you can get the mug, pay a little extra and you can keep it too.

(Even though I’m not Urbanredneck)

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\
**Post date:** [August 10, 2019, 5:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-root-beer-stands-in-your-area/838433/11 "2019-08-10T05:24:36Z")

</div>

We had two A&W drive-ins until a few years ago, but they both closed down, and the only remaining A&W is a KFC combo that doesn’t have carhops and uses BIB for its root beer.

About an hour and a half from here, though, there’s [Triple XXX Root Beer](http://triplexrootbeer.com/), one of the last vestiges of what was once a nationwide chain.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![nightshadea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/7ba0ec/32.png) [@nightshadea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nightshadea)\
**Post date:** [August 10, 2019, 7:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-root-beer-stands-in-your-area/838433/12 "2019-08-10T07:07:17Z")

</div>

our original a&w drive in became a b&K and closed down a few years after that

then we had one that was a regular fast food place and the owner sold it and it moved to the mall and closed down about 4 years after that …

YUM! brands owned it and they tended to pair it with their other restaurants which is why you see it with KFC and ljs in a lot of places

but dr pepper owns the actual root beer …the restaurants are a separate company that buys the root beer from dr pepper

heres the history…it sort of follows dairy queens orgins a bit

> **[A&W Root Beer](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A%26W_Root_Beer)**
>
> A&W Root Beer is an American brand of root beer that was founded in 1919 by Roy W. Allen and primarily available in the United States and Canada. Allen partnered with Frank Wright in 1922, creating the A&W brand and inspiring a chain of A&W Restaurants founded that year. Originally, A&W Root Beer sold for five cents (equivalent to $0.78 in 2021).
> The rights to the A&W brand (except in Canada) are owned by Keurig Dr Pepper, which in turn licenses the brand to the U.S.-based A&W Restaurant chain. ...

funny thing tho my mom is the single-handed reason that the a&w’s around here charged a 2$ deposit for each mug… shed go in after partying and eat and such and forget to give the mugs back … she had about 4 dozen mugs at one point…

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Bayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bayaker/32/3454_2.png) [@Bayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bayaker)\
**Post date:** [August 10, 2019, 10:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-root-beer-stands-in-your-area/838433/13 "2019-08-10T10:20:54Z")

</div>

> [@nearwildheaven](#):
>
> My local A&W shares space with Long John Silver’s, and has a drive-through but no carhop service. There’s Sonic, but I wouldn’t consider what they serve food.

Same here, except it’s not local to me, it’s just the closest - about fifty miles away in the Houston suburbs. I wouldn’t count it as a “real” root beer stand, either. The ones I miss were always in small towns and served the same function as a Texas Stop Sign(aka Dairy Queen).

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\
**Post date:** [August 10, 2019, 11:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-root-beer-stands-in-your-area/838433/14 "2019-08-10T11:18:50Z")

</div>

There used to be an small A&W near us sharing space with a KFC.

But you couldn’t get a baby/mama/papa burger there. I loved mama burgers w/sweet pickle relish.

But that was years ago. None left anywhere in the region.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![N9IWP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/n9iwp/32/3154_2.png) [@N9IWP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/N9IWP)\
**Post date:** [August 10, 2019, 11:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-root-beer-stands-in-your-area/838433/15 "2019-08-10T11:27:04Z")

</div>

Yes, [Rudy’s Drive-in](http://www.rudysdrivein.com/index.htm) They even have roller-skating waitresses

Brian

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![The\_Stainless\_Steel\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_stainless_steel_rat/32/5727_2.png) [@The\_Stainless\_Steel\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Stainless_Steel_Rat)\
**Post date:** [August 10, 2019, 12:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-root-beer-stands-in-your-area/838433/16 "2019-08-10T12:57:32Z")

</div>

None that I know of down here in N. Ali-bama, but was home (near Akron, OH) for a quick visit last weekend and ran across an old B&K that’s been in the same place for at least 30 years. A big mug of Root Beer and two cheese dogs with fries brought back a lot of good thoughts.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\
**Post date:** [August 10, 2019, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-root-beer-stands-in-your-area/838433/17 "2019-08-10T13:04:01Z")

</div>

We have a several Stewart’s Root Beers in the area. They serve their own Root Beer in a frosty mug.  
It is a lot like A&W, not quite as good, though their Root Beer floats are.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\
**Post date:** [August 10, 2019, 1:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-root-beer-stands-in-your-area/838433/18 "2019-08-10T13:07:35Z")

</div>

A local brewery, [Levity Brewing Company](http://www.levitybrewing.com/), in order to make their brewery more kid-friendly, brews their own root beer. I’ve tried it and it is pretty good. They also brew their own ginger ale, which parents sometimes mistakenly purchase for their kids. They’ve added **“HOT”** to their signage.🙂

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Spud](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spud/32/347_2.png) [@Spud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spud)\
**Post date:** [August 11, 2019, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-root-beer-stands-in-your-area/838433/19 "2019-08-11T14:07:21Z")

</div>

> [@Smapti](#):
>
> About an hour and a half from here, though, there’s [Triple XXX Root Beer](http://triplexrootbeer.com/), one of the last vestiges of what was once a nationwide chain.

I had to check your location because I didn’t think you were from Indiana. The only other XXX is in Lafayette IN about an hour from me. Very popular with Purdue students and alums.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Urbanredneck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ea5d25/32.png) [@Urbanredneck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Urbanredneck)\
**Post date:** [August 12, 2019, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-root-beer-stands-in-your-area/838433/20 "2019-08-12T13:17:35Z")

</div>

Years ago I visited Canada and I noticed the A&W’s were bigger restaurants there.

[Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-root-beer-stands-in-your-area/838433.md?page=2)
