Rocky Mountain Drive-In

Our next stop took us down to Provo for a totally random pick: Rocky Mountain Drive-In.  Jackie spotted this one when working down at the Covey Center for the Arts this week so we decided to give it a go.  The owner was not there when we descended so there was no opportunity thus far to get a little backstory but the nice young man who served us mentioned in passing about getting “all new stuff” as far as the terminal he was creating our order through which leads me to believe that there are possibly some changes in the air, maybe?

Rocky Mountain Drive-In seems pretty well situated directly off the south-west corner of the Covey Center Center and set just back from the corner of 500 W & Center Street in Provo.  It’s also across from a Park.  When we went there was only one other small table filled but it was also a little early for dinner.

The restaurant did look a little dated.  The booths, menu board and over all feel was actual vintage (as opposed to “styled vintage”) and they had a nod to the jazz age and classic Hollywood with some pictures of Billie Holladay and Marilyn Monroe on the walls. It wasn’t a lot of atmosphere but it was clean (this is a really big thing in a restaurant) and the staff were nice. The most telling thing regarding the business, however, was the sign above the counter that stated the they only use fresh meat and that fresh takes a little longer.  (If I get to have that conversation with the owner I will verify that food philosophy).

The Tasters

This week our tasters included me (well, duh!), Jackie and — new this week! — McKay.  (You don’t have to try very hard to convince a starving college student to join you for burgers, right?)

 

What We Ordered

The menu board looked like it was going to be pretty basic hamburger joint fare but we were pleasantly surprised to see some variety.   I ordered the Guacamole Swiss burger. I almost went for the mushroom swiss burger but, since I’ve had mushroom swiss burgers before I decided to branch out a little bit.  I had a sugar-free black cherry Icee and Jackie and I shared an order of onion rings.

• My Impressions: My Guacamole Swiss Burger was a little different from your normal burger.  I was really looking forward to the Guacamole coming through but, alas, there was just too little of it.  What I did taste seemed good, but there definitely not enough on it and it got a little lost in the rest of the burger flavors.
• The onion rings were nice and golden and crunchy.  These were of the “bigger-the-better” variety which tend to leave the onions a tad under cooked leaving the onions not quite as cooked through as I like them (remember I have the penchant for caramelized onions), but they did have a nice, crunchy exterior.  As for the Icee — well, it was an Icee.  I love ice. Therefore Icees are always good and sugar free is always a plus.
• The Extra: After we had eaten all of that we decided to get an order of scones.  We had seen them there tempting us from the menu board but didn’t know if we would want that much food.  Silly us!  So, we ordered a couple with honey butter.  They were piping hot and fresh.  But the best part of scones is the honey butter of course! Rocky Mountain’s honey butter was different from other’s we have had. Different doesn’t mean worse or bad, in this case, but it was different.  We wondered if it was actually marshmallow creme at first because of it’s consistency and taste, but I could taste the honey with it and it was good on the scones.

Jackie ordered the Pastrami Burger because, as she says, “Pastrami is always a good idea”.  She also tried a totally new type of soda pop that is actually really old: Iron Port. I don’t know if I have ever seen Iron Port on a soda fountain.

• Jackie’s Impressions: Jackie is into hamburgers with toasted buns lately.  If the bun is nicely toasted it is always a plus and can really add to the “depth of flavor” (We know all about depth of flavor because we watch all of the cooking shows on Netflix).  The buns themselves were pretty ordinary sesame seed-topped buns so toasting them was a good idea.  She added and extra tomato because McKay doesn’t like tomatoes. Bonus for Jackie!  She is always one to like a pastrami burger and this one was acceptable.
• The real surprise was the Iron Port soda pop!  You may have never heard of Iron Port but it has it’s own Wikipedia page, the first part of which reads: Ironport (sometimes spelled as two words: Iron Port) is an old-fashioned carbonated soft drink from the early part of the 20th century that was served at soda fountains and is still popular in the Intermountain West. It can still be found in parts of Utah, Southern Idaho, Southern Montana, Western Wyoming, and Eastern Nevada. The flavor has been described as somewhat of a cross between root beer and Caribbean spices and is very similar to the Cuban soda, Iron Beer. The flavor has also been described as a black cherry Dr Pepper. It is rumored to have been named after Porter Rockwell. — There you are.  Your history lesson on Iron Port.  I’m not sure if we would agree or disagree with the flavor explanation they had but it is unlike anything you have probably ever tasted.  It’s sweeter than most sodas, was less carbonated and kind of started with a cream soda kind of flavor and finished off with something else.  We determined it would make a killer ice cream float.

For his first foray into burger evaluation with us McKay ordered the Rocky Mountain Burger–because it was the biggest. The description is “Double patties, double ham, double American Cheese, lettuce, pickle, tomato, with homemade dressing”.  That’s like a double-double-double.   It’s a big, fat-sounding burger.

• McKay’s Impressions: so being a novice burger taster McKay was halfway through his burger before he remembered that he had to pay attention to what he was actually liking or not liking.  The fact that he got halfway through the burger before he remembered was probably a good sign since, if he was going to gag on it, it definitely should have occurred in the first couple of bites. Except for the aforementioned tomato that was unceremoniously removed from the burger, it was pretty good.  It was definitely filling with that pile of meat on there! This is a burger that would scare a vegetarian to death but would satisfy a carnivore nicely.
• Fries came with his combo and a drink. McKay “doesn’t drink soda” — and pretty much he really doesn’t — but they had powerade and it is nice when they have an option for the anti-sodaists among us. The fries were really good. Thicker than a lot of places serve them but not as large as “steak-fries”.  They were golden, well cooked and basic but yummy.  I may or may not have stolen more than a couple.  I plead the fifth.

Our Final Word

Rocky Mountain Drive-In is a good, basic burger joint.  I wouldn’t call it a “destination” burger joint but if you were in downtown Provo and were craving a burger it would fit the bill nicely. Given it’s location right next to a Performing Arts Center and because it already has a little nod in the direction of performers in the pictures on it’s walls I think if they added a little more personality — maybe a pseudo jazz-club feel or beatnik coffee shop feel and highlighted the arts in a more obvious way — they could make it the defacto place to eat before attending a show.  That would be a really fun thing to see.

The Details:  What you need to know about Rocky Mountain Drive-in.

Hours: Monday – Saturday 10:00 am to 10:00 pm
Address: 43 S 500 W, Provo, UT 84601
Website: None known at press time.
Phone: (801) 373-2699
Ordering: In Person inside and through the drive thru.
Special Considerations: None known at press time.
Other Services: None known at press time.