Restaurant Review: Jack's Drive-In

JACK'S DRIVE-IN

123 First Avenue ~ jacksdrivein.ca Instagram: @jacksdrivein1 ~ Twitter: @Jacks_Drive_In Co-Diner: Tim Golem

Spruce Grove is city just to the west of Edmonton and it's basically a bit of a suburb at this point. You'll find a teeny-tiny burger shack there, and let me tell you, it's adorable. VUE Weekly voted Jack's Drive-In as #1 Worth the Trip: Spruce Grove 2018 and I jumped straight into my car to make the 30 minute drive. If you blink, you'll miss this place. It's super small and old-timey, which makes sense since it has been in the exact same spot since 1961. It's a Spruce Grove landmark! They've got plenty of seating out front for outdoor dining and the inside has a few tables as well. Entering the little building is quite like stepping into a time machine, as the inside is completely decked out like something out of the 50s. Chrome bar stools, red vinyl-wrapped everything, and a jukebox that is free to use. Of course the music playing is all 50s and 60s. They've got a TV screen in one corner that is inside one of those retro wooden TV set boxes. Murals cover the walls with paintings of celebrities from the era, and it's all completely on-theme and done really well. You'll find a window to order at (they also have a drive-thru) and they offer a surprising amount of different things to eat and delicious sounding treats. The girl that took my order was extremely friendly and I couldn't help but think that working at a diner like this must be something straight out of a cliché high school drama or comedy. Jack's has different monthly specials that only happen for each particular month. These include food and drink items. Since it's October, it made natural sense to find a Pumpkin Milkshake ($5.50 for large) on the specials menu. I would have ordered a milkshake regardless so this seemed like the right thing to do.

I was really impressed by this shake! Not only was it perfectly thick but the pumpkin flavour was extremely on-point. It tasted exactly like pumpkin pie filling. Just the fact that it tasted so real was unexpected. I loved this. Move over pumpkin spice latte, because Jack's pumpkin shake is super legit. All of the food arrived very quickly. The whole order was bagged and brought to the table that we were sitting at in no time at all. As an appetizer of sorts I wanted to try the Corn Fritters ($4.25 for five) because they seemed quite unique to the restaurant. They come from O'Donnell Farm and seem to be a bit of a "thing."

I was asked if I wanted any jam with them (strawberry or raspberry) so I said "yes," since it sounded like the appropriate way to enjoy the fritters. They come in a bag of piping-hot, irregular golden orbs. Taking a bite, I loved the crispy exterior and the soft, sweet interior. Dipping the fritter into the jam added an extra sweetness that worked very well. These were great and perfectly cooked. I've got my eye on the deep fried pickles for next time. I figured that I would order a burger since that seemed like the main thing to eat, although there are quite a lot of other options which range from; fish & chips, Nathan's Famous hot dogs (literally the best hot dogs), and even perogies (which I liked seeing because it felt like a very Canadian prairie type of item to offer). But back to the burgers, "the one" to get has to be the Spruce Burger ($6.99).

A seasoned 1/3 lb beef patty, fried onions, bacon, ketchup, mustard, swiss cheese, tomato, pickle & an onion ring.

This burger was on the original menu when Jack's opened in 1961 and it used to cost only 50¢! Named after the city itself, it's definitely one of the restaurant's signature items. And it was a delicious burger! I noticed right away that everything seemed extremely fresh and it just had that homemade feeling about it. The beef patty was very juicy and meaty. (I know that "meaty" seems like an obvious thing to say, but it truly had an actual meaty quality about it.) I found the use of swiss as an interesting departure from the norm and I loved the added crunch from the crispy onion ring. This was a very good, well-executed hamburger. We also ordered Fries ($3.99 for small) because fries.

While the portion size was generous, the fries were the weakest part of the whole meal. There wasn't anything special about them and they weren't fresh-cut or anything. I would certainly recommend some of the more interesting sides on the menu instead. Lastly, there had to be dessert especially with all of the amazing ice cream options on the menu. Jack's specializes in soft serve ice cream, which I love. In fact, I prefer it! There. I said it. They do all sorts of sundaes, dipped cones and whatnot but the Almond Roca ($5.99) caught my attention.

Waffle cone with vanilla ice cream, toasted coconut, hot fudge, peanuts, topped with slivered almonds.

So good! The toasted coconut is a very special and unique thing that they do at Jack's. It's more like a delicious fudge dip with coconut in it. I loved that this cone incorporated it! Both the hot fudge and the toasted coconut created a shell over the cold ice cream that was satisfying to bite through. The waffle cone itself was very good and the soft serve ice cream was of exceptional quality. Ultra creamy, it's some of the best soft serve that I've had in the Edmonton area. I was very happy with my experience at Jack's Drive-In. The place is adorable, the prices are undeniably reasonable, and the quality of the food is very good. They even serve breakfast, which I would love to try! I completely agree that making the short trip to Spruce Grove is a worthwhile endeavour when Jack's is the destination.