Tastee Treat: Remodeled drive-in still focuses on old-fashioned goodness
BY SCOTT CHERRY World Restaurant Critic
Thursday, November 29, 2012
3/28/13 at 7:56 AM
The old Tastee Treat Drive-In in Broken Arrow recently underwent a bit of a sprucing up - new paint, new flooring, etc. - but Steve Thesenvitz assures the same old-fashioned, home-style food is coming out of the kitchen.
"We might add something new now and then, but we mostly keep things the same," said Thesenvitz, who runs the restaurant with wife Terri. "This a neighborhood restaurant, and our customers know what they want. And we usually know what they want before they walk in the door."
Some of the items regulars might want include a selection of old-fashioned hamburgers, hot dogs, sandwiches, chicken-fried steak, fries, malts, shakes, freezes, dip cones and traditional breakfasts.
Much of the menu, including the malts, freezes and dip cones, is believed to be a carryover from a Tastee Freez.
"We believe it started as a Tastee Freez in the late '60s," Thesenvitz said. "When the franchise was lost, they just changed the name from Freez to Treat. The place has had several owners since then."
Thesenvitz has had one of the longest tenures, going on 17 years. He said the cozy eatery with nine booths and a drive-through window hasn't technically been a drive-in for more than two decades, but it survives as part of the full name.
I wondered about the wisdom behind the 4 p.m. closing time, and I found out when I went by in the afternoon and saw the patio tables full of parents and their children who had come by for an after-school snack.
"It can stay busy all day, from breakfast to close," Thesenvitz said.
We had a double-meat jumbo cheeseburger ($4.49), a boneless chicken strip dinner ($6.99) and a hamburger steak dinner ($6.99) with sides of curly Q fries ($1.99) and onion rings ($2.59).
The chicken strip dinner actually was two pieces of chicken breast, pounded thin, lightly breaded and fried. It came with a well-cooked baked potato, standard dinner salad and Texas toast.
The hamburger steak was fine, though cooked a little more done than we prefer, and came with the same sides as the chicken dinner. Diners may choose fries over the baked potato if they wish.
The cheeseburger had that old-fashioned flavor that is hard to beat. The fries were OK, and the medium-sized onion rings had a heavily breaded, frozen quality about them, but at least the onions didn't slide out of their batter cocoons.
We also couldn't resist a vanilla shake and vanilla malt ($2.69 each). I liked the malt better, but that's a personal preference. I wish I had room for a freeze, a float, a cherry limeade and a dip cone, but those will have to wait for another trip.
Daily specials include chicken-fried steak with mashed potatoes and corn on Tuesdays, open-faced roast beef with mashed potatoes and dinner salad on Wednesdays, and meatloaf with mashed potatoes and green beans on Thursdays for $5.99 each.
The full menu and daily specials can be found on the restaurant's Facebook page.
It's good to remember Tastee Treat accepts cash and checks only.
TASTEE TREAT
1537 S. Main St., Broken Arrow
918-251-5252
Food: 
Atmosphere:
Service: order at counter
(on a scale of 0-4 stars)
Breakfast, 6:30-11 a.m. Tuesday-
Friday, 6:30 a.m. to noon Saturday;
lunch, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday-
Friday, noon-4 p.m. Saturday;
accepts cash and checks only.
Original Print Headline: Keeping fare old-fashioned
Scott Cherry 918-581-8463
scott.cherry@tulsaworld.com
Associated Images:
A cheeseburger and fries has been a staple item at Tastee Treat for at least two decades. CORY YOUNG/Tulsa World
The Tastee Treat building is believed to have started as a Tastee Freez in the late 1960s. STEPHEN PINGRY/Tulsa World
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