On the Road: Elkhart, Indiana
Two local burger joints — one a classic drive-in, the other a top-notch tavern – that make for a perfect pit stop
Welcome to the weekend!
Our main story this week is an On The Road feature from Elkhart, Indiana. The north-central town has made for a great lunch stop on a number of road trips. Today, we share a couple of burger joints worth your time: the seasonally operating Simonton Lake Drive-In and the Flippin’ Cow Burger Joint, which came recommended by burger guru
. On the Road is an occasional series where we share some of our favorite detours from our travels around the country.After that, we’re headed out to Astoria, Oregon for The Order, an occasional feature where we share one great dish from the road. This week, we’re checking out some unorthodox fish and chips served from a dry-docked boat near the shores of the Columbia River.
Also, if you haven’t downloaded this month’s Featured Field Guide, you should! Our Charlottesville, Virginia guide is a 40-page, three-day itinerary with recommendations for breakfast, lunch, dinner, drinks, and more. It’s available for purchase on our website for any of our readers, but paid American Weekender subscribers get this guide, plus our full library of guides and access to our American Weekender Google Map for free.
Before we log off for the weekend, we’ve got a couple items to add to your Weekend Reading list. Amy checks out a new cocktail bar in Chicago,
gets a tip from his mechanic in Detroit, and Michelin continues its push into Florida. Thanks for reading.— Amy Cavanaugh & Kenney Marlatt
Take a Burger Break
ELKHART, IN. — As people who regularly find ourselves driving from Chicago to Cleveland, this also means we are frequently in Elkhart, Indiana, located 15 miles from South Bend. A natural stopping point between the two cities for lunch, Elkhart is located on beautiful Simonton Lake, and also has a strong penchant for burgers. On our last two visits to town, we checked out two very different burger joints, both worth your time.
Let’s start with Simonton Lake Drive-In. The family-owned drive-in feels unchanged since it opened in 1964 (though when we visited last year, they had just added a new 1/3 pound breaded chicken filet). Like any good drive-in, Simonton hosts classic car nights and also closes for the winter. You can pull your car into a space and order through the callbox out your window, or you can park and go sit around back at the picnic tables and order through the callboxes there. Either way, a carhop will deliver your order on a red and silver tray.
We opted for the latter (finding excuses to get out of the car is a good thing to do on road trips), and perused the menu. You’ll find your standard drive-in fare here — burgers, hot dogs, sandwiches, ice cream, and shakes — along with Midwest favorites like olive burgers, pork tenderloin sandwiches, and Blue Moon ice cream.
We ordered the olive burger, served with shredded lettuce, mayo, and sliced green olives; the pork tenderloin sandwich; fries with garlic-romano seasoning; and mugs of housemade root beer. Later, we ordered dreamsicle shakes. At many places in the Midwest, olive burgers feature green olives mixed into the mayo so it forms more of a condiment, but here, the mayo was spread on the bun and a thick pile of olives was set on top of the burger (I think the condiment approach works better since it keeps the olives in line). If you’ve never had one, the olives add a salty, briny flavor that’s tasty, even if it’s never a burger style I particularly crave.
The Indiana-favorite pork tenderloin is one of the great regional sandwiches, and the version here was quite good for $6.49 at a drive-in — tender and well-fried, and dressed with mayo and shredded lettuce. Definitely do not miss the root beer, which Simonton cans and also sells in gallon and keg sizes (so you know where to go if you’re throwing a party nearby). To enjoy it there, you can order it served over crushed ice in frosted mugs or a “small paper cup” which is how you know they’ve been serving it for decades.
Despite being located near Lake Simonton, you can’t see it from here, and the history provides the ambiance. To soak up that lakeside ambiance, head to Flippin’ Cow Burger Joint, which friend of American Weekender
pointed us to. You can park your boat if you’re arriving by water, or sit out on the porch to eat with a water view. The burgers here are much more gourmet — they’re made with a blend of ribeye, brisket, and chuck — and served with toppings like grilled pineapple, jalapeño jelly, and bacon-cheddar dip.To start, we opted for the Horse Pickles, which are a fried mélange of pickle chips, onions, and jalapeños served with a creamy-tangy dipping sauce. Then we got two burgers, both very good: The Flippin’ Melt, a nice version of a patty melt with both Swiss and American cheeses, grilled onions, and house sauce on crisped-up marble rye bread; and the Hunka Hunka Burger Love, a patty with peanut butter, jalapeño jelly, pepper jack, and bacon on a pretzel bun, which hits the center of the spicy-salty-sweet Venn diagram (side note: Why does Indiana so love peanut butter burgers?). Flippin’ Cow has several sister restaurants in town, including Fat Hop Brewing, so you can get a locally brewed beer alongside your burger.
Next time we drive through Elkhart? We’re heading to Heinnie’s, a beloved restaurant that opened in 1951 and is also known for its burgers. It isn’t open for lunch (the front bar opens at 3pm and the restaurant at 5pm), so we’ll just have to plan our trip accordingly.
Simonton Lake Drive-In: 3724 Cassopolis St, Elkhart, IN
Flippin’ Cow Burgers: 51330 IN-19, Elkhart, IN | @flippincowburgerjoint
More On the Road Features
Fish and Chips at Bowpicker
ASTORIA, ORE. — Astoria is a town located right on the Columbia River, which separates Oregon and Washington. It’s filled with nautical delights, not the least of which is the fish and chips outfit Bowpicker, which is located in a gillnet boat. It’s parked on dry land, and serves one of the best versions of this dish we’ve had. That’s because owners Ron and Linda Ford use meaty chunks of Albacore tuna, which they lightly beer batter and fry, then serve with steak fries, malt vinegar, and tartar sauce. Take your order down by the water and pair with a local Buoy Beer.
Download All Our Charlottesville Recommendations
Ready to plan your trip to Charlottesville? Our full list of favorites is available in our Field Guide to Charlottesville — free for paid subscribers! This 40-page dining guide includes a curated three-day itinerary with recommendations for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and drinks. It’s downloadable for offline reading, includes Google Maps and Instagram links, and is formatted for your phone — perfect for easy reference on your next trip.
Paid subscribers received a code to download a free copy of the guide in this month’s Weekend Getaway issue, so upgrade your subscription today and get your complimentary copy. (You can also purchase this Field Guide on our website, but a paid subscription is a better deal since you’ll also get access to our American Weekender Google Map and can download any other Field Guide you’d like for free!)
ILLINOIS
A Mexican Spirit at Erick Williams’ New Cocktail Bar: Amy recently wrote about Erick Williams’ new Hyde Park cocktail bar for Chicago magazine. “Head bartender Maria Rodriguez (Virtue) deftly executes the drink menu created by Paul McGee (Lost Lake),” Amy writes. “For Rodriguez, the program is about ‘the beauty and tradition of Mexican craftsmanship.’ She and her team serve spirits like mezcal, raicilla, and sotol (plus surprises like a Baja California gin) and whip up juicy frozen guava coladas and vibrant Desert Spoon Swizzles with rum, hibiscus, and sotol.” The bar is firing on all cylinders and is a perfect spot for a pre-dinner drink before dinner at Virtue just down the street.
MICHIGAN
A Restaurant Recommendation from my Mechanic: In Detroit, writer
recently wrote about Sana’a, a Yemeni restaurant in Dearborn. His mechanic had tipped him off. “Ali Alhumaidi is the owner/operator of In & Out auto on East Vernor. Ali was born in Yemen, specifically the capital of Sana’a,” writes Palumbo. “On most days, you’ll find him wearing knee pads and a backwards hat, and if you go to In & Out during lunch time, you’ll probably see him and his crew chowing down on braised lamb and basmati rice in the garage.” At the restaurant, he finds lamb is indeed the star. “Lamb shanks marinated in an array of traditional spices are roasted slowly on low heat. Fatty, meaty, and tender—the lamb possesses a succulent texture. The shanks get plopped down on a colorful bed of orange and yellow basmati rice, and served with a side of spicy red salsa called zahawig.” Sold.FLORIDA
Michelin Adds Restaurants to Florida, California Guides: Michelin has been making a big push into Florida and they just gave 14 new restaurants around the state “Recommended” status. “The news comes as a teaser in advance of the April 17th Florida ceremony to be held at the Four Seasons Resort at Walt Disney World in Orlando,” writes
for Broken Palate. Currently, Florida’s only two-star spot is the Miami outpost of L'Atelier de Joël Robuchon and 25 other restaurants possess a single star. Perhaps that will change by the end of the month.— Compiled by Kenney Marlatt
Want more? Chat with us on Substack, download our Field Guides, check out our archives, or follow us on Instagram @americanweekender. We’ll be back next week.
Now I want a burger 🍔
This made me irrationally nostalgic for a road trip I haven’t even taken yet. The olive burger vs. peanut butter burger debate alone could keep me in Elkhart for a week. And Bowpicker’s tuna fish and chips? Now that’s the kind of local gem you hope to stumble across when you're a little lost and a lot hungry. Appreciate how this captures the spirit of travel through taste—just added Flippin’ Cow to my Google Maps like it’s a sacred pilgrimage.