Krystal dishes up nostalgia
By Jason M. Reynolds
Staff Writer
Baby boomers who love Krystals and cars can indulge in both at the chain's high-tech drive-in on Brainerd Road while reminiscing about yesteryear.
"It all came out of my mind because the first Krystal I remember eating at was on Cherokee Boulevard" at a drive-in, said James F. "Fred" Exum Jr., the company's CEO and a boomer. "It was always a big deal eating in the car."
An old Krystal at 5401 Brainerd Road was demolished in 2006 and a new store opened there earlier this year -- with dine-in, a drive-through and drive-in stalls. However, Mr. Exum said nostalgia isn't totally behind his decision to re-create the drive-in experience.
The new drive-in is an experiment to see how not only boomers react but people of all ages, Mr. Exum said. Krystal, like some other fast food restaurants, once had drive-in locations, but drive-through windows led to a decline of the drive-in, he said.
Sonic is one of the few examples of restaurants to continue drive-in dining in a major way, other than individual "mom and pop" eateries, Mr. Exum said.
If the concept works, the next Krystal drive-in likely would be built on the site of a Krystal in Orlando, Fla., where there's plenty of land and traffic, Mr. Exum said.
"This is an experiment. There's an obligation to franchises to look at new things," Mr. Exum said. "Drive-in was something I was interested in doing again if people embraced the idea. I had to figure out how to do it better and faster."
The Brainerd Road site is a 21st century update of the Krystal drive-ins that operated in the 1950s and 1960s, Mr. Exum said. Large video monitors serve as menus and televisions for customers to watch TV while eating. Customers can dial their radio to a specified frequency to hear the television programs.
An expanded menu was crucial for a drive-in Krystal, Mr. Exum said. The store has unique items like a marinated, grilled chicken Krystal, corned beef Krystal, smoothies and dipped ice cream cones.
While the Brainerd store is a drive-in, boomers will notice a few differences from old-fashion Krystal drive-ins, he said. The new store uses carhops to take orders from cars, he said, while the older stores had a telephone in the stalls for drivers to call into the store and place their order, which was delivered by carhops. The phones were eliminated to provide more direct customer service.
The diner portion of the old drive-in restaurants had small coin-operated jukeboxes on each table, Mr. Exum said, while the new store has a single MP3 jukebox that can be used for free. The jukebox downloads new songs daily and deletes unpopular titles, and song selections change according to the time of day.
Bob Burchfield, a baby boomer who owns Bleacher Bums and Udder Creamery, said he remembers the days in the late 1950s when he and his brother could eat a Krystal meal for 25 cents each. His family lived in Brainerd and dined at the Germantown Road drive-in Krystal.
"I have a special place in my heart for Krystal," he said.
E-mail Jason M. Reynolds at jreynolds@timesfreepress.com
Staff Photo by Brett Clark
Erikka Lewis delivers food to Jim Coleman at the drive-in at the Krystal on Brainerd Road.
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