Wednesday, July 22, 2009

The Original A&W comes to Fort William and Port Arthur 1958







Having an A&W Drive-In in Fort William and Port Arthur(now Thunder Bay, Ontario) was like a dream come true to us cruisers of the time because we had a place to hang out with our cars and be with our friends. The Millionaire was OK for awhile but to have an A&W....wow, that was cool. I remember going to Minneapolis with my parents before I started to drive and what a treat it was to get one of those Frosty Mugs of Root Beer and a burger and fries. When the Teen Burger came out in 1961, I was totally in love with it and still am to this day. No burger I have yet tasted has been quite like a Teen Burger.
The first A&W here was built on the corner of 10th Ave. and Memorial Ave. near the Intercity area(halfway point between Fort William and Port Arthur). It is now a combination business, one called "The Salon on 10th" and the other called "The Sushi Bowl" restaurant. Where "The Salon on 10th" is now, was the parking lot. For awhile it was called The Welcome Restaurant. I also remember during the summer there would occasionally be a band playing on a Saturday night on the roof.
The other ones that came later were Cumberland Street presently Chachi's, Southern and May Streets presently the Dairy Queen, and finally Arthur Street in Fort William, presently The Metro grocery store(A&P).
The current three are on Arthur Street near Shoppers Drugs, Memorial Ave., and Intercity Mall....none of these are old locations.
Even though I don't have an actual picture of the original drive-in, it looked very much like the one in the B&W photo.
The menu above shows the typical 1963 prices(I left it as a larger scan so you can see the prices and the fact that it shows the original address as well). DO YOU REMEMBER?
.........click on to enlarge!

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