Drive-ins hearken back to a time when Americans trusted their iron-haired newscasters, appliances could solve every household problem, and children looked forward to a future of sprocket factories and floating jet-cars in cities populated by Space Needles and floating sky-bridges. Just like childhood idealism, few of them have survived well through the Me-Me-Meness of the 80s and gritty 90s when Starbucks appeared on every other corner. We may have sacrificed our fast food diversity and the battered dream of jet-cars, but driving up to a place where perky employees deliver choice meals up to your window remains a shining hope in our hearts. A&W in Dexter, just up the road from Ann Arbor, offers a flashback to this simpler, happier time when recessionista and high carb diet were not part of our daily vocabularies. Outside the downtown area, the restaurant perches on the slope of a hill and boasts all the spare lines of an old-time drive-in. Simply park in an open spot, flash your lights when you are ready, and a cheerful waitress (or waiter, gender unbiased) will come out promptly to take your order. The service when I visited was quick, friendly, and enthusiastic. Going over my order for completeness and accuracy, she hustled back inside and was back in a flash to complete payment. Five minutes and I had fries, a cheeseburger, and a root beer to go. Curbside service with a smile and reasonable prices go a long way to cementing a faithful clientele, I bet, and there is the nostalgia factor playing in heavily. Couple that to the charm of a quieter small-town way of living that Dexter exudes, and A&W has a lock on quaint ambiance. However, a restaurant has to earn its stars on the basis of taste and food quality, not just adorable appearance and vivacious waitresses alone. Sadly, it is here A&W falls quite short of the mark. Fries are not usually something to write home about, but mine were at best warm and not especially salted. I did get a generous portion, however, which made up for a bit of the dissatisfaction for less than toasty french fries. The real problem, however, was the cheeseburger. My sadly smooshed patty oozed big pickle slices (yay) and a Kraft single-like slice (boo) in a partial state of melt, and while I am far from demanding about the appearance of a hamburger, the flavour left something to be desired. It wasn't the usual delicious A&W burger experience I have come to associate with the chain, but something possibly out of a Made-Rite or a low-scale restaurant fryer. It was greasy, a bit sloppy, and the flavour seemed wrong. I blame some of the displeasure on the cheese, which had the waxy consistency of a rain jacket. My culinary experience didn't live up to my hopes, and I satiated my sorrows on a cider doughnut from Dexter's Cider Mill all the way to Jackson. read more

One of the few remaining drive-in diners. The jugs of ice cold, freshly bottled root beer are way better than what's at the store. The food is the classic fare and for fast food it's pretty good. read more

It's hot dogs, fries and root beer. It's not fine-dining, but a fun, kitchy, throw-back drive-in to have fun and visit while in Dexter. It's adorable and I love seeing the parking lot full. It'll always be a destination I head to when visiting my family in Dexter. Bring on the root beer! read more

Great food!!! Love the Wednesday special..$.99 burgers and the service was great came right to my car.

About what you'd expect. Eating in the car isn't quite the charming novelty experience it used to be, but A&W has some pretty good food. And at 11$ for dinner for two, the price is certainly a plus. read more

Drove in waited about 10 minutes. The place was not busy, multiple waitresses looked right at us, and did not serve us, but went to other cars that arrived after us! So needless to say, we didn't eat there. read more

Anything drive-in gets my heart pumping, so it's only natural that I would be drawn to this little gem in the heart of Dexter. If only we had more fast food places like this! The waitresses are friendly and provide prompt service, and the food is no different than any fast food place. My rating is solely based on atmosphere nostalgia, and I deducted one star for the flat root beer that I was served (although I loved the big chilled mug it came in). Give it a try on a nice summer or fall evening! read more

We got the best service on our visit! The drive in experience is fun. A&W fare is a great summertime treat: rootbeer floats and footlongs? Who doesn't love that?! Tip: they sell their rootbeer by the gallon, great for large orders. read more

Five stars for still being in business as a real drive-in (unless it folded very recently and I didn't hear). Tracts of new houses and big malls surround a core of incredible retro perfection in the village of Dexter. Drive out on Huron River Drive: better yet, ride your bike from Ann Arbor to Dexter and ignore everything around the historic center. And don't miss A&W! read more

Old time fun...Delicious root beer and chilli dogs. Walk along the beautiful trail after enjoying your dinner.

My favorite fast food place. Good food and fast friendly service. Old time drive in - only one of its kind in the area.

An excellent spot for a coney. You can also have a rich and frothy root beer, which is why I think they reference "root beer" in their title... They also bring the food to your car! This is way better than a drive-through because you never have to deal with "that guy" who thinks he needs 20 feet between himself and the guy in front of him. There's also a park nearby where you can feel pleasant and healthy despite the fact that you are gorging on coney dogs and french fries. read more

I got terribly sick from one of their free root beer floats on National Root beer float day. Additionally, the wait staff can have an attitude and will rush you to order as soon as you arrive. Don't even think about trying to sit down at the picnic tables outside or going inside to eat--one server in particular made it clear she wanted her tip! I can understand that the waitstaff make their living primarily on tips, but this server was brash and rude, preventing us from going inside to order and eat. Might be a local business, but their service is rude, and their food is crude. For the amount you are paying you may as well head over to a coney island. They have sealed their fate, I will NEVER eat here again. read more

Passing through Dexter and had a nostalgic-driven taste for an icy cold A&W root beer. The car hop was young (millennial) and a real smug twit. Ordered a couple of hot dogs and fries. After the order tray was placed on the window, the twit never came back. Here's the problem. Took the food off the tray and handed it to spouse. She asked for a napkin of which there were two on the tray. Unfortunately, the twit had spilled the root beers while carrying the tray out and soaked the napkins, the bottom of the mugs, and one entire side of the tray. Luckily spouse had some wipes which served as napkins of a sort. Twit disappeared. I mean literally was unseen for ten minutes. Lights turned on and she magically appeared. Paid bill and gave twit a more than generous 20% tip (spouse made me because it was hot and she felt sorry for the poor girls). Oh, the root beer was excellent, but the rest of the experience made it never worth coming back. I'm sure the locals don't mind putting up with such poor service. Too bad! read more

If you want flat root beer and cold chili dogs that do not have the "A & W" taste then go for it. yuck. read more

11th stop and what a great one it was! I love places like this. The food was ok, certainly not 5 stars, but sitting in your car with the windows down, tray hanging on, and chowing on some good 'ole American food is hard to top. Throw in a frosty mug full of root beer and you get 5 stars! read more

A&W is literally life. It's my favorite place like EVER!!!!! It's sooooo good!!!! My favorite thing to get is the cookie dough polar twist OHMYGOSH ITS SOOOO GOOD!!! If you know me at all, you know I love A&W!! read more

Best onion rings around! Wonderful outdoor patio seating. Friendly and honorable service. I left my wallet on a table by mistake. I picked it up the next day with nothing missing. Thank you! read more

Not too many places left like this. Take the kids for some chili dogs in the car. Tuesday is dollar coney dogs, can't beat it.

This is my favorite fast food restaurant. The chili dogs have been wonderful for as long as I can remember....and that's a long time. When we were teenagers we used to cruise around Dexter and ate there at least 3 times a week. The memories are amazing. Thanks for still being there and not changing over the years. Still wish it was open year round but I guess seasonal makes it even more special. read more

This place is awesome! Nothing like most other A&W's. Me and my wife love this restaurant and try to get there as many times as we can in the summer. The food is great and the floats in the glass mugs cannot be beat. I could eat way to many fried mushrooms here. read more

Just today I went to a&w and it was packed with people. It didn't take long to be waited on or get our food so it was great I recommend you go there read more

Can't find these car hop drive in diners anymore. Great place to get a coney and a ice cold mug of root beer. Not sure of the rest of the food only because I can't bring myself to order anything else but a coney and root beer. Staff is friendly too. Just turn on your headlights and they quickly come to your service. read more

Love to get the coneys and frosted mug of root beer! See you in the spring!

Service is so slow it is crazy! They have 5-6 girls working there but each one takes a car and they aren't allowed to help each other out so food gets put up on the counter and ignored until customers turn on lights and honk horns, if you aren't parked right out front to witness it your food will be a cold and greasy mess! read more

We hadn't been there is a while and since we were driving past, we stopped. We asked the waitress to bring our root beer in cups rather the frosted glass. We thought it likely we would be ready to leave before finishing the drinks, and this would enable us to take them. When the meal came, they were in frosted glasses. The waitress said they had already been put in the glasses. Couldn't she have poured it into cups???? We had also ordered foot long chili dogs. It was mostly bread. The hot dog and toppings didn't even show above the bun. The hot dog was skinny.and not much chili, or onions. We didn't get an itemized bill, but it was $12.86 plus tax and tip. That means a foot-long chili dog and medium root beer was $6.43 a piece. I think that's high. Also, we had to guzzle down the root beer quickly at the end to return the glass jars so we could leave. Unlikely we will stop the next time we drive past. read more