Good, old fashioned burger joint (with prices updated to reflect the present day). Ordered a burger, fries and a malt. Wished I was with someone else so I could share - portions were large. No complaints about the quality: the classic was done right. Efficient service, nice environs. Worth a visit. read more

Fun destination. Food amazing. Service great. Diner vibes! Whether you're a native Michiganian or international traveler this is a good place to visit. Small town vibes. read more

They make the best ice cream shakes in Michigan. The restaurant is old school 1950 drive-in diner complete with curb service.

We hit up dons each day we were in traverse! The shakes were to die for! The melts and onion rings melted in your mouth. We will definitely return next time we are visiting! read more

Such a fun place, food was excellent, and service was fantastic and friendly! The shakes are amazing! Will go back next time we are in town!

We always have to stop by Don's Great food. Fun 50's diner type place. TC favorite. Fast service and friendly staff.

Crazy busy even after the noon rush. But it's tourist season so that's to be expected. Old school burger and malt shoppe. Good, decent food. Killer malts! read more

Traverse City, Michigan, located 4 hours North of Detroit, is a town of 15,000 residents on the beautiful Grand Traverse Bay. During the summer months, this town explodes with tourists from all over the Midwest and beyond as it offers an unassuming yet sophisticated "Up-North" experience with beaches, wineries and plenty of fine dining. Don's Drive-In has been a part of this unique community since the 1950s. While it is not fine dining, it is one of the best drive-in hamburger joints that I've found anywhere in the Midwest. Don's is all about thick and juicy hamburgers, thick cut steak fries with just the right crispiness and outstanding milk shakes made the old fashioned way. I'm sure the chocolate, vanilla and strawberry shakes are right there...but for my money, I had to jump for the Cherry Milk Shake made with fresh local cherries. It was "shut the front door" good! After over half a century in the business of grilling burgers, Don's takes pride in making every hamburger or hot dog basket the best it can be. With 1950's and '60s memorabilia adorning Don's walls, it shouldn't surprise you when Elvis makes his appearance...on the vintage juke box as he did during my lunch today. Rock & Roll will never die...at Don's Drive-In in the Traverse-town...4.5 Stars. read more

I'm giving this a 3 star. Service was great and fast. Got food pretty quick. I got a small chocolate malt, which ended up being the best part of my meal. It was really good. I got a burger with bacon and cheese only. Got a side of seasoned curly fries. Both my burger and fries, lacked flavor. I know I got my burger pretty much plain but there was no taste to it. Even the bacon had no taste and it felt like I didn't have cheese on it. Couldn't taste that either. The seasoned curly fries didn't taste like much either but I feel they could have been cooked a little longer. That could have been the issue. They been around for years and people seem to love it. read more

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A must stop when we are here. Husband loves the cherry shake with real cherries in it. Food is typical dinner food, you get nothing fancy here. They had our to go order for 4 people ready in about 10 minutes, and that was with them being busy. Good portion size that 3 of us didn't finish. read more

Not your typical diner. MUCH better! Our service was wonderful, my food was great and the real cherry shake was excellent. I am so excited they let me get a kid's meal because I wanted the car so bad (my meal was great too!). Their fries are excellent, their staff is excellent and my boyfriend enjoyed his burger so much too!! Place get's super busy and I understand why so you may experience a wait. Enjoy! This place is a local landmark that deserves and earned the recognition they have :) read more

Don's Drive In - The awesome staff let me get a kid's meal because I was so excited and wanted the car! Thank you!! - American Near Me - Traverse City, Michigan

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Food as always was so good. Onion rings and milkshake were incredible. It's a tradition to always stop here when we vacation. I'm

overpriced food lowkey small sizes for drinks but foot long was splendid and the vibe was spot on read more

Don's Drive In - Foot Long Hot Dog - American Near Me - Traverse City, Michigan

Superb burgers, fries and shakes! They even had malts-a rare treat these days. There's a size burger for every appetite. I was super hungry so ordered the 1/4 pound but couldn't finish it so took it home. Love their menu. Great nostalgic feeling of the 50s malt shops. We were visiting with friends and had a great time. read more

Best shakes and food was delicious!! Must stop if you're in MI! The staff were friendly and I even purchased 2 hats. I plan to take another trip, just to stop by here again. read more

Food and service and friendliness of the staff is excellent. Best place in Traverse City for burgers, milkshakes and fries.

Good simple dinner food. The best thing is the milkshakes with real fruit. We had a large chocolate cherry shake to split three ways. It was great. The foot long coney dog lived up to expectations too. The 1/4 pound burger was good too. Nothing special just a good old burger . The steak fries were really good too. BUT the veggie burger was NOT worth the effort. The veggie patty was just blah. A store bought second rate effort. read more

The food was good but not very good service the sever was barely checking on us wile eating

waited an hour for my food and i was hungry and was watching other people get their food and i waited 20 minutes for 1 milkshake. Absolutely unacceptable. read more

Have been here a few times while up in Traverse City, and have never yet been disappointed. While I wouldn't call the food outstanding. It's very good for diner food and well worth a visit. Great classic 50's / 60's diner vibe eating there, making it as much an experience as it is a place to have lunch. There is also one item on the menu here that I really feel I need to take my hat off to. And that's their Atomic Fire Burger. As somebody who loves incredibly spicy food (I'm the guy who orders "extra hot" at a Thai restaurant, and who will gladly chomp down on a fresh habanero pepper for fun), I can tell you that this burger is no joke, and absolutely lives up to it's name! read more

This place is great! Prices are spot on and service just as great. My kids loved that their meal was served in this cute car box. Good 50's aesthetic. Will return if we are ever in the area again! read more

Don's Drive In - Kids meal - American Near Me - Traverse City, Michigan

Traverse, Michigan --- Since 1958 "Don's Drive-In" has been hangin' in there ... Food is okay, but service is lacking ... they deliver without any personality! Not a "Run-A-Way Bill" Favorite because "Don's" has no counter-seating, and the service is young & inexperienced ... they "deliver" efficiently, but "service" is lacking! "Personality" from a "sever" goes a long way towards better tips! #RunAwayBill #DUSATour2016 #LivingLarge #FoodUSA #FoodRAB #DinerRAB "Run-A-Way Bill" was here! 06.21.16 read more

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I'm not happy with the meal I had from Don's today. There wasn't ranch for my over cooked tiny chicken tenders and my husbands slider and onion rings were burnt. my chili cheese fries were good but cold. this is the first time I've had a bad meal at Don's. read more

What's to say... Everything has been pretty accurate in the reviews. It's a greasy spoon and there is a wonderful sheen upon my iPhone as I type this! The fries were underwhelming. They were thick cut steak fries, and kids probably go crazy for them. But nothing wrong with them in general. The burger was large and liked high with fresh toppings. It might have actually been a real tomato (and not a grocery store Monsanto creation). It was real meat (yea!) but under seasoned. In a greasy spoon, don't be afraid to open the flavor profile! The waitstaff was great. Cheerful and helpful! They steered me to where I needed to be... As in, "Stay with the burgers and get a Shake". See my pics for the daily changing burger menu! After reading the reviews, I had to commit to the item that apparently put this place on the map... Fresh Fruit Cherry Malt (malt is sweeter than the shake). Thank you Yelpers! While I was hovering in the 3.5-4 star range... Decent food, good service, kitschy 50s diner... The Malted bought them a star! Apparently this place is 5 Stars if you know how to do it... So 5 stars it is! read more

Don's Drive In - American Near Me - Traverse City, Michigan

Love this place!! The fun retro ambiance, delicious burgers, fries, and a real cherry shake is a local family favorite!

My husband and I went here for lunch coming back from Charlevoix. We both ordered burger baskets the burgers were great and for desert we ordered cherry shakes with fruit in it. Yum to everything. read more

My first burger in T.C. and just felt this needed to be the place. The old school signage and old diner feel drew me in. Wonderfully juicy flat top burger with a nice amount of charring. They still understand what some places these days don't about what "deluxe" and "everything" on a burger means. Fries were nice and the lady at the counter was friendly and got my lunch hour to go order on priority. Definitely going back to have a seat and maybe venture around the menu a little more. read more

Don's Drive In - 1/4 lb., deluxe with everything and fries. I'll be back. - American Near Me - Traverse City, Michigan

The service was outstanding. Our server was very responsive during a very busy dinner service. The cleanliness of the restaurant was not well maintained and the little bit we could see of the kitchen, the cleanliness matched. We ordered burgers and they were decent pressed burgers. The other fried food was not very good, so we did not finish the fries. The fries were not fresh cut. This is not a must stop, but is convenient, specially if you are in hurry. read more

The best hamburger joint in Michigan! The burgers, shakes, and fries are delicious and traditional. The place exudes the charm of a 1950s diner. Service comes with a smile. read more

Terrible service horrible ,waitress food was terrible. Waitress asked if she can keep my change.

Get the chocolate malts! This is a very unique restaurant with 50s ish dining vibes. The service was very quick and not too expensive.

We asked for a chilli cheese dog and when we received it there was no cheese. Please dont call it a chilli CHEESE dog if theres no cheese.

Adorable little diner with drive in. Clean. Very good food & nice staff. A little pricey but it was a cute atmosphere

This is a nice little diner with a 60's-70's sort of theme. We came here after a long and tiring day driving around Lake Michigan. We ordered fish on a bun, chili cheese fries and shakes. Everything was yummy, chili cheese fries was darn good. read more

Food is great...just very expensive for what you get. Service is great and ambiance is great!

When you pass this place it's hard to not stop in. Even if you are not hungry. It's that neat of a spot. Once inside you will be taken back to a time I don't remember, because I wasn't alive in the 50's. But it seems to have been a cool time period. Food was good for a greasy spoon. While apparently they are known for their burgers, we were all burgered out on this trip, so we mixed it up. I got the fish sandwich, which was fresh, crunchy, and juicy. Tarter sauce was A+. Served with flavorless steak fries that were forgettable. Sub something else for the fries. My wife had the rueben. She loved it. I took a bite, and agree. Served as well with terrible fries. Luckily we also ordered a side of onion rings, which were big, crunchy, and worth the 5 bucks. Kids both got chicken finger kids meals. Even they didn't touch the fries. Both also got tasty shakes. Service was good, except for the waitress forgetting my Coke, not a big deal. Would have given 4 stars, if not for the tasteless frozen steak fries. This place needs someone cutting shoestring potatoes fresh, and then you have a winner. read more

Don's Drive In - Our spread. Lacking in color, but not flavor. - American Near Me - Traverse City, Michigan

Pretty generic, overly greasy food. Portions aren't real great for the cost, I was expecting more food for the price point. I got their "special" pulled pork sandwich and it was on store bought texas toast. The meat itself was okay I guess, they slathered it in sauce more than I prefer. Fries weren't bad. My gf got a black bean veggie sandwich that she didn't really care for. I wouldn't expect a diner to do a good veggie 'anything' though, so take that for what it's worth. Her father got an open faced sandwich with mashed potatoes that he enjoyed, and it did look the best of the three dishes. Their shakes are pretty great though, we had a cherry vanilla and it was gone in about a minute. Overall I think this place has existed for as long as it has because of the ambience and luring tourists in for a mediocre meal. If we go back, it will likely be only for the shakes. read more

This place is great it's got a classic look and feel I come here quiet often and they never disappoint the food and service are spot on

Drove here from home on Memorial Day. I lived here grades K-3. This was the place we stopped at first. Having been a customer at Don's Drive In since the pre-Yelp years, I believe the place has to lost its luster over the years. The place had a certain cachet years ago. The interior was bright and glitzy and the servers were characters and the food was yummy. Now it seems like a diner from anywhere. The interior is tired and worn, the servers are serviceable, and the food is just okay. At best I would characterize this drive in as blandly efficient. read more

Don's Drive In - Thank you to our Veterans for their service. - American Near Me - Traverse City, Michigan

Inside of diner is a little more classic than exterior seems. Not sure why, but burgers do have that old-fashioned, homemade taste. We enjoyed our meal. Husband said vanilla milk shake was good, though it needed a cherry on top. Kids meals arrive in a cute cardboard car. Prices reasonable. read more

Don's Drive In - Inside view - American Near Me - Traverse City, Michigan

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