Updated: Apr 22, 2021
Today we visited one of the last drive-ins round and it did not disappoint!
We heard about this lovely drive-in in Port Alberni from Damon Fryer of Daily Driven Exotics. He was back visiting his hometown in one of his videos and stopped by J&L Drive-In. We looked it up and decided it was a place that we wanted to try.
Drive-ins are not very common any more even though they were very popular at one time. White Spot seems to be one of the few that kept with the tradition of drive-ins. Growing up my family used to take my Dad’s Camaro, roof off and go to the White Spot drive-in, in Vancouver B.C.
Drive-ins are nostalgic and this one is no different. There were some slight variations due to Covid, but was still a great time. On the menu board it said to turn your lights on for service. At which point a waitress would come out and take your order if they weren’t already coming over after you parked. Then when your food was ready they would bring it out to you. One thing we noticed different than pictures we had seen before going, was that they were not serving on trays that would attach to your car window. Which we assume is due to health regulations and the ability to wash the trays to CDC standards in the time frame they had. When we were there it was very busy. There were also cones in every other spot so that cars were not parked directly beside each other.
We had burgers, fries with gravy, and a strawberry shake. All were delicious, especially the shake. The food wasn’t anything fancy in terms that it was a $20 burger on a pretzel bun or anything like that. However, we will be going back to try more things on the menu for sure! The was fish & chips, onion rings, chicken strips, large variety of burgers, and various other seafood items as well. Much better than doing a drive-thru at some chain restaurant.
Address:
4422 Gertrude Street
Port Alberni, BC V9Y 5K5
Hours:
Sunday 10:45 a.m. – 8:45 p.m.
Monday 10:45 a.m. – 8:45 p.m.
Tuesday 10:45 a.m. – 8:45 p.m.
Wednesday 10:45 a.m. – 8:45 p.m.
Thursday 10:45 a.m. – 8:45 p.m.
Friday 10:45 a.m. – 8:45 p.m.
Saturday 10:45 a.m. – 8:45 p.m.