After 44 years in business, Dukes drive in on Harlem and 81'st is closing down at 10 pm 8/31/19. For those that don't know, Dukes was one of the only drive in's that holding weekly cruise nights through the 80's and 90's. Apparently the property owner sold out to Panera bread, so another shit chain restaurant can replace the a long standing local establishment. The restaurant owner is planning to relocate and hopefully stay in the area. Hopefully they survive the move, and can still host cruise nights, but loosing the original location sucks.
Damn....we have the last Daily’s Drive in Livonia. We’ve tried to get cars going there...but never has gotten off the ground
Besides the the beef/sausage combo, the best thing about Duke's was that everyone was welcome, from street machines to Corvettes to restored to lowriders. You went to Duke's because you were a gearhead or just a car lover without a car. Duke's is a far cry from the (now defunct) Frosted Mug, where you weren't welcome if you weren't part of the nose-in-the-air gang of pre-'73 cars. Duke's had a hell of a run.
Well Ain't that a Bitch!!! That was gonna be the first Cruise I hit when I get my '56 on the road again. A day late and a dollar short AGAIN!!! Still alot of good memories though. Dammit, this Sucks! Sent from my SM-G892A using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
I remember mid 70S Dukes lot was half the size with a gas city station next to it. I also remember that the saying at the time was Fast cars hung out at Dukes the pretty cars cruised Archer Ave (4 miles north). The city and the businesses on archer did not want the (hot rodders) on Archer. Dukes took them in. They bought out the gas station, knocked down the building, and moved the canopy. Could not get another car in the lot back then.( just like in the picture) This was the place to go for years. Then the neighbors started to complain and the cruise night came to an end. The last few years a few gear heads refused to let it die and return on Sat night. I find ironic that almost every summer night, you can find a cruise night around Chicago. Some villages sponsors them, some even have a band. Only a few drive ins embraced the car guys back then. Now most of them are gone.
Really sucks but they've been in business 44 years and didn't own the land (?), so they weren't totally in control of their future at the site... Sure looks like the City officials and zoning board are instrumental in leveraging the move; https://suburbanchicagoland.com/2019/08/01/end-in-sight-for-dukes-drive-in/ From this article; “Dukes itself is not being sold. Panera is trying to buy the land. Bill Humphrey, owns the land. Humphrey is the son-in-law of the late Duke Ziegler, who opened the restaurant in 1975. Humphrey is on an Alaskan cruise and not available for comment, Cummings said. Greg Mazak owns Dukes, she said." No mention of the closing on Dukes website yet...
I found the closing\relocating news on there Facebook page after hearing rumors at the Berwyn RT 66 show last weekend.
What a send off the last two days. Could not get any more cars in the lot. The rain Sat did little to keep people away. I got to see guys I have not seen in years. There were even some cars the cruised there 40 years ago. Not many places like this left.
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