Kwik Way Drive-In

Sorry I waited TOO long to write a review. Sadly Park Way Drive-​In closed late July 31^st. I was there around 9:30pm that night, got a beet salad and chili. The next day all the equipment had been moved out and it was closed. Boo Hoo!
As local residents my husband and I ate there often. It was so convenient to pick up fresh, high quality, delicious, reasonably priced food. (The haters who have posted negative things about the place mostly seem to be disappointed that the old Kwik Way — a greasy spoon using low quality frozen food, fried in who knows what kind of hydrogenated oil — you know, mystery meat burger patties with American cheese — breaded fried shrimp, mostly bread — over salted french fries that came from the freezer — wasn’t back. Well, that’s a GOOD thing.) The owner decided to change the name from Kwik Way to Park Way to alert those poor folks stuck in the days before California cuisine. (The neon sign was recently changed which just adds to the confusion and mystery re: the sudden exit.)
Look at the Unilocal photos! Mouth watering! The Cobb salad is superlative. The beet salad, fantastic. The burgers (with an option to get organic beef) were my favorite. Loved the gluten free bun option. So much variety. Quality quality fresh FRESH!
Anyway, I hope the owner finds a way to resurrect SOON!
I wish we’d known. The community could have rallied to have the building declared a historic architectural landmark and pressured the landlord to lower the rent … after all, the building was EMPTY for years! The community rallied to stop the landlord from renting to McDonald’s, I’m sure we’d rally to keep this important asset to LakePark.

Place has been closed down due to landlord– see attached picture posted on their window:

It appears to be closed now. I should have taken a photo as a lot of the kitchen equipment is gone. There is a note on the window thanking customers for supporting them.
I really wanted a beet salad today perhaps chasing it wit one of their oddly salty but super yummy chocolate chip cookies. Now, I will have to prepare my own fresh potato chips.
Alas and alack…
May a new venture take up this space quickly.

The bacon cheese burger was hella good… garlic mayo was a nice touch… but those damn onion rings cost me almost five dollars and they were sitting under the heat lamp when I ordered… Needless to say they were not fresh and were fried to death… they should of tossed those in the trash like I did… smh.

I love this place! You would think its just a random drive in with mediocre food but in reality the food here has great quality! So far ive tried the steak sandwhich, grilled chicken sandwhich, and the cobb salad and they have all been amazing! You must come here!

I have liked everything here until I got the spicy chicken sandwich. Don’t get it! Nasty flat chicken piece. This shouldn’t even be on the menu. Yuck. But everything else I’ve gotten to date is good.

TWO WORDS– Baja Burger! It was heaven in my mouth with melted poblano, jalapeño, cheddar, avocado and a juicy chicken breast. I know it seems a little pricey but TRUST Me, it is worth every penny.

It’s time to show Kwik Way a little lovin’. I’m in the neighborhood and my boyfriend and I regularly frequent this spot. Everyone we introduce to this joint raves about their food experience too.
The location is at a busy intersection with many passerby’s, so if you want zen you might consider take-​out like we often do, though I do dinner there on a warm day occasionally.
My favorites are the beet salad, grilled chicken sandwich and the Mediterranean burger. My boyfriend loves all the burgers, fries and steak salad. Combined we’ve tried probably half what’s on the menu and everything has been good. Fresh, quality ingredients, well executed, real good.

I’m going go keep this review brief and short:
+
Parking lot
Great outdoor seating
Simple menu with great choices
Bun was flaky
Complimentary ranch
-
Pricey
For $ 2.99 it was like $ 1 portion of fries.
Burger patty looks and taste like it’s from a freezer
Overdressed the burger with sauce and caused the bun to be extremely soggy
Don’t think I’ll return if I want a burger…

So, I’m 5 months pregnant and just finished a walk around Lake Merritt
I see a drive-​in style restaurant with outdoor seating and think… Great!
I can have a bite and break my $ 10 to catch the bus across the street
My total comes to $ 14.28 — Mushroom swiss burger, fries and a Horrible ice cream with apples
The cashier tells me she can charge ½ cash ½ on my card so I can break my bill for the bus…
register gives her trouble, she calls over who I assume is the owner and he tells me, can’t do that; all on the card or all cash
I say all on the card then and just give back the $ 7 cash I already paid;
He tells me,“you owe me $ 7.28 cash!“
First off, I don’t have the $ 14.28 in cash on me, either run my card for it all, or just give my money back and you keep the food…
He yelled it was already made, holding my card, demanded cash, argued with me for 20 minutes, threatened to call the police when I pulled out my cell phone to look up the police dept. # myself, …until someone else finally came up and he finally ran my card and gave me the food!!!
I did feel somewhat vindicated to see that a previous posting, probably from the people behind me, seem to have also come here to leave a review about what happened…
In the end, fries were good, ice cream & apples was awful and burger was pretty greasy
Worst of all, for business owners or People in general, that I am honored to support and see them succeed in my community, this man was not one of them!
I hope his business sinks like a rock!!!
What a Horrible, Horrible Man!

Best onion rings ever, I mean really. I almost turned around to get more they were that good.
We only had milkshakes and onion rings when we went, and all of it was good. The pistachio shake had pistachio’s in it with the traditional green color, just as good as pistachio ice cream at B31. My wife and son enjoyed their shakes as well.
The menu had lots of tasty things listed, I think I’m going to have to visit this place a few more times to see how the rest of the food stacks up.

Being a OG in the East Bay, I do remember the old Kwik Way. In college, I had the night shift at a parking lot and ate Kwik Way (Telegraph & Grand) pretty often. Not much has changed except inflation and the quality of the food.
I was picking up my son and a friend from the movies and they met me there. We ordered carry-​out consisting of chili cheese fries, a chili dog, grilled chicken sandwich, and for me, jumbo prawns w/​fries.
The chili was homemade, with chunks of burger, tomatoes w/​red beans. More savory than salty. Prawns were just as I hoped, panko breaded and deep fried. I didn’t try the chix sandwich, but was told it was tasty.
$ 25 for the whole order. OK, it was good and it was 11:00pm. Too bad nearby Glen’s Burgers closes early. A better bet.

Kwik Way reminds me a lot of like… a 50s scene, which is why I go. The food is nothing super spectacular, but it is good. You get what you pay for in this case.
Hamburger was a little under 5 bucks, side of fries was about 2 and a half bucks, and they tasted pretty okay to me. I was pretty hungry so that may have skewed my taste buds.

The menu at Kwik Way was a surprise. It was less greasy spoon and more re-​envisioned classics. That was especially clear when I saw a sign announcing they offer gluten free bread and I checked out the beverage list. They offer things like Tazo organic green iced tea, Cheerwine, and huckleberry lemonade. They also had things on the menu, like a chicken broccoli salad and strawberry shortcake that seemed intriguing.
The homemade sesame buns are soft, fresh, and delicious. The burger toppings are the classics you expect with a few twists like white cheddar cheese. The service is fast and friendly. Best of all, they have free parking, which is especially nice in Kwik Way’s busy neighborhood. I really enjoyed the Huckleberry lemonade. It had a nice sweet tart flavor. My burger was good and had an excellent meat to toppings to bun ratio, but there was nothing special about it flavor wise.
The fries looked hand cut and seemed promising. I will most likely give Kwik Way another try.

Sadly, the Kwik Way is the quickest way for me to lose my appetite. I love that it is an old school drive through and they serve you quickly but that’s where it ends. I ordered the mac and cheese with mushrooms and it didn’t taste anything like mac and cheese. The noodles were the curly penne type noodles with milky cheese that was a bit runny. The mushrooms were ok but definitely not what I was expecting. I would be better off making my own mac and cheese from the box.
It could also be the item I picked. They advertise a roasted beet salad at a reasonable price and staff were pleasant. Perhaps that’s something worth trying?!
I ended up tossing the rest of my mac and cheese in the garbage. I think next time I’m at Heart and Dagger, I’ll bring in a pizza from Lanesplitter.

Haven’t tried this place for the past twenty years… until now.
Apparently the present day Kwik Way isn’t the same 1989 Kwik Way, that I wanted to try so long ago. So under new management they decided to turn things around and took the route to become a healthier burger joint, sort to speak.
I got to try the following item:
Bacon-​Bleu Cheese Burger with Beer Battered Onion Rings.
The burger buns were toasted, the lettuce should have been cut a little bit smaller. The Bacon wasn’t as crispy (a little bit bland actually). The condiment sauces (mayo, mustard, ketchup) were a nice touch. The patties were juicy but nothing spectacular in terms of flavor (probably needed a bit more of seasoning).
However I’ll commend their onion rings. Compared to The Bureau 510 (Emeryville, CA), their onion rings are actually crispy and breaded properly. Unlike the aforementioned, which actually does fall apart and that’s no bueno.
Probably spent a couple of bucks on the entire meal itself. It’s definitely worth visiting at least once if you don’t wanna go to In N Out, Nation’s or any other noteworthy fast food burger joint in the area. My rating stands for now until I do a repeat visit in the future.

Cashiers at burger places, like doctors, really should have to take a Hippocratic Oath.
Do no harm.
It’s part of the responsibility of the cashier to coach you, make sure you don’t go astray with a senseless order, and point out the combo deal when you miss the sign.
I ordered a cheeseburger and fries. The cost of this was something on the order of $ 11.
While waiting for my order, I noticed a sign that indicated a «Combo Deal» that includes the burger, fries and a soda for 20 cents *CHEAPER*.
Then I watched 3 people in a row, pick up there orders — ALL COMBO DEALS.
What just happened?
Why did the cashier not suggest this when I ordered?
I couldn’t believe it.
The combo was the clear cut way to go because it was:
a) 20 friggin’ cents cheaper
— and —
b) way better cause you get the soda too
Instead the cashier just silently let me naively put in my highly profitable order with no concern for my financial well being or need for corn syrup laced with caffeine.
Having said all that, I want to point out that the food was delicious.
I love that:
1) They offer a GLUTEN-​FREE bun option. I can’t tell you the last time I ate a burger with a bun. Its good. So nice not to have to deal with the lettuce wrap thing. They have a little sign that says they get the buns from Mariposa, the gluten free bakery in Temescal.
2) The onions are grilled — yes grilled onions — are the *default*
3) The mayo has been garlic-​ized. Its a garlic mayo.
I came here about a decade ago when it was that run-​down, humble little burger shop.
Its definitely changed. The prices have doubled, but so has the quality.
And I don’t remember that old place offering cappuccino.
GLUTEN-​FREE NOTE: I discovered the fries aren’t gluten free. Such a shame. That is probably the largest factor in getting 3 stars instead of 4.
Despite the pain I still feel over the 20 cents, I’ll be back again soon.
It was that good.
And I’ll definitely be getting the combo.

A pretty good place. The prices seem pretty reasonable and the service was pretty quick. I went in the evening maybe 15 minutes before closing time (it’s open from 11am to 10pm) and they still took my order.
I ordered a Reuben, I have a soft spot for Reuben sandwiches. It was toasted/​grilled, the ingredients seems pretty fresh and it was tasty.
I also got a side of cole slaw. The side was close to $ 4, but in my opinion it was worth it. This wasn’t the generic coleslaw you get from a tub. It seemed like it was freshly made with green and red cabbage, red onions and a vinaigrette instead of the usual mayo.
I grabbed my order and just decided to take a few minutes to eat at the patio tables. 10pm-​ish in Oakland wasn’t super cold but it wasn’t warm either, but there’s plenty of parking (they share a lot with the Bank of America) and a decent amount of seating.
Next time I’ll try a specialty burger.

Retro in all of its newly renovated Oakland Retro-​ness. I love the out door seating and the copious amounts of parking spots.
The food on the other hand is lacking in something. My partner in Unilocal crime this day highly recommended the Cheese Burger.
I do love a good Cheese Burger from a retro diner. There was also a sign that said something along the lines of «Try our new Mac N Cheese!». Well, yes I will.
We sat on one of their old style out door tables. You know the ones with the big Fiberglas umbrellas. You wait and they call you to the window when the food is ready.
The burger was an ok burger. It was lacking is something. Not enough juiciness. Not enough cheesiness. Just ok.
The Mac N’ Cheese was so bad. Not made with Macaroni Noodles but Rottini Noodles. Not a hint of Cheese sauce that I could see. The sauce could best be described as a thinned out Cream of Mushroom Soup. So disappointing. The roasted Mushrooms that were in it were ok. The Best part but didnt make up for the lack of everything else.
It was like you asked your big brother to make you Mac N’ Cheese and he threw together what ever he found in the cabinet that would be close.
My hopes were high and they weren’t met. The food is lacking even for how simple it is or should be. The Cheese Burger was the best part and if I was there again for lunch I’d try again.
I’d also hope someone takes over the Mac N’ Cheese cooking too. They should call a mom or grandma for advice on this one.

True, the tasty cheap burgers are not on the menu, however the blue cheese burger was tasty and so were the onion rings. Also gone are the people who were always were out in front asking for change.
Surprisingly, there weren’t many gulls flying in for treats; there were some nice looking Black Crowed Night Herons on the roof line and they really complemented the green walls.
I did note that they cooked the burgers medium well, yuck, I asked them to cook mine medium rare and they did. On my second visit I had the mac and cheese with roasted mushrooms. I liked it a lot; it was creamy rather than baked, and I prefer mine creamy so it hit the spot.
I was a customer for many-​many years when I lived in Oakland and the new and improved Kwik Way is pretty nice so I plan to continue being a customer.