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Winona's Oldest Restaurant (est. 1938)
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CLOSING FOR THE SEASON SEPT 12TH!!!
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About Us
Lakeview Drive Inn was founded in 1938 and is an original family owned and operated drive inn (in) restaurant. We are not a chain, theme, or “fast food” restaurant per say, as our food is made to order and of a very high quality. We never cook anything in the microwave and never serve your food from a bin of pre made or warmer held items. Our employees are friendly hometown kids that want you to get the best meal and service they can provide. Lakeview’s Root Beer is made from scratch with our own exclusive recipe. We also make our homemade diet root beer with NutraSweet for those looking for a no sugar or diet variety. When eating at the inside counter, the outside picnic tables or in you car, we serve our root beer in old fashioned frosted mugs. We hold these heavy glass mugs in freezers at below zero temperatures to make your drink frosty cold. Our carhops have been waiting on (called curb service) the people of the Greater Winona Area since 1938 and Lakeview is proudly Winona’s Oldest Restaurant. Dining is an experience at the Lakeview Drive Inn and is like a step back in time. With a view of Sugarloaf, Lakeview Drive Inn is located on the Shore of Lake Winona and is a taste of days gone by.
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Established 1938
Lakeview Drive Inn
610 East Sarnia Street
Winona, MN 55987
(507) 454-3723
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1938
This is a picture of the Drive Inn in 1938.
The Drive Inn was built by Emil Berzinski.
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1940
In 1940 he added a large front to the small building.
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1986
Here is a picture in 1986. It was totally enclosed and looks much the same today. Emil's was purchased by Elmer and Gladys Tarras in 1955 who owned and operated it until 1977. Bill and Sue Glowczewski bought the Drive Inn in 1977 and ran it until their sons, Tim and John, bought it in 1993. The Glowczewski's still own and operate Lakeview today.
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Summer in a frosted mug. By Patrick Marek
Lakeview Drive Inn has the best root beer I have ever tasted.
– Former First Lady Claudia “Lady Bird” Johnson 1997, while in Winona as a passenger on the American Queen
In a world where our landmarks and traditions are rapidly disappearing before our eyes, there’s something extremely comforting about being able to drink a mug of root beer that is made from the exact recipe that generations of Winona families have enjoyed since Franklin Roosevelt’s first term as president. For 70 years Lakeview Drive Inn root beer has embodied the promise, possibilities and sweet rewards that come with carefree summer days. The robust recipe was originally called “Sno-Cap,” and was invented by Emil Berzinski, when he opened Emil’s Root Beer Stand in 1938. The recipe for this thick, dark, creamy brew with trademark foamy head and satisfying edge has been a secret that has been guarded almost as closely as the nation’s nuclear launch codes, and has been passed on only with the sale of the business — to Elmer Tarras in 1955, Bill and Sue Glowczewski in 1977, and ultimately to their two sons, Tim and John, who bought Lakeview Drive Inn in 1993.
With nostalgic carhop curb service, fresh brewed root beer served in old-fashioned heavy glass frosted mugs, and menu favorites that include their famous french fries and homemade tartar sauce, the Glowczewskis have stayed true to the traditions that have made the drive-in a favorite local destination for seven decades. However, they have also added some innovations that have definitely kicked up the Lakeview dining experience a notch. Wednesday’s classic car “Cruise Nights,” a home brewed diet root beer product, and an expanded six-page menu have catapulted the restaurant to record sales and earned the designation of one of the top ten Minnesota “Local Secrets, Big Finds” by Travelocity.com.
When it comes right down to it though, it’s all about the root beer. As they prepare to celebrate Lakeview Drive Inn’s 70th Anniversary on August 9th and 10th, Tim and John Glowczewski cannot only stake claim to being owners of Winona’s oldest restaurant, but they are also two of only three men alive (their dad Bill is the third) who know the secret “Sno-Cap” recipe. They won’t need to hire a private security firm for protection anytime soon, however, because Lakeview is one of the last drive-ins in the country to brew its own root beer.
“It’s a very complicated and difficult process,” said Tim Glowczewski. “That’s why hardly anyone in the country brews root beer from scratch anymore. It’s a lot easier to get a box of syrup from Pepsi and just plug it in. When we first bought the restaurant there was definitely a learning curve to getting the syrup and the machine just right. Even today we’re still doing constant adjustments to get everything perfect. After 31 years in the business we can tell by the taste and the look what we need to do. We can make adjustments that change the carbonation or the sweetness, or we can make the flow run faster to create more foam. One of the things that we discovered early on was that beet sugar gave the root beer a smoothness, and that little bit of bite that you just can’t get with cane sugar or corn syrup.”
Here’s how John Glowczewski described the successful finished product from the “Sno-Cap” recipe:
“It’s definitely got to be smooth, because people slam them, especially on a warm day, but it also has to have a bite to it, and the foam. When you make a Pepsi and put it into a mug, there’s no foam. When we pour one of our root beers, you should be able to put a pencil in the middle of the glass and have it stay. We work hard to get that foam, it doesn’t just happen. The dark color is also very important. When you put a Lakeview root beer down, you can’t see through it. It has deep, rich, dark, color.”
Lakeview consumes over five tons of sugar every year while making its root beer. John Glowczewski is in charge of mixing the syrup every day, a job he inherited from his grandfather. He mixes the recipe by hand with a stainless steel paddle in a large vat and then transfers the mixture to ten gallon cans. Each can produces 35 gallons of root beer. Tim oversees the carbonation machine. Between the two of them, they produce enough product to serve over 100 gallons of root beer a day to Lakeview customers. Because Tim is a diabetic, he was strongly motivated to modify the recipe to create a diet root beer product. Getting the project from theory to the customer took longer than anticipated, but Glowczewski maintains that it was worth the wait.
“It took us at least three years to get the diet root beer into production,” Tim Glowczewski said. “We mathematically calculated the formula, and were going to use Nutri-Sweet as the sweetener. Unfortunately, we couldn’t get it in bulk. It was available in those little pink packets, or in tanker trucks. We needed to find it in workable amounts, but I think that the pop companies had it cornered in bulk. We called a broker and had him search the country for Nutri-Sweet in the bulk sizes we needed, and he came up empty for two years. Finally the patent must have run out because we were finally able to order Nutri-Sweet in a form that we could actually work with. After that it didn’t take long. We just had to adjust the machine and get the right strength. The diet root beer product has grown steadily over the last five years. A lot of people say they can’t tell the difference. Best of all, now everyone can enjoy our homemade root beer.”
When Bill and Sue Glowczewski purchased the restaurant in 1977, their dream was for it to be a place where the entire family could work together.
Thirty-one years later, the plan can be judged an unqualified success. On any given night, you will find an impressive number of Glowczewskis serving the public, and even the employees who aren’t related to the owners soon become part of the Lakeview family.
“I counted one night a couple of weeks ago, and there were eight Glowczewskis working here at one time” said Bill Glowczewski. “There are ten of us from our family out of our 28 employees. That was our dream, to see our family come up and work the business. That’s why I was able to buy the business, because the previous owner’s kids went in different directions.”
“We never have to advertise for help,” Tim Glowczewski added. “We have a stack of 200 applications from people who want to work here. It’s prestigious to be a Lakeview carhop. There are girls who come in here when they’re eight or nine years old and they look at those 15 and 16-year-old carhops and they idolize them. We’ve had generations of Lakeview carhops…grandmothers, mothers, and daughters. We like to get kids who haven’t worked anywhere else. We look at our employees as family. We treat them well, we train them well, and we hold them to the higher standard that we expect from Lakeview employees.”
Glowczewski maintains that 90 percent of the Lakeview customers are “regulars” who visit the drive-in one to four times a week. The 70th anniversary celebration is the Glowczewskis’ way of saying thank you to those loyal customers. They plan to cook six hogs in a roaster/smoker and will be offering a pulled pork sandwich, french fries a and Bloedows cookie made especially for Lakeview for $3.50. In addition there will be free entertainment both days and the opportunity to win prizes. And yes, there will be plenty of ice cold Lakeview Drive Inn “Sno-Cap” Root Beer — the granddaddy of them all — to go around.
Winona Post - Summer in a frosted mug.
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Minnesota Moments Magazine
Lakeview made the cover page and a two-page centerfold article written by Audrey Kletscher Helbling this last month. Audrey captured the true nostalgia of the drive-in era and described Lakeview's inner working as well as anyone ever has. All of us here at Lakeview are impressed with her creative insight to our restaurant.
Minnesota Moments Magazine is a unique, creative and informative lifestyle magazine for Minnesotans or anyone else interested in our great state. You can buy a copy of this May/June issue at any Barnes and Noble or large magazine retailer for $4. You can subscribe to Minnesota Moments or find out more about the bimonthly magazine by logging on to www.minnesotamoments.com. I highly recommend it!
Minnesota Moments Website
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A Busy Cruise Night.
Lakeview easily gets 100-150 classic cars and motorcycles at any given cruise night. Cruise nights are held every Wednesday night from 6:30-9:00 p.m. starting mid June to mid September. These nights are really something to see. Best of all...they are free and open to the public.
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Lakeview Wins Travelocity.com Local Secrets, Big finds 2005
Local Secrets, Big Finds 2005
By Amy Ziff, Editor-at-Large
As a company that sends millions of people to destinations near and far, we've accomplished our biggest project yet: Local Secrets, Big Finds 2005. This was something of a marathon, our own personal quest to climb Mt. Everest--or perhaps a more befitting description would be a journey around all of North America taken on foot. At the end of this journey, our task was to deliver back information about the people we met and the authentic, local places we saw along the way--and that is precisely what we have done with our Local Secrets, Big Finds. Each and every Local Secret, Big Find embodies a step of our journey and hopefully yours. They celebrate North America in its rugged beauty and its quiet sunsets, in fabulous food and fun festivals. They are the fabric of these countries, and some may even be found your own backyard.
Travelocity's Local Secrets, Big Finds are a cache of American and Canadian discoveries that will prove particularly handy if you're hitting the road sometime soon, or even if you're just looking for a way to spend a relaxing day within driving distance. As a travel pro, I understand the need to be pointed in the right direction. Our Local Secrets, Big Finds were compiled with exactly that intention. You're sure to find new sites to explore wherever you live or are headed. These places range from beautiful to downright wacky, but they all share the magic of what makes a place unique. They remind us more than anything that life is not just about the destination, but more importantly, it is about the journey. These spots can't be found in any other guidebook, and they’re largely places that tourists would otherwise overlook.
You might wonder how in the world we came up with these places. The answer is that we put our most knowledgeable field workers to work–YOU! Our frequent and fun-loving, information seeking travelers were an integral part of this project! Your suggestions resulted in thousands of hidden gems. You'll notice we described our Local Secrets in your own words (we did this to provide the most authentic, local voice), so many of these colorful descriptions are just as you wrote them to us.
Preparing this content was a labor of love. The task was ambitious and the original submission list was enormous. Even after looking at them endlessly, I must admit, these places are all still extraordinary--even if they're ordinary. Ranging from ostrich racing to alligator eating, this comprehensive collection of local hot spots promises to pique the interest of every traveler. After two years in the making, I’m proud to present Travelocity's “Local Secrets, Big Finds 2005.”
Read about my Top Editor’s Picks for North America, which contain a few of my very favorite selections from the U.S. and Canada. But don't just consider mine--check them all out for yourself. I hope you will be equally awed, amused, and inspired by many of our Local Secrets, Big Finds.
Congratulations Lakeview Drive Inn from Winona Minnesota!
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Lakeview Makes Travelocity's Top 10
Lakeview makes Travelocity's top 10
By David Krotz | Winona Daily News
It's old and familiar and maybe taken for granted.
But the folks at Travelocity.com think it's "one of the most authentic, truly hidden gems in Minnesota."
The Internet travel site with millions of registered users has chosen the Lakeview Drive-Inn at 610 E. Sarnia St. as one of 10 Minnesota "Local Secrets, Big Finds for 2005."
As the oldest restaurant in Winona, the Lakeview Drive-Inn has been around since 1938, when Emil Berzinski opened and ran it for 21 years.
Since 1977, the Glowczewski family has owned and operated the restaurant, first Bill and Sue and, more recently, their sons, Tim and John.
The brothers were delighted by the recognition granted by the national travel company, which booked travel for 4.9 billion users in 2004.
"We didn't do anything special," said Tim Glowczewski. "We're one of the few places to still have carhop service."
That and the fact the Lakeview makes its own root beer, offers "all American cuisine," holds cruise nights every Wednesday during the summer and is Winona's oldest eatery were reasons Travelocity selected it, he said.
He was notified of the honor in an e-mail from Travelocity in January. Nominations were submitted by registered Travelocity users, said Amy Ziff, Travelocity editor-at-large.
Regular customer Darryl Mac said the Lakeview was one of the three reasons he moved to Winona in 1976. The other two reasons were a beautiful blonde and the area bluff lands.
"It's a good place and good people run it," he said. "This place is a family operation, the old way. You've just got to love it. It's so cool."
The Glowczewskis began Cruise Nights 17 years ago, choosing Wednesdays to offer an open invitation to owners of street rods, and antique and classic automobiles. Eighty to 100 cars show up every week, fill the lot and park along Sarnia Street for two blocks in both directions, Glowczewski said.
The first Wednesday of July, August and September are also designated as Motorcycle Nights. Promotional surprises are also promised during the summer.
A picture of the Lakeview appears on Travelocity.com, with a brief write up about the restaurant. It also provides a link to the Lakeview's Web site, www.lakeviewdriveinn.com.
Travelocity will honor the Lakeview for the next year, free of charge, Ziff said.
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Visitors From Our Sister City Kogota. Japan
3 Japanese girls from our sister city Kogota, Japan visit Lakeview for an All American treat on March 22, 2005. Pictured are L to R, Megan Hatfield, daughter of hosts Tim and Susan Hatfield, Haruka Miura, Narumi Sugawara, and Shiori Sasaki.
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65 Years and Still Going Strong
By Adam Crowson Winona Daily News
Adding diet root beer to the menu is one of the few changes made at Lakeview Drive Inn, where car hops serve root beer floats and nostalgia. They waited Sunday on customers during Lakeview's 65th anniversary celebration.
"We've tried to remain the same," said Tim Glowczewski, an owner of the restaurant. "We still have the same tartar sauce."
It's made from a recipe used by Emil Berzinski, who opened the place in 1938 and ran it for 21 years.
Elmer Terrace operated the drive inn from 1959 to 1977. Since then, it's been operated by the Glowczewski family, primarily Tim; his brother, John; and their father, Bill.
They brew their own root beer, still have car hops and host classic car nights on Wednesdays during the summer.
"We offer more variety and more sandwiches now — and we offer diet root beer," said Tim Glowczewski, who began working at the drive inn as a senior in high school in 1978.
Glowczewski said that most of Winona knows about Lakeview, "since we've been here for so long."
"We've worked hard to keep the original appearance," he said, "and people like the old atmosphere."
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Brothers Carry On Lakeview Tradition
By Margie Cady / Winona Daily News
Customers belly up to the counter of the Lakeview Drive Inn to savor the ice cold drink in the frosted mug, topped with a thick head of foam. The sweet liquid serves up relief from a sultry summer day and lingers on the palate.
This is root beer, made from scratch at Lakeview, which is owned by the Glowczewski family. The 1938 recipe is closely guarded, known by only three people.
"Lakeview root beer is kind of a Winona tradition," Tim Glowczewski said. The family bought Lakeview in 1977, and Glowczewski and his brother, John, took over the place 10 years ago.
"We're a dying breed," Tim Glowczewski said of the homemade root beer operation. "There's not many of us anymore."
After pouring the draft root beer in the frosted mug, Glowczewski pointed out the differences between the drink and a glass of cola. Unlike the brown cola, one could not see through the opaque, black root beer.
In addition to the frosted mug and secret recipe, the sarsaparilla makes the root beer special, he said. Without the sarsaparilla, the drink is just caramel water.
"That's where the 'root' in the root beer comes from," Glowczewski said. "Sarsaparilla root."
Depending on need, a batch is made every other day, or daily.
"We like to make it in small batches because that keeps it fresh," Tim Glowczewski said.
For those who are counting calories, Lakeview also offers a homemade diet root beer.
Back in 1938, the drink was known as sno-cap root beer. It was carbonated by blocks of dry ice, which, when melted, produced carbon dioxide gas for carbonation. When refrigeration became available, carbon dioxide gas was substituted.
Lakeview uses a carbonation machine that holds the root beer under pressure in a submerged tank of near-freezing water, Glowczewski said. The liquid is pumped through insulated lines to towers that dispense the 40-degree root beer.
Glowczewski said it's this method of carbonization that produces the root beer's thick head of foam.
In 1938, the root beer sold for a nickel, and the floats cost a dime. A 12-ounce mug of the drink now sells for 95 cents, while 16 ounces cost $1.25. The root beer floats in those sizes cost $1.25 and $1.60, respectively.
Lakeview uses more than five tons of sugar each summer to make its root beer, Glowczewski said. About 75 gallons are sold every day.
Root beer outnumbers other soda sales at Lakeview at a ratio of 20 to one, Glowczewski said.
John Glowczewski makes the syrup, which he stirs by hand with a stainless steel paddle in a vat. The syrup is poured into 10-gallon stainless steel cans, each yielding about 35 gallons of root beer.
Tim Glowczewski sets the mix in the carbonation machine.
Lakeview customers include a former First Lady. In 1997, Claudia "Lady Bird" Johnson stopped at Lakeview for a root beer while visiting Winona on the American Queen Paddlewheeler.
While many customers choose to enjoy their root beer on the premises in the frosted mug, the drink also is available to go.
"I think it's much more special if you have it here," Glowczewski said. "You probably lose something in a plastic container."
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Ice Cream Bike
By Margie Cady Winona Daily News
Call it peddling by pedal. The Lakeview Drive Inn will be bicycling in its new ice cream treats this summer to Lake Winona.
"Listen to the bell, look for the flashing lights and umbrella," said Tim Glowczewski, who runs the drive-in restaurant with his brother, John. He hopes to have the tricycle traveling the lake by late April.
Tim Glowczewski traveled to Green Bay, Wis., to purchase the tricycle. The treats will be sold from a cooler box attached to the bike.
"The coolest thing about this is there are certain products that can only be sold through the bicycle (vendor)," Glowczewski said. These products are not sold to restaurants or stores.
The facebar ice cream treats include characters such as Spongebob, Snoopy and Mega Warheads, he said. Popsicles, Oreo bars and chocolate tacos will be available, along with bottled water.
A two-way radio also was added to the tricycle.
The tricycle will travel up and down Lake Winona three times between 6 and 9 p.m. Mondays through Thursdays, in addition to weekends when softball and other activities are planned, Glowczewski said. Look for the ice cream vendor during Grand Excursion and Steamboat Days.
Plans call for the tricycle to travel from Hamilton to Main streets along the lake, but the route could change.
Lakeview might expand the ice cream sales to other neighborhoods or add more bikes if the project takes off, Glowczewski said.
"This is going to be neat," he said. "I hope Winona responds to it and I believe they will."
More than 90 percent of households in the United States consume ice cream and related frozen desserts, according to the Midwest Dairy Association . The United States leads the world in ice cream and frozen dessert production, with more than 1.6 billion gallons produced in 2001.
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Ernie Tuff's Once NASCAR's fastest car, stock car makes rare appearance at Cruise Night
Once NASCAR's fastest car, stock car makes rare appearance at Cruise Night
By Laura Gossman / Winona Daily News
The car's parts may have come from coast to coast, but NASCAR's fastest car in 1964 was built in Rushford, Minn., by farmer and racing enthusiast Ernie Tuff.
The Modified Ford car broke the speed record at the Daytona 500 in 1964. The car was driven by Fireball Roberts and reached 170 mph — 5 mph faster than the previous record holder, GM's "Mystery Motor," which was thought to be untouchable.
"I spent every minute and every hour of every day and night building that car," Tuff said.
In order to race in the NASCAR circuit, the car had to be built according to NASCAR regulations.
In 1964, cars were automatically disqualified if it couldn't reach speeds of 131 mph, Tuff said.
"Previous champions always got to race," Tuff said. "It was harder for newcomers to get into the race. Once you get your chance, you do the best you can and just run it."
"(Fireball Roberts) knew he had broken the record before they even announced it," Tuff said.
Although, it's been 40 years since it has raced, Tuff's car is still a champion with locals.
He showed the car for the second time since the car was retired, showing up Wednesday at Lakeview Drive Inn's Cruise Night.
Tuff opened up the hood so spectators could take a look at the 482 C.I. Mopar Hemi engine. The engine was the biggest made in 1964, he said.
"We had to bribe Ernie with root beer in order to get him to come here and show the car," Tim Glowczewski, co-owner of the drive inn, said.
Tuff autographed hats and talked shop with other racing enthusiasts.
The 1961 Modified Ford isn't the only car Tuff is crazy about.
He once had a museum full of cars not far from Winona. He still owns many vintage cars, but the museum near I-90 and Highway 43 has been closed down.
"Winona County shut me down because of zoning regulations," Tuff said. "The area was commercial when I created the museum, but it's not anymore.
"We had 16 Blue Grass Festivals out there," Tuff said. "Hank Williams and the Carter Family came and played."
Tuff said he misses the museum and wishes he could still share his racing memorabilia.
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Going Places KTTC Channel 10 Rochester
Going Places; Lakeview Drive-Inn
Adam Aaro
KTTC-TV
WINONA, MN -- In any business you have to have the right recipe for success and the Lakeview Drive-Inn is as tasty as any.
"Winona is kind of a neat small town place it's got a neat feel to it so does Lakeview Drive-Inn," Lakeview Drive-Inn co-owner Tim Glowczewski said.
At 68 years old, the Lakeview Drive-Inn is the oldest restaurant in Winona. It's also one of it's most famous.
"Normally they experience us once and they come back again and again," Glowczewski said.
Over the course of it's history, the old-fashioned diner has maintained it's trademark look and feel.
Glowczewski says, "You're always greeted with a smile and the personal touch that a lot of the big places are missing."
So when Tim Glowczewski and his family took over the restaurant more than 20 years ago there wasn't a great need for change, but they decided to take a chance and spice up the menu. A gamble that's continuing to pay off.
"When they open that menu and it's 6 pages, three on one side three on the other They can't believe all the stuff we have and it is totally amazing," Glowczewski said.
Quite a feat considering just how small a space cooks have to prepare meals.
"It is a challenge but we have something for everyone and that's something we pride ourselves on," Glowczewski said.
Service and comfort are the two other key ingredients to the Lakeview. A person can sit back and relax in their car while they wait for their order, or they can soak in the atmosphere of the diner.
"We have the best of both worlds here," Glowczewski said.
But the secret ingredient to the Lakeview's success is the family-friendly atmosphere that's been epitomized by the owners since the beginning.
Glowczewski says, "It's been family-owned since the very beginning, only three families have ever owned the Lakeview Drive-Inn so it's always done well."
Updated: July 22, 2006, 7:36 pm
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A Cold Root Beer At Your Carside.
Katie Sobeck provides a smiling face and friendly service to some of Lakeview's many customers.
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Miss Winona and Her Court Enjoy Food at Lakeview
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Polish Visitors From Bytow Poland Visit Lakeview Drive Inn Winona Minnesota
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Ernie Tuff and His Single Cylinder Mogul at our 1st Tractor Night
Ernie Tuff brought his single cylinder Mogul tractor to the first Tractor Cruise Night last night. There were about 70 tractors and classic cars in attendence at the event. Some 300 spectators enjoyed Ernie running his tractor. Ernie modified the tractor by adding an idle circut so he could run the tractor slow enought for display, shows and parades. We believe this is the only Mogul in the world with an idle circut. Only from the mind and hands of Ernie Tuff!
See the cruise night photos for more tractor night pictures.
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Local Artist Creates A Lakeview Drive Inn Model
Joe Peplinski a local artist and collector created a model of Lakeview drive Inn to help display his collection of die cast cars, match box and hot wheels collectibles. This quality made model is full of detail including the 50's style stools and cookling equipment inside of the building.
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YOU ARE VISITOR ............... 864,876 ................
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