Carl's Drive-In

The building on Manchester Road has been part of this stretch of Route 66 since 1918, when it opened as a service station. It became a hot dog stand in the 1940s, and Carl Meyer bought and renamed it in 1959 — adding curb service and a walk-up window before a remodel enclosed the space and gave it the 16-stool counter layout it still runs today. The carhop era ended decades ago, but the footprint and the feel have stayed largely unchanged through several ownership changes.

The menu is short and focused: smash-style burgers cooked on the grill in front of you, hot dogs including foot-long options, onion rings, and the house-made draft root beer served in frosted mugs using a recipe the stand has kept since the Meyer years. Parking and seating are both tight — the official site flags this plainly — so arriving outside the peak lunch rush makes the experience considerably smoother. The stand now accepts credit cards in addition to cash, which is worth knowing if you've read older trip reports that said otherwise.

For a St. Louis Route 66 day loop, the Manchester Road alignment puts Carl's at a natural midpoint. The stop pairs well with Ted Drewes, the frozen custard stand on the city side, making for a short, purposeful route that covers two of the more intact mid-century food stops on Missouri's stretch of the Mother Road.