Bill's A & W
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Menu Favorites
Root Beer in Frosted Mugs
Root Beer Floats
Coney Islands
Sloppy Joes
French Fries & Onion Rings
California cheeseburger, a "Classic"
Burger Baskets
Malts & Milkshakes
Peanuts & Popcorn & Candy
& More
Bill's A & W was located near the Lake Street bridge, on the northwest corner of West River Road.
The owner was Bill Roesner (pronounced, /Rezner/ previously of La Crosse, Wisconsin.
Did you work there? What memories or stories do you have?
Do you have a photo?
"I used to 'live' at Bill's A & W.
During high school dating, I used to take girls to Bill's for root beers and Coney Islands, then park the car and walk along the river.
I recall one Sunday while hiking the river with my two Springer spaniels. I walked up to Bill with the dogs on leashes and ordered a root beer. Bill gave each of the dogs a cup of water. Evenings were often spent sitting at Bill's in the car drinking root beer, listening to doo wop, and contemplating the muse."
~ Jack Koblas, SHS '60 3/21/03 ~
"I remember the one day I worked there.
I took a malt out to a guy who was in a convertible speedster. He had only his swimming trunks on. When I tried to attach the tray with the malt on it, well, it dumped into his lap! I was so mortified at the time. I then quit and started working in the kitchen at Swedish Hospital.
Looking back on it, I still feel badly for the guy, but I can now see the humor in it. Memories are fun."
~ Kathleen Savage, SHS '62 4/27/06 ~
"I remember Bill's A & W Drive in. My wife Sally H. used to work there and that is where we met. I also remember Dianne E. and Kathy L. We used to drive Bill crazy with our old black '47 Dodge with bells and whistles."
~ James Benson, SHS '59 ~ 7/16/03
"Used to go there with my boyfriend. The root beer was probably the best ever concocted. Wonderful times."
~ Frances Hackel, SHS '47 ~ 10/27/03
"I remember me and my best friend had enough money to buy a gallon [of root beer]. We were so looking forward to going down by the river and drinking it and walking along. We went under the "old" Lake St. Bridge and set it down and some how it went rolling down the hill with us two chasing after it and it did not break, until the very bottom of the hill. It hit the right rock the right way. It was the end of our good day but we talked about it fondly."
~ Curt Schirmer, SHS '71 ~ 6/7/09
"Spent a lot of nights there. That was were all the gang met. When it was torn down it was sad to see."
~ Jan (Gustafson) Brady, SHS '56 ~ 10/29/09
"It was my very first job. Have wonderful memories, not all of them good. Many a tray went sailing in my first few days on the job. Think they kept me on because they felt sorry for me. Was there in 1954 for the season."
~ Kaye Peterson, SHS '54 ~ 3/19/03
"That was our hangout. Best place in the city. When I returned on leave from the Air Force I took a new girl I had just met over to Bill's to reconnect.
I came in the back road from River Road and, as I approached my favorite spot, I was greeted by a pile of orange boards lying in the parking lot.
Bill's had just been knocked down. It was very devastating.
It was like part of my life was now over and home would never be quite the same ever again.
Even so, I have many great memories of Bill's A & W still with me."
~Terrance Randolph, SHS '65 ~ 3/20/03
  Bill's A & W @ Lake Street & River Road Circa 1950 |
| "As Bill's eldest
son I used to work for my father from about the 6th grade (when I was called over on a busy hot summer Sunday, to hop cars after a carhop called in sick), until I was a college student at the U of M. During high school, I used to ride my bike to the drive-in at maybe 9:00 a.m. before the 11:30 opening, sit down with the morning paper and the biggest, thickest chocolate malted I could cram into the metal malt shake mixer. Ummmm! Then I would have to go out and pick up paper and debris from the lot and surrounding properties. Then I would fold many, many popcorn boxes in anticipation for later filling, wash the root beer mugs over (I don't know why.); they were already clean from the night before. Dad was a stickler for cleanliness. After that I would mix up a huge vat of root beer in the walk-in cooler, make the dozens of hamburger patties with an extra large ice cream scoop and a patty squeezer, each on it's own square of wax paper. Then I would sit down in front of a back room sink with a hundred pound burlap sack of Idaho potatoes; and peel, at times, all of them in one sitting. The potatoes then were placed in a manual potato slicer, one by one, to produce the raw material for the best French fries in town. About 11:00, dad (Bill) would show up to change fryer oil which he did religiously every week, turn on the grill and steam table, prepare the Coney Island sauce (a secret recipe to this day) etc. etc. I would work through the lunch hour rush, then take off, again on the bicycle, for home at 45th and 45th, and from there, by bike for the rest of the afternoon to the little beach at Lake Nokomis, for the girls and fun. After much sun and an ever deeper suntan, I would reverse my tracks home and shower, and back to the drive-in to work inside filling car hops' orders etc. I would then have the duty of driving dad's car, with a car full of carhops (mostly girls but an occasional guy), back to each of their homes to drop them off after work. Dad would not let them go home by any other means--not by themselves, not with boy friends etc. He trusted Me!??? Then he would drive me home, pick up my mom, and return to the drive-in for a final clean-up. He had the best food that I can still taste. No one or place seems to have been able to duplicate it or measure up. So many more memories. Cheers," ~ 10/6/10 ~ Bill Jr. De La Salle High School '57 More from Bill Jr. In response to some of my questions... "Indeed the right side of the building, with the stack of serving strays, is the east side of the building (facing the river and River Road). The 'car hops' are not wearing skates, but they are standing on the south, facing the side of the building, which faced the backside of a Standard Oil gas station and Lake Street." "The lot was gravel (I know because I once, when in high school, had an accident mounting my bicycle, - in a hurry to get to Lake Nokomis, after working the noon time rush hour, - fell and ground a goodly amount of it into my elbow and right knee). I quickly jumped up and back onto my bike like nothing had happened and rode, bleeding profusely, home before cleaning it out. I still have the scars! Home then was at 4512 45th Avenue South (about two miles away I think). It felt like 200. By the appearance of the 'stand' - 'the root beer stand', (as it was known then in the family), my guess is that the photo was taken +/- 1950. My dad bought the place (and the A & W franchise) just after the war (1945/46) when I was in first grade. I remember transporting a huge load of bags of sugar (still rationed at the time) in an old, pre war, family car from La Crosse, Wisconsin to the stand in Minneapolis. It was a hot summer day and the car got a flat tire. I recall sitting in the tall grass roadside while my dad and someone else with us off loaded sugar to get at the spare tire. The stand initially, had large wooden awnings/shutters which swung inward and up to the ceiling on rope pulleys, leaving the place wide open to the breezes (and the bugs). Some time in the early '50s, the shutters came off and a system of glass and screen windows was installed by my dad, during the winter time/off season. Early on he sold only root beer, peanuts and popcorn. As time went on, he added ice cream (floats), cigarettes, candy, and finally food. I can still taste his chili dogs (which he called 'Coney Islands') a secret recipe he developed, which unfortunately died with him. He had the best burgers and French fries in town. He bought his ground beef from Axel's Meat Market (on 34th Street and 42nd Avenue South); and because he bought in large enough quantities, Axel (a friend of his), ground up really quality cuts of beef. I used to peel and slice up potatoes for the fries, up to a single burlap gunny sack (100 lbs.) a day when he was really busy. To this day, I remain a skilled (and fast) potato peeler. His fries were the best crispy fries which to this day, are a measure for me, of good French fries. One of his 'secrets' for crispy fries was to never let the oil get 'old', which meant that it was changed on a weekly basis. The 'California cheeseburger' was a classic - (beef patty pre-prepared by me with a large ice cream scoop and flattened with a little hand press), a slice of cheese, some diced raw onions, slice of tomato, lettuce and mayo and a couple of dill pickle slices, ketchup and mustard. The Best! The popcorn was done with coconut oil, which made for delicious popcorn, but we find today that coconut oil has almost lethal amounts of bad cholesterol. I used to do early morning cleanups, fold popcorn boxes, clean house, etc. before the 11:30 opening, all with the benefit of a before hours, custom made, extra large, extra thick, chocolate malted milkshake. That, and the morning edition of the Minneapolis Tribune newspaper got me going every summer morning. Fond memories. I could go on but . . . Cheers, Bill ~ 3/31/11 ~ |
Remember this drive-in sign slogan seen at
many drive-ins?
PLEASE!
Do Not Blow Horn!
Blink Your Lights for Service.
Thank
You
