Change of management portends slow decline?

Probably the worst sign that we could find on a Roadfood establishment is “Closed.” Running a close second is “Under New Management,” which usually invokes mixed feelings of nostalgia and curiosity (namely, will the food still taste the same?). There was no physical placard announcing a management change at this local drive-in, but we could tell that something was amiss as soon as we claimed our tray from the pick-up window. We’d even noticed different waitstaff at the register but crossed our fingers and waited patiently. The photos above show the change: on the left, last summer’s chili dog and onion rings, which we’ve now archived in our taste memory. Notice the lusciously grilled bun and the meaty chili underneath the dog with a squiggle of cheese sauce. However, the right-hand photos show the changed chili dog, which retains its pretty bun, but now it has the very bean-laden chili heaped on top, which was a disastrous mess to eat (most of the chili fell into the basket after a couple of bites). A shredded cheese mix is now used instead of cheese sauce, which has been an intriguing discussion point in the Restaurant Professionals Forums. And the onion rings are just not the same as before: flavor, texture, crunch. We’d once counted these onion rings among the state’s best, but these new ones weren’t worth finishing. The change was evident in the sparse crowd, too: on a sunny weekend afternoon, only two couples were dining near us, when the place was often packed last summer. In the end, we would indeed return to this drive-in and order other menu items, but it is no longer a “destination meal” for us.