Lakeview Drive in Kicks Off New Season March 31st
By Dennis Rahm
A sure sign that longer and warmer days aren’t far away, is the Spring opening of Chelan’s popular Lakeview Drive-In.
The iconic eatery overlooking the lake near the City Marina first opened in 1957 and has been owned and operated by Mike and Debbie Mack since 1980.
The Macks are proud of their legacy of hiring “local kids” at their drive-in. They are aware that for many young people, working at the Lakeview is their very first job – a place where they learn customer service skills, operational processes and procedures.
Debbie Mack says this Saturday’s opening will bring with it some changes that are designed to improve the customer experience. Gone are the hand written order tickets. Instead, “new this year will be the use of ipad’s for all of our customer orders.” Mack says the electronic ordering system will not only benefit the customer but will also aid in accuracy.
The Lakeview is going back to their origins as a “burger house” with a revamped menu focusing on burgers, fries and drinks. They’ve been working on these changes for the past four months.
Also new this year will be a customer reward program called “Re-up Loyalty” where customers will earn one point for every dollar spent. Points accumulate and can be redeemed for free items.
Mack says she has a great crew ready to go to work and they are all excited for this weekend’s opening. And not to worry, despite a few changes the drive in will still be offering their famous burgers, fries and special seasoning salt, as well as new supply of their popular Lakeview Drive In t-shirts and tanks.
Following Saturday’s season opener, The Lakeview Drive In will be open daily 11:00 a.m. – 7:00 p.m. through the week of spring break. Then beginning the week of April 9th, the drive in will be closed Tuesdays and Wednesdays until school is out.
