DULUTH — A & Dubs drive-in restaurant in Duluth’s Lincoln Park neighborhood , an institution for generations across nine decades, won’t reopen for the summer 2024 season.
Owners Syl and Sandy Hantz posted on their Facebook page Sunday afternoon that health concerns “have made the day to day operation of our small mom and pop business not feasible.”
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“It is with great sadness that we announce there will not be an A & Dubs 2024 season,’’ they posted. “We wish to thank the many loyal customers and employees that kept the drive-in tradition alive. … This has been more than just a career. You all have become a part of the A & Dubs family. It has been our good fortune to have had 46 years serving the Twin Ports area as A & Dubs.”
A & Dubs has changed little since it was built by Lloyd and Shirley Tillman and opened as an A & W in 1948, reportedly the first drive-in in Duluth, and now apparently the last. James and Lois Kent took over in 1959 and remained affiliated with the national restaurant chain until 1973, the year A & W decided to can its root beer and sell it in stores. That was also the year they insisted all their franchises use the same menus. Mama Burgers and Teen Burgers were in. The Kents' homemade barbecue sauce and popular coleslaw would have to go.
But they didn't. The Kents counted on the loyalty of their customers and decided to go it alone without the national chain affiliation. They changed the name of the restaurant slightly, stuck with the familiar brown-and-orange color scheme and stood by their menu, which has always been painted on wooden boards and hung outside the building.
The Hantzs have owned and operated it since 1978.
“We were able to keep our niche. We still have something unique to offer,” Sandy Hantz said in a 1996 interview with the News Tribune. “It's still a mom-and-pop place. We don't have a fancy building and we're definitely off the beaten track.”
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