Johnnie's Drive In & Elvis Presley
Had a nice lunch today and chatted with one of the owners of Johnnie's Drive Inn in Tupelo, Mississippi. This place has a HUGE Elvis Presley connection - Elvis was born in Tupelo, and used to frequent Johnnie's before moving to Memphis in his early teens. It's located in a part of town called "Presley Estates," just around the corner from the King's childhood home (and museum?)It wasn't busy, so the owner & I had a chance to chat a bit about restaurants, bbq, marketing and more. He said his place was the oldest restaurant in Tupelo, and he had a SUPER thick southern accent (which I told him I liked when he asked if I wanted to try the "taiter taughts"). He said my "yankee accent" sounded funny to him, too.
This place has a ton of Elvis photos for a relatively small dining room (maybe 30 seats?), and we sat in the booth where Elvis used to - with a photo of him in the booth right over my shoulder. According to the owner, the seats are all original from the late 40's, and the menu hasn't changed since then either (photo of booth at left). He said movies have been shot there (but I didn't hear what titles exactly), and he showed me a photo someone had dropped off, featuring the visitor and Elvis in army fatigues from their overseas stint in the military. I guess it's that kind of place, pretty cool to me - maybe I'll visit it again sometime?
Labels: bbq in tupelo, dough burger, elvis, elvis presley, johnnie's drive in, tupelo mississippi
