Do You Remember Oscar's Drive-In?

Tom Dever wrote

I went to the Oscar's in Santa Ana...went to school at Tustin HS and lived in Laguna Hills...no high schools out there in the early and mid 60s. The hot rods were everywhere back then and the muscle cars were just getting started. My buds and I Raced(street) a 64 Falcon with a 289 Cobra engine, headers and whatever else we could afford. I tell you that lightweight Falcon body made many a 409 owner cry.

But the thing I remember best was in 1964...we were sitting there eating when a guy with a trailored Top fuel dragster unloaded and lit it up right down the main street. It was only about 10 seconds worth of excitement, but I'll never forget it. The smoke was everywhere, and soon afterward the cop cars were also everywhere.

Got a 2003 Mustang Gt right now with the Rousch supercharger on order.

Posted February 11, 2009

Ronda wrote

John,
I graduated in '59, lived in Mission Hills.......spent about 2 years cruisin' Oscar's on Pacific Blvd. I do believe you escorted us off your lot on a number of occasions......what fun we had in those days. My favorite Oscar's was the special sauce/relish on those hamburgers.! Still trying to find what that was.........sooooooo deliciousl.........if you by any chance have the recipe you could probably sell it...............;).............if I visited a Jack's think they'd know what the heck I was talkin' about? Ahhhhhh, memories are made of this...............

Posted January 30, 2009

bigD wrote

I grew up in Spring Valley in the 50s and 60s and will forever be searching for a chocolate malt like the one they served at the Oscar's in Lemon Grove. I remember the perfect combination of chocolate, whipped cream and malt, mmmmmmmm.

Posted January 24, 2009

Bill Roadman wrote

in reply to John D. Koger I have a snapshot of an Oscars in San Diego taken summer of 1969. I want to send you a copy of it to see if you can tell me where it was taken. I lived in Chula Vista and it is probably in that area or towards National City or downtown San Diego. wroadman@gmail.com

Posted December 06, 2008

Joe Ferrara wrote

I graduated from La Jolla High School in 1959. I remember cruising with our hot cars through Oscar's Drive-In in Pacific Beach. Oscar's hamburgers and milk shakes were wonderful. We always had fun driving to Oscar's after the football games. I also remember going to the Oscar's in the El Cajon area. What a blast!

Posted November 01, 2008

OldGrampa wrote...

I never knew OScar's but we had similar drive-ins here. I remember when Jerry's was a drive in and had car hops, also A&W and there was one more I cant recall the name of. We have a drive in near here called Parkette that has been in operation ever since the 1950s! and still open for business

Posted October 11, 2008

John D. Koger wrote

In 1958 I worked at the Oscar's @ Pacific & Elm. Most of the business was Navy families on the two paydays of the month (1st & 15th). About 1959 the kids started to cruise the drive-ins. I was the guy in the white short-sleeve shirt w/ black bow tie that had to go out into the lot and keep them moving. Sometimes on weekends I had to call the S.D. Police Dept when we had an altercation. In 1961 I helped open 38th & University, and later, El Cajon Oscars on Magnolia, Lemon Grove Oscars, Spring Valley Oscars. Those were the days. At 38th & University, I had a 1958 White Chevrolet Impala and on my day off, I would cruise Menlo Oscars on El Cajon Blvd, or Circus Circus at Euclid & El Cajon Blvd. My brother-in-law,worked at the Circus. "Lucky Lane" the radio guy on KCBQ met one of my car hops at 38th & Univ. He had a 1960 Ford and on weekends, we went to Tijuana or Tecate dragstrips to race.
My favorite food was the shrimp baskets w/ onion rings.

Posted October 03, 2008

Joe W. (Clairemont) wrote

I was lucky to have been a teen in the early 60's in San Diego. We hung out at the Clairemont Oscars every Friday and Saturday night. The cars in the back row would have their hoods open to display their engines. All radios turned way up, and not uncommon to see girls dancing to the tunes. Common practice was to make at least two laps through the lot (looking very cool); park and begin the visiting process (alway remaining cool). Eventually somebody from another part of town would cruise through looking for a race... which would result in the lot quickly clearing out and all heading to the secret racing site. Afterwords we'd return to Oscars and recount the evenings racing victories. It truely was American Graffiti. Sometime in early 1963 it all ended. It just stopped... and Oscars was returned to the adults. We were all finishing high school, some heading to college. A lot of my friends, incluing me, headed to Viet Nam. Good memories.

Posted September 28, 2008