COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) - Linda Griggs was a carhop at Mugs Up drive-in when she was a teenager in the early 1960s.
"I've been coming here ever since," Griggs said. She recently visited Mugs Up with her daughter, Patricia Shaw, and granddaughter, Lauren Shaw. They eagerly awaited their order of cheese zip burgers, fries and root beer floats.
"It's an iconic part of Columbia," Patricia Shaw said. She said the nostalgia is essential to its appeal, the Columbia Daily Tribune (http://bit.ly/1KHfMJI) reported.
Mugs Up, near Business Loop 70, celebrated 60 years of business on July 2. For all but the first few months, the drive-in has been owned by the Kewley family.
Ray and Edna Kewley bought the business from the original owner a few months after it opened. Ray and Edna's son Larry and his wife, Kay, currently own the business.
"When I was 15, I got a job there, and I just loved the whole family," Kay Kewley said. "My husband was my best friend in high school."
Larry and Kay both graduated from Hickman High School in 1968, and they got married a few years later.
Kay, 65, said little has changed at the drive-in during the past 60 years, which is part of its appeal.
"We see generations of couples who met here and came here on dates," Kay said. "It's really fun."
Kay said she usually closes up at night and handles the bookkeeping for the business. She said her husband and their son Brandon open in the morning.
Brandon, who manages the drive-in, said he and his father arrive at Mugs Up early every morning to start making the day's batch of root beer.
Brandon, 37, said he started working at Mugs Up in 1989, when he was 12. He said Mugs Up is in its original building, which was moved from the Business Loop in 1969 after a few too many close calls between busy traffic and the drive-in's carhops.
The drive-in is open from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Saturday all summer. In the fall, Brandon said closing time is moved up to 8 p.m.
The prices are another part of Mugs Up's vintage feel, with zip burgers costing $2.29 and cheese zips available for $2.55.
The drive-in is closed from the first Saturday in November until the end of February or early March. Kay Kewley said the time off helps create desire for the food from faithful customers.
Brandon said the customers and the employees make Mugs Up so unique. He said he has enjoyed working with his parents and his grandparents.
"The customers are very loyal," Brandon said. "There's definitely a family atmosphere here."
Brandon said couples who had their first dates at Mugs Up sometimes return on their wedding anniversaries.
Kelli Bias has been a carhop at Mugs Up for 17 consecutive years. Before that, she worked a few seasons at the drive-in when she was 16, 18 and 21. She raised a family, then decided to return to the working world. Now at 50, she's the lead carhop and works alongside her three daughters.
Bias said people come to Mugs Up for the nostalgia. "Everybody loves it," she said. "It's like a time machine."
She said the most popular dishes with customers are the zip burger, which is a loose meat burger, and the chili cheese dog.
Bias' sister, Sheri Malm, has worked intermittently at Mugs Up for 30 years, since she was in junior high school.
"It's fun," Malm said. "You get to know your customers. There's fresh air."
Maxine Nelson brought a vehicle full of family members to Mugs Up on Friday. She said the carhops had never made a mistake on her orders over the years.
"That's not true," Malm said. "We all have our off days."
Nelson said she likes that the drive-in attracts a diverse clientele. When family members visit from Texas, she said, Mugs Up is where they always want to go.
Jon and Becca Cockrum were among the crowd recently at the drive-in. Jon recommended the chili cheese zip burger, while Becca said she preferred the chili dog with onions and a root beer float.
"It's the best food in town," Becca said.
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