Drive-in may open in Savage, but can it survive the cold?

The '50s-style drive-in restaurant, seemingly as endangered as the drive-in movie, is about to be revived in the Twin Cities area -- beginning, perhaps, with the site of a now-closed nursery in Savage.

Sonic, an Oklahoma-based chain with more than 3,400 outlets, has gradually been moving its operations, state by state, in our direction. Only now is it reaching the very northernmost tier of states.

But can a drive-in work year-round in a part of the country in which -- even these days, with warmer winters and less snow -- drive-ins tend to be seasonal? Chris Dettinger, owner of 3 Seasons Drive-In, in Mahtomedi, doubts it.

"My wife has been to a Sonic, and she didn't see any inside seating," he said. "I am sure that units they open here, or even Iowa or Wisconsin, will have indoor seating. No one will sit in a car and run it at $3 a gallon while they eat food."

Not a problem, replies Christi Woodworth, Sonic's director of external communications.

"We had an opening in Columbus, Ohio, in six inches of snow. You won't find people on the patio, but they're still in drive-in stalls or the drive-through. We have cold-weather uniforms for crew members. It hasn't been an issue. We've been in icy, windy Nebraska for years. People pull in, leave the car running, and stay warm and toasty. It usually takes less than four minutes to get the food."

In Savage, a Sonic is being proposed for a new retail development at the southeast corner of County Road 42 and Joppa Avenue, called River Bend Plaza. Plans show 23 canopied outdoor slots for cars.

Since 1975, a nursery and greenhouse have operated there on six acres. But, if city officials in Savage approve, that same amount of land will eventually house several businesses. The drive-in and a Walgreen's come first, to be joined later by a strip mall and perhaps a coffee shop with a drive-in lane.

City documents in Savage hint of the potential at least for problems with an adjoining residential neighborhood used to a more serene neighbor in the form of the nursery. The developer has pledged to use various measures such as screening to deal with things like light from headlights pointed at homes and noise from squawking sound systems.

Only one neighbor turned up at a public hearing devoted to the project before the city's planning commission on Thursday night, said Bryan Tucker, the city's planning manager. The commission recommended the project's approval to the City Council, he said.

"We have discussed with the developer planting shrubs to mitigate the potential for headlights reaching into homes across the street," he said. "And the planning commission did suggest that the developer might discuss with folks there doing some improvement to their fencing or helping with landscaping over there, on the other side, to help with those issues."

Border Foods, the company with Minnesota rights to the chain, is expected to seek approval for new outlets in several other Twin Cities locations in the months to come. It has already launched the process for a site on the East Side of St. Paul.

Sonic's center of gravity lies in Texas, with fewer and fewer units in every state heading north from there: 136 in Kansas, 25 in Nebraska, 13 in Iowa, 1 in South Dakota, but none open yet in Minnesota or Wisconsin.

The challenge for Sonic in a state like Minnesota, Dettinger said, will be similar to that faced by Dairy Queen, A&W, and other companies people associate with summertime.

"They're perceived as seasonal, even if they aren't. It's the mentality of the customer. We've struggled with that ourselves, with a name like '3 Seasons.' Even though we've been open all year long, with indoor seating, for 10 years, people still call me in the spring and say, 'when do you open?' We are changing our name to '4 Seasons.' I don't want to do it, but my wife is twisting my arm."

David Peterson • 612-673-4440

David Peterson • dapeterson@startribune.com