Mom & Pop Type Dairy Bar

I know what you mean, and the burgers and fries were good.  I think what happened is that "we" started going to a national chain that has a drive thru lane.

Too bad Dairy Queen has demanded their franchisees rebuild their building to their new format building.  Many operators had just gotten the previous spec. facilities paid for, and refused to go into further debt--choosing to exit the Dairy Queen system.

The Muscle Shoals store is now a Bojangles. 

The closest Dairy Queen is now in Lawrenceburg.  And the prices are not nearly as reasonable as before they built a completely new building.

There's a little cafe that sounds a lot like what you are describing on Colbert Mountain across from the school. Looks to me like it came straight out of the 1950s.

Stinky - I can't remember if Trowbridge's serves burgers or not, but they have great sandwiches, hot dogs, shakes, and ice cream.   It's on Court St in Florence.

1. Trowbridge's doesn't serve burgers. They do have a fantastic ham sandwich.

2. The Lester eatery has to be Cristo's. I tried to find it once and blinked. Was lucky to make my way home, but I have friends who swear by it.

3. While in Athens try Dub's or Creme DeLite. Both have same owner (as far as I know haven't been sold). Just don't ask for extra mustard at Dub's, as they will take you quite seriously. Also don't ask for a large shake at Creme DeLite unless you're prepared to put on five pounds.

4. Surprisingly, while not a traditional Mom & Pop, try the Jiffy, also in Athens. They have three locations and a pharmacy. Their deli has a bakery. Great food.

5. Another dairy bar I haven't tried, but have heard great things about is in Salem (across county line from Anderson). Sorry, don't know name.

Not a dairy bar, but Chat n Chew ( a local icon as I understand it) on Cloverdale Rd. north of Florence has pretty awesome burgers and dogs an' stuff.  Last time my wife and I went there I think she had some fried shrimp and a kick-ass vanilla malt shake.

 They just expanded some, looks like they put in some indoor seating as well as the outdoor patio-type setup.

Nice folks. Good food. Good prices.

I was going to mention Chat & Chew but I don't know if their burgers are the frozen type or fresh hand formed patties.  Of all the places around here Chat n Chew has to be the closest to what you remember, at least for my two cents worth it does.  Elgin also had a Dairy Bar that was pretty good but the original family sold out and I think it closed down.  Some folks actually like to think of Sonic as the remnants of the old Dairy Bar type place.

Does Sparkey's Drive-In fill the bill?  It goes waaaay back.....

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The burgers I've gotten there sure didn't look pre-formed. Good stuff they were.

In the one I patronized the most in 1960-61, the milk shakes were 25 cents and they were good 'uns.

An entire pint of the soft-serve stuff was only 35 cents.

We're lucky in St. Florian to have The Drink Box, which is Sugarbakers, with soft serve ice cream concoctions.

We also have soft serve at the St. Florian Grill, in the parking lot of the Big Star.  They have a number of ice cream items.