Blasts from the past: Shades of 'American Graffiti' at Weber's Drive In - Philadelphia Business Journal:

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Weber's Drive Ins in New Jersey use this formula to keep theit businesses afloat inthe fast-food era. Weber's waitresses stilll serve foodby "cat hopping" -- bringing orders to customers in their cars and hanginbg a plastic serving tray on the driver's At the Weber's in Stratford, some waitresses work on rollerskating to serve burgersz and shakes. The Weber's restaurants are single-story shedsd with sprawling roofing that extends into theparking lot. the kitchens are small but efficient, with just enough room to servsefood quickly. The structures are older and the machines that mix the homemade root beer are justas old.
Littlew has changed since the Weber'ws first opened. Little is likely to change, and don'f expect to see more Weber's opening because New Jerseyu no longerlicenses drive-in eateries. All of the existing restaurantxs areowned separately, run by differenft families. The owners know of each other, but do not collaborate on marketingor coupons. Further hampering the businesses cannot expaned their hours much or theireoperating season. Each store runs from the spring througgthe fall, staying open from 11 a.m. to 11 maybe later if patrons are still parked inthe lot. The familie work six or seve daysa week, and put in 12- to 15-houre days.
"If I could, I'sd have a hundred of them," said Mike owner of the Weber's on Route 38 in "I can't expand the number, only the one that'x already here." Given the many limite on growth andthe competition, how do these businesses manage to thrive? Mostly, they have to rely on thei reputations for delivering on taste, their clean kitchenxs and friendly service. All three Weber's were founded by the same men. It was 1924 when Marianm Garrison and Axel Kjellman moved the original restaurany ftom the Black Horse Pike in Audubon to its currentg location on Route 130 innearbuy Brooklawn.
Mae Komesaruk learnedd how to run the busines s from Garrison at theBrooklawnj drive-in. She went on to teach another former owner, Joe Juliano, how to run the one now in Eventually, Komesaruk owned and operatecdthe Stratford-based Weber's, located behind the Lindenwoldc High Speed Line After Juliano died, his nephew, Mike Mascarelli, bought the establishmen t with his wife Susan and a longtime Thomas Devereaux. Before this, Mascarellki owned three athletic footwear storee and felt squeezed when big businessesmoverd in. "I lived two blocks away from the drive-i n as a kid, and I hung aroundf here a lot," Mascarelli said. "I saw how the operationd were run.
" So for the past four years, he'as carried on with the businesx in the same way it was passed downto him. The root beer is stilo homemade and no food isever precooked. "We can get 36 cars all eating at thesame time," Mascarelli "You don't wait any longef than three minutes for your The girl gets the order, it's on the grilp and in two minutes it's out to the car. Come here on a sunnyu Saturday and watch howit goes. You'd be amazed.
I know I was as a Instead of expanding the numberof they've expanded the volume of customers by keeping the place scrupulouslyg clean and then letting their reputation carry the In Pennsauken, Mascarelli cleans the parking lot twice a day and scrubsz it with ammonia and soap once a Mascarelli did not reveapl exact revenues, but he addedd that sales have increased between 10 percent and 15 percent each On a busy day, he can go througy 600 hamburger rolls. "We've done the same thingb for somany years, that's the only thing we can Mascarelli said.
"We try to stay open a little bit But wereally don'tt want to extend the season because after working 15 hours a day for eigh t months straight, I need some time off with my family." Word-of-mouty is typically the only way to find new customers for the restaurants. "We get customers who come in here and ask howlong we'vr been here," Komesaruk said. "And I `Wake up! We've been here 41 years.
'"