PARK-N-EAT was a regular stop for everyone in the Granite City area!
It was located at the corner of Niedringhaus and Madison Avenues, where a
convenience store is today.  "Sandwich specialties and a pleasing atmosphere
for in-car eating are they keynotes of this successful drive-in."
Drive-In Magazine, September,1959"
Granite City,  A Pictorial History, 1995
"If we were to sell out
here, we would never go into
business where we could not
get the  Pizza-Burger
franchise."
said owner,
Cecil Miner.  

Pizza-Burgers, "the feast
on a bun" was one of the
main attractions to the
drive-in, with its familiar logo
of the elfin-like face
questioning,
"Do I smell Pizza-Burger?"
Granite City, A Pictorial History, 1995
"An early
PARK-N-EAT
menu board lists
a variety of
sandwiches, drinks,
and pie.  

Note the
cheeseburger for
35 cents and
Coke for 10 cents.

Later,
the drive-in
featured a 3 ounce
hamburger."
Granite City, A Pictorial History,
1995
"We Grind Our Own Hamburger from U.S. Graded Choice Beef"
"Inside PARK-N-EAT at the counter, we see, Maxine Hoover, Day Manager,
Cecil Miner, owner, Wilma Birdsong, Neva Handcock and Ruth Ann Tanksley
during September, 1959."
Granite City, A Pictorial History, 1995

Ruth Ann Tanksley Stephens is actually the car hop just to the right of Mr. Miner, she is our aunt, we
recognized the error immediately!
It is hard to believe that it has been almost thirty years since Cecil Miner closed the doors
at PARK-N-EAT.  For those of us who well remember driving beneath the steel canopy
and pressing the button on the Dine-A-Mike menu board to place our order,
that Saturday in March of 1984 was a very sad day.

And all these years later, we still reminisce about a by-gone era of icy cold root beer, piping hot
fresh fries and the fabulous PARK-N-EAT Pizza Burger.

Many lay claim to having the original PARK-N-EAT pizza-burger recipe, but until recently,
no one but Cecil Miner's family knew of the  mysterious combination of spices, sauce and
technique that produces the ORIGINAL PARK-N-EAT PIZZA BURGER!

Cecil passed away in March of 1986 leaving the secret recipe to his wife, now deceased and his
two sons Tom and Ted Miner.

The original Park N Eat Pizza Burger was a franchised trademarked product consisting of
spices that were sold to many restaurants.  Each restaurant featuring the delicious burger had
a slightly different variation of the recipe allowing for each establishment's to be just a bit
different from the next.

This information was provided to us by Eric Miner, Cecil's grandson. Here is a brief passage:

"The Pizza-Burger spice was a franchised item...the spices and recipe were sold to restaurants,
but the locations were controlled so one location would not be in competition with another. So
a pizza-burger in Kansas City at the Steak House would be very different from the Pizza Burger
in Granite City at Park-N-Eat, even though the spices and recipe came from the same location.

Tony’s in Granite City was given the recipe after Park-N-Eat closed. I remember going to Tony’s
with my grandfather and ordering a Pizza burger. I also remember telling my grandfather that
the burger tasted different. This is when he told me that he gave Tony’s the recipe, but he never
showed them how to make the burger. So every location had their own version of the
Pizza Burger."

The franchise that invented and marketed the original pizza burger is still in existence today,
and they offer the special seasoning mixture to, not only new franchisers, but to the general
public.  The name of the company is Pizza-Burger System, Inc.

When you purchase the seasoning mix, you also receive instructions for the sauce
and the standard pizza burger recipe.  Franchisers receive a customized, territory protected
version.  To order your recipe and seasonings from Pizza-Burger Sytems, Inc.,  just scroll to the
bottom of this page!
Photo credit - Randy Givens
Photo credit - Randy Givens
We have personally spoken with Tracy, whose husband is related to the original
owners,  from Pizza-Burger Systems, Inc.
The pizza burger seasoning and cooking instructions are very, very inexpensive.
Just as it was fifty years ago, all transactions are done via snail mail.

Visit their website for updated pricing and ordering information:
http://www.pizza-burger.com/


At this time they do not accept credit/debit cards,
but you may forward a money order or cashier's check payable to :

Pizza-Burger System, Inc.
P.O. Box 47
Muskego, WI 53150

For additional information, you can email them at
customerservice@pizza-burger.com or call (414) 427-6431
You can visit their FaceBook page by
clicking here!


CHECK BACK SOON FOR MORE PARK-N-EAT UPDATES, more photos
coming soon.  If you have a photo or memory you would like to share,
please email it to
GraniteCityGossip@yahoo.com

HELP US KEEP THE LEGEND ALIVE!!!!!