A dark and rainy night. Only a few minutes to get something to eat before the movie, Oh, boy. Legendz Drive In! Oh, joy!
Family-owned drive-in restaurants are few and far between in our area, and finding one that serves really good food quickly and at fair prices is worth noting.
We found Legendz at 12th and Sprague in Tacoma, where they have been open for decades, and ordered a Single Cheese Burger for $3.39, a Philly Cheese Steak for $5.39, a Fish Sandwich at $4.59, two orders of French fries at $1.99 each, and an order of onion rings at $2.65. This is strictly a drive-in. There is no inside seating, but there were tables set up outside for better weather than this soggy night. The order window was covered by Manuel, who took our orders, and soon we had some really tasty sandwiches.
The burger was on a nice sesame bun and had plenty of lettuce, tomato, pickle, ketchup and mayo on a big, hand-formed ground beef patty that tasted freshly grilled.
The large square-breaded and fried fish patty was crunchy on the outside and tender and full of flavor on the inside. It had lettuce, tomato, pickle and mayo on a sesame seed bun and was delicious.
I never had a really good Philly cheese steak before, but this was one. Chopped tender beef, onions and seasonings grilled together and served with my choice of mozzarella cheese on a big, soft roll. It was drippy and delicious, and I would like to go get another one right now.
The fries were hot and crisp, but the onion rings were chopped and formed and not up to the standards of the rest of this great meal.
Legendz serves comfort food — hot and delicious, quickly and with friendly service.

IF YOU GO
Legendz Drive In
1201 S. Sprague Ave., Tacoma.
253-572-2510
Hours: 10:30 a.m.-10 p.m. Monday-Friday, 11 a.m.-10 p.m. Saturday

Carolyn Augustine, a freelance restaurant writer, writes the Senior Eats column for Senior Scene

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