Clyde's Drive In

If you know me, you know that I live in Chicago. No where even close to this inaugural burger joint. Once I knew I was headed there for work, I thought why not start this venture asap. So after some research I determined when in Sault Ste. Marie, MI this was a cheeseburger not to miss. I arrived at Clyde's after driving all day to the UP of Michigan. I was there to shoot (photos not guns) at a graduation at Lake Superior State University. Mad luv to them by the way. Good people over there. Now the drive in concept is just about lost on me, being a city kid and all. There was some wandering around by the door looking at the menu wondering just how this was to go down.

Note the "Curb Service" sign

I settled on the Big C Cheeseburger with lettuce, tomato and grilled onion. 3/4 pounder for $7.75. I also got fries...I don't know why either. I went back to my car and waited for the 16 year old girl to come and take my order. It was a rainy chilly day and I felt kind of bad for her. Anyway, I placed my order and she soon returned with one of the heaviest bags of I have ever had for just me. After a quick stop for beer (which I should have done first) it was off to the hotel for dinner.


I pulled it out of the bag with anticipation. I need you to grasp the magnitude of this burger. I have had 3/4 pounders before and this was definitely bigger. It looks deceptive from the overhead photo. It was truly amazing though. It was on a massive bun that looked custom built for this burger. It did make me wonder if they use the same bun for the regular burger. This burger took a bit of mental preparation before just diving in. After a few seconds of figuring out how to hold it, I was munching away. This was a well executed burger. All the toppings worked together very well. Most burgers do not succeed with toppings. Sometimes the lettuce is wilted and slides all over, the tomato is mushy, and onion is the worst. I prefer grilled onion and have had some bad ones. They can be too plentiful, not grilled enough, or just too big to name a few issues. These onions were perfect. Right amount, right flavor, and right size. Made me wish I had tried the onion rings because the fries sucked.

Looks like a single patty.

Right about my third or fourth bite I was reveling in how the flavor of this burger was working so nicely for such a huge burger. So I opened it.

Ah ha. Two patties and I'd barely touched the second one. This was not billed as a double burger. This shed light on the bun question and why it was not yet overwhelming. Like I said this burger was very well executed. Not overly seasoned but good meat. Not overly cheesy but a good balance. Not greasy but very moist. I was going strong until the middle of the burger.

The middle was quite overwhelming. And all I had eaten that day was a banana like six hours prior. It is very important to note that this bun held up to the task of holding this beast. Soon after this photo I had to stop. I was not hungry till the burger the next day. See Yukon Inn.

So my overall impression of Clyde's Big C Cheeseburger is try it. This not a destination burger if you need to go more than 30 minutes. But if you find yourself up there try it. If you are in school up there and have limited funds it's not cheap but well worth it. If you scrape up 8 bucks you can either eat it for two days or finish it in one sitting and be full for two days. Please share your comments if you have had one, or recommend something else.

Clyde's Drive-In
1425 Riverside Dr
Sault Ste Marie, MI 49783
(906) 632-2581