Published: June 15, 2007 03:19 pm            

Dee’s: A classic restaurant in Louisa

LOUISA — In the words of Eric Schlosser, today’s society is a “fast food nation.”

However, nestled in the heart of Louisa, is a place that redefines fast food.

Though the food may not be served as fast as commercial restaurants, it is made exactly as the customer orders. It is guaranteed to be served hot and fresh because the food is made when the customer places an order.

Throughout its 53 years in business, Dee’s Drive-In has made all of its food from scratch. It truly is homestyle cooking.

Dee’s Drive-In, previously called Dee’s Dairy Queen, was formed by Dee and Adrianne Moore in 1954 in the same location it is today. It used to be an open building that was only operated during the summer months until Dee Moore, the business’s namesake, enclosed the building in the early 1960s, therefore enabling it to stay open all year long. The Moores sold what is now a Louisa landmark to Carl Billups II in 1980. Billups owned the restaurant until 1982, when it was purchased by current owners Darrell and Karen Gauze.

The Gauzes attribute their success to those who work for them.

“We try to keep everything the way we want it to be,” said Darrell. “If not for the workers, it just wouldn’t work. They help to keep it clean and they are good, hard-working women.”

Karen agreed. “I couldn’t have asked for a better bunch of people. Three have been here since I started and I trust them with my life. I really appreciate them.”

One of these workers is Elaine Adkins, who has worked at Dee’s for 30 years under all three owners.

“You get to meet a lot of interesting people,” she said. “You appreciate the customers that you see every day and you get to meet people from many different places. (Dee’s) is just a friendly, family place to eat.”

Most customers agree that it’s workers like Elaine — ones that love the customers and always greet you with a smile — that have helped make Dee’s what it is today.

Dee’s is widely known for its hot dog sauce and soup beans. Every morning, in the kitchen below the restaurant, these two dishes, along with soups and pastries, are made to perfection, and Karen Gauze accepts no less.

Her personal motto is, “You never send out food that I or my children will not eat,” and she stands by it.

“One morning we cooked a kettle of beans, and that afternoon they didn’t taste right to me, so I threw out the whole cooker and began from scratch. If it’s not the way I like it, it’s redone.”

It’s this determination to put the customer first that has also helped Dee’s succeed. As Louisa’s oldest restaurant, it has kept its family atmosphere. Customers always see smiling faces when they walk in the door. Dee’s goes out of its way to fix food exactly the way the customer wants it.

Mary Ann Pack, 53, a Louisa native, testifies to this, saying, “It is the best food in town and they fix things the way you want it, with plenty of choices. Nobody else around would fix a frozen Coke with dill pickles in the bottom of it, and they made two for me every day. You won’t find anyone else that would do that for you.”

Pack, whose favorite meal from Dee’s is a footlong hot dog with sauce, pickles and onions, fries and a frozen Coke, also said, “I have gone to Dee’s two or three times a week for the past fifty years. (When she was younger) All of our friends would meet (at Dee’s) after school and football games. It was our hangout.”

One of Elaine Adkins’ favorite things about working at Dee’s is seeing all of the kids from the elementary school who get to come to the restaurant as a treat ever so often.

Ashley Terry, 14, also a native of Louisa, says that this is one of her fondest memories of Dee’s. “I was in the fourth grade and we had to get 10 AR (Accelerated Reading) points to get a trip to Dee’s. That, for us, was a big thing because it was the first time (some of us) got to eat there.”

Terry, whose favorite Dee’s meal is a chicken basket with cheese sticks and a Reese Cup milkshake, has been going to the restaurant since she was about three and usually goes at least every two weeks.

One of Dee’s most popular treats is its frozen Cokes, which is fountain Coke that is frozen solid in a cup. They have served the same frozen Coke for nearly fifty years.

“This girl came in once,” Karen Gauze said, “and she was coming home from college for the weekend. She told us that before she went home, she had to stop and get a Dee’s frozen Coke. It was that good.”

In addition to its frozen Cokes, Dee’s also serves real ice cream; nothing from powder or frozen milk.

While there are many local regulars, Dee’s also has its fair share of regular celebrities. Blaine native Ricky Skaggs is known to frequent Dee’s when he returns home and just last month Bluegrass legend Ralph Stanley made a visit with his family, which was a pleasant surprise to many customers who got autographs.

For the past year, Dee’s has been selling quart containers of their hot dog sauce, soup beans and vegetable soup to their regular customers.

Customers have been telling the owners of Dee’s that they should sell their hot dog sauce and soup beans in mass market. What people don’t know is that this is exactly what the owners plan to do. The Gauzes are currently in the process of buying an old building in downtown Louisa where they will manufacture and sell their own hot dog sauce and soup beans in at least local stores.

The company will be called Dee’s Drive-In Food and the owners’ son, David, who has a degree in Business Administration from Morehead State University, will oversee the process.

Soon, customers will be able to find Dee’s famous hot dog sauce and soup beans on store shelves.

However, nothing beats the downhome style and atmosphere at one of the area’s oldest eateries.

AMY HALL is a freelance writer and a sophomore at Georgetown College.

        

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