In early January 1964, an article in the Winston-Salem Journal announced a new drive-in restaurant at 550 S. Stratford Road. The new drive-in would cater to customers who like curb service and it would be called the Chuck Wagon. The western theme was noticeable on the large sign that featured a wagon similar to those on television at the time, such as in Wagon Train and other western programs.
The Chuck Wagon was situated in a renovated building that once housed West Construction Company. All furnishings and equipment were new to the building.
The partnership responsible for the Chuck Wagon consisted of Jim Slaydon and Robert Burcham. Slaydon was owner and operator of Castle Drive-In on Stratford Road. Castle burned shortly after Slaydon sold the restaurant. Burcham worked at Staley’s Stratford Restaurant for 11 years. Both Castle and Staley’s restaurants attracted a lot of traffic jams on Stratford Road because of the drive-ins. But Castle no longer existed and the new Staley’s did not offer curb service. So the Chuck Wagon would reprise the curb service feature (and probably the traffic jams).
The restaurant provided 70 parking spaces and 48 seats inside, so curb service would not be the only dining option. The restaurant planned to offer breakfast, plate lunches, charcoal steaks, and sandwiches from 6:00 am to midnight, six days a week, and would be closed on Sunday.
The Chuck Wagon joined other Stratford and Reynolda Road restaurants (such as Staley’s Drive-in and Triangle Drive-in) on the “cruising” circuit. Friday and Saturday nights were very popular for cruising through the drive-ins and parking lots of these restaurants, plus most summer evenings.
After the Chuck Wagon closed and left Stratford Road, the restaurant moved to the Old Town community in the 1970s and closed in 2004. A new Chuck Wagon restaurant opened in 2007, complete with a Western decor, in the Old Town Shopping Center.
Photographs courtesy of Forsyth County Public Library Photograph Collection.
Stay tuned for the next delicious post on May 8th.
I love 💗 seeing all of these old pictures of my hometown. It stirs a special place in my heart.
My grand father, P.H.Hanes Sr. owned the old Castle Drive-In @ 280 S. Stratford Road. He loaned Billy Satterfield enough money to buy the place — the rest is history. I’m not sure how long Satterfield kept the building afterwards.