Don't Bother Getting Out, It's Burgermaster

Burgermaster :10606 N.E. Northup Way, Kirkland. 827-9566. and at Crossroads, 1350 156th Ave. N.E., Bellevue. 747-8382. Hours: 10:30 a.m. to 1 a.m. (weekdays); 10:30 a.m. to 2 a.m. (weekends). Call ahead for takeout orders.

-- KIRKLAND

Six kids. Two adults. Five hamburgers. Three hot dogs. Three large fries. Shakes and Cokes around. Less than 30 bucks.

And it's delivered to your car window.

There used to be a time when drive-in restaurants were actually restaurants where you didn't even have to get out of the car. Instead, the waitress (and they were always waitresses; no guys named Bob introducing themselves) came up to your car and took your order. In a few minutes, you had a tray of hamburgers hanging off the window. You could listen to any radio station you wanted and nobody bothered you.

Sometimes the waitress was even on roller skates.

But the drive-in restaurant has gone the way of the drive-in movie, replaced by ``drive-thru'' restaurants where you talk with someone inside a box and then drive away on your business, dipping the french fries in the ketchup with one hand while steering with the other.

Well, not all drive-ins are gone. The Burgermaster on Northup Way (and another in the Crossroads area) is still serving burgers and other chow at the car window.

This Burgermaster has been at the Northup location for more than 25 years, according to Carol Hughes, a supervisor there. Over the years, upscale restaurants have popped up around it, and the drive-in theater down the street has been replaced by a business park. But the Burgermaster keeps going - and on Friday and Saturday nights, all the stalls are filled.

The menu, posted on poles where you park under a roof, runs from the Burgermaster Combo 1 (burger, shake, fries, $4.49) to grilled crab and swiss-cheese sandwich for $3.54. When you flash the headlights, a waitress appears at your window - in plain shoes, not roller skates - and takes your order.

But there is at least one concession to the Eastside's high-tech world: Just recently, Burgermaster started using portable computers so the waitresses can send the order right through to the kitchen.

Service is quick - it was quick even before the portable menu computers - and there's enough on the menu to keep the pickiest kid happy . . . or as happy as picky kids can get. Burgermaster is famous for its fish and chips (``We cut our own fish, and people love the taste of our tartar sauce,'' Hughes said.) at $4.29, and they even have a breakfast muffin ($1.85) for those who want to start their day with a sandwich while sitting in their car and listening to reports about gridlocked traffic.

But if you're eating at a place called Burgermaster, it's a mystery to me why anyone would order anything but a hamburger. Burgermaster is what it's called, and burgers are its specialty. They run from kiddie burgers for $1.39 to Burger On A Bun ($3.89) with double meat and cheese.

Some of the kids ordered hot dogs ($1.89) which also came on a hamburger bun, but the most popular item was the burger. These are huge, with enough stuff inside to fall out on your lap. You wear your napkin or you wear your burger.

After finishing, you say a silent thanks for getting to eat it in the privacy of your car - with nobody staring at your eating habits.

Restaurant reviews are a regular Wednesday feature of the Seattle Times Eastside Life section. Reviewers visit restaurants unannounced and pay in full for all their meals. When they interview members of the restaurant management and staff, they do so only after the meals and services have been appraised.