Restaurant Review: Miner's Drive-In Restaurant, Yakima, Washington

Yesterday I was in Yakima, WA, for a freelance assignment and I decided to try Miner's Drive-In Restaurant for dinner (or "supper" depending on where you live). I'd heard about Miner's from people saying it has good food and lots of it. I was a little concerned when my brother said they sell empty mayonnaise buckets for 75 cents. And indeed, there was a sign saying "Buckets: 75 cents" at the cash register.

When you walk into Miner's, head to the right where the cashiers are and order your food there. This is not cheap fast food. A "combo" with a bacon burger, fries, and a medium drink was more than $12. After ordering they give you a number on a tall stand and empty drink cups. Like most fast food joints these days, you fill your own cup. Interesting, they had Pepsi products but one fountain said "Coca Cola." Not sure how they get away with that.

The food arrives and if you've never been there before, prepare to be shocked. The hamburgers are huge and the medium fries were enough to feed a family. A family like the Duggars The hamburger was almost the size of a small dinner plate.

My wife was happy as they have fry sauce there (ketchup and mayonnaise) and also ranch and BBQ sauce mixed together.

So there's lots of food. How is it? The fries are okay, nothing special. I ordered the hamburger with their default fixings. That seemed to be lettuce, pickles, raw onions, and mayonnaise. I joked there was a pound of mayonnaise on my hamburger. There probably wasn't (probably a pound of hamburger, though). If you like mayonnaise on your burger, you'll love Miner's. I don't and I didn't. I would rather have less of a good hamburger. Like Five Guys.

My wife ordered a plain chicken sandwich. The chicken looked like un-breaded chicken fingers. She said it was okay. Of the four, she ate three. She ate them with a knife and fork so she wasn't eating the huge bun that they came on.

I'm glad I ate there once to experience it. But I won't go back.

Unless I need an empty mayonnaise bucket.

Miner's Drive-In Restaurant is located at 2415 S 1st St, Yakima, WA 98903, near the Valley Mall in south Yakima.