Ruth's Drive In makes list

Ruth’s Drive In makes the list

By Ardie Arvidson

When Southern Living magazine went in search of the best pimento cheese burger in the land, who would have imagined Hartsville’s own Ruth’s Drive In would be on the list? Southern Living sampled burgers in S.C. restaurants to come up with its own top five. Ruth’s Drive In’s pimento cheeseburger earned honorable mention in the December issue of the S.C. section of the magazine. Nineteen restaurants were reviewed.

Ruth’s Drive In owner Angela Stokes said she was shocked to have made the list, especially since her business represents the only small town on the list. Stokes was thrilled to find her restaurant among the top contenders, which were all in larger cities.

Top five honors went to Smoke on the Water in Greenville, Nu-Way Restaurant and Lounge in Spartanburg, Desserts and More in Columbia, Poe’s Tavern in Sullivan’s Island and Kinch’s in Rock Hill. The other runner-ups were Tanner’s Big Orange in Greenville, The Corner Grill in Myrtle Beach and Mathias Sandwich Shop in Columbia.

Stokes said she has no idea when or who came in the restaurant to sample the burger.

“They called us and told us we would be in the book,” said her husband, Bill Stokes, whose mother’s recipe is used for the pimento cheese. “We thought it was a joke and called them back.”

Not only is Ruth’s mentioned in the magazine, it is also mentioned in the “Southern Living 2009 Annual Recipe Book.”

Angela said one of their loyal customers, Jerry Hall, submitted the restaurant’s name to the magazine. Patricia Wilens of Southern Living replied and said she would visit and try the burger at Ruth’s Drive In.

Angela said it makes them very proud that Ruth’s is the only small town restaurant mentioned.

It was just about a year ago that Ruth’s started making the popular pimento cheese cheeseburger, using the family recipe.

Angela said Bill makes his mother’s pimento cheese fresh daily.

He said he makes it in small batches using two-pound blocks of cheese so that it will always be fresh. And no, he won’t give out the award-winning recipe. He says you can purchase it on a burger, in a sandwich, as Mel’s special – hamburger patty topped with pimento cheese and chili - or by the pint.

Ruth’s has lots of old family recipes including their famous chili. Angela said her father, “Doc” Hooker, invented the “half and whole hots” for which the restaurant is famous. The chili recipe was his too.

Angela’s family has owned and operated Ruth’s Drive In since 1945. It started out as a grocery store with a sawdust floor, she said. In 1948, they started selling hot dogs out the back window.

“In 1955 my grandmother, which everyone called ‘Mama Ruth’ did something she always wanted to do,” Angela said. She pursued a nursing career.

The business is named for her grandmother, and like her grandmother, Angela’s first career was in nursing. She and her husband are both retired from other careers but have now come full circle to keep the family business going.

“I was raised in it (the restaurant),” said Angela. “My heart won out.”

“It is one of the very few places that have stayed the same,” she said.

Stokes said that people come back, bringing their children and grandchildren.

“When you come in that door, you are family,” she said. “So many people have called and congratulated us. So many people are proud for us. Hartsville has been good to us.”