Iceberg Drive-Inn - tesg's guide to big chain road food consumption

CHAIN -- Iceberg Drive-Inn
Owner -- Privately held
Primary Operating Region -- Utah, Arizona
Number of Locations -- 12 (2007)

For all its Mormon heritage, and considering the Mormon health code, it’s surprising to me that Salt Lake City seems to have more fast-food hamburger chains (and taco chains for that matter) than anywhere else I’ve been.

Aside from the usual Burger King, McDonald’s, Wendy’s, and area newcomers Sonic and Carl’s Jr, there’s local/regional chains Arctic Circle, Jakes Over The Top, Atlantis, Apollo, Crown, and Hires Big H, some who seem to have a location every five to ten blocks or so. On top of that there are family-run burger restaurants ranging from the standard modern layout to sixties style walk-up or drive-in service all over the state. If you can’t find a burger to satisfy you in Utah, you don’t like burgers.

At the southwest corner of 3900 South and 900 East is a tiny old shack painted red-and-white with walk-up ordering, outside tables, a small indoor dining area (likely added on later) and a drive-thru. Operating here is the Iceberg Drive-Inn.

The original store was opened by Lamer Sorensen in 1960 (you may have noticed that Iceberg napkins for years said "Since 1963" on them while the bags said otherwise...the bags were correct. Maybe they didn't offer napkins until 1963. That must be it.) The original stand was what I believe was a portable prefab design...the building is similar to historical pictures I've seen of the Sateliite Drive-In of Albion, MI.

From launch to 1990, the little walk-up stand plugged along. Then Frontier Pies owner Kelly Christensen and partners purchased it. In 2000, the partners started offering franchising. A goal of fifty restaurants in five years was put into place. Pretty lofty for something that has worked for forty years only as a single operation out of a tiny little building on a corner. You’d have to have something really special to pull that off. Clearly, Iceberg did. 22 franchises were sold in just five months with grand plans across Utah, plus stores in Arizona, Idaho, and Nevada.

But things didn't stay rosey for long. At the high point, 12 stores were open, then numbers headed backwards. Nevada hasn't happened, Idaho came and went. Some "Coming Soon" locations once listed on their website went as far as noting physical addresses, and never materialized. Part of the problem may have simply been lofty goals. Part of the problem may be a learning curve. Part of the problem may have been problems with Frontier Pies. At one point, an outright sale was on the table that would have moved the chain's headquarters to Arizona which, when reported, caused pandemonium amongst the Iceberg faithful of Utah. The sale didn't happen, and Iceberg is back in growth mode.

Iceberg's second and third locations were former Kenny Rogers Roasters buildings in Taylorsville and Orem. I actually ate at the Taylorsville store when it was a Roasters once, and it was my first Iceberg experience.

I decided to try the “Iceburger”. I’ve had quite a few since.

The hefty original Iceburger has two patties cooked in a hickory sauce that gives it a charbroiled taste, two “special” sauces, lots of pickles, thick-cut onions, lettuce, tomato, cheese, and a bun barely capable of holding the whole thing together. Some buns have, in fact, fallen apart in the first few bites on me. Messy, juicy, and delicious. I noted "original" because I recently had one at the new (2007) Bountiful store and disovered not all Iceburgers are created equal. Bountiful offered all of the burgers on the menu as optional "single, double, or triple" patties that, anyway you look at it, used smaller patties...and they only put one of the two special sauces on it. It didn't resemble or even taste like the Icebuger I know and love.

The shakes (75 flavors are available) come in an overfilled drink cup that is then placed inside of a larger drink cup to avoid spillage from the extra two inches of shake that rises above. The shakes are also very thick...forget the straw. Frankly, I felt like I just got a big cup of ice cream. A really GOOD cup of ice cream, but there you go. That turns some people off, but I can't resist the Red Raspberry shake, or the June "shake of the month" known as the Triple Berry.

Then there’s the hand-breaded onion rings. I don't care how big you can imagine them being. They're bigger. Take an onion, chop it into thirds, then peel the resulting rings by hand and bread them. They're as good as they sound. The onion rings seem to come in second only to shakes when people mention what they love about Iceberg.

Things don’t stop there. The menu is almost absurdly extensive. Chili, hot dogs, chicken tenders, halibut, sundaes and more. One of my favorites is a Ham & Crab Sandwich that's available at the original location. It's about a can of fake crab and a deli slice of ham with mayo, lettuce, and tomato (which I leave off). It's really good. Iceberg also has a Pastrami Burger, another one of those unique delicacies of Utah cuisine found at several regional chains (apparently originated by Crown Burger). It's a burger with a thick slice of Pastrami and Monterey Jack Cheese. That other menu item seemingly required to run a successful burger joint in Utah, Fry Sauce, is also available. Everything is cooked to order.

The Iceberg onion rings. They're huge. HUGE.

Iceberg announced a new format in 2007 called the "Iceberg Shake and Malt Shop", an Iceberg that just sells shakes, fries, and onion rings. It's designed for mall food court locations and what not. Apparently this is an attractive idea for growth because fifty percent of Iceberg's profits are in shakes. A new standard building was devised for ground-up builds at the same time, which almost seemed odd because before 2008, none of the non-original Icebergs were purpose built that I know of. Three were old Kenny Rogers Roasters, one was an old Arctic Circle, one was an old Bruegger's Bagel Bakery, a half dozen current and former locations were in gas station/convenience store hybrids, one WAS an old gas station building, one was in a mall food court, one in a car dealership, and one was in a mini golf course complex.

Iceberg really is something special, something that deserves to be around. I would love to see them grow. I'll be happy if they survive.