Sully’s Drive-in, Where Lansing Cruised and Ate American Graffiti-Style

Imagine going to a drive-in restaurant and getting a whole fried chicken dinner for a buck thirty-five? That includes half a chicken, cranberry sauce, french fries, rolls, and salad...outrageous, right? Not at Sully’s Drive-in restaurant, that once sat on W. Saginaw Highway.

Not only was the chicken dinner a good deal, but aside from the usual burgers, malts and hot dogs, you could get fish n’ chips, pizza, their famous Hy-Boy double decker hamburger, and shrimp

The fun part was watching the car hops come out to your car. They wore red satin jackets and pants...it was exactly like you saw in the movie American Graffiti, more so than on TVs Happy Days.

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Originally located at 3900 W. Saginaw Highway near the intersection with Waverly Road, it was where kids pulled over while cruisin’ to hang out, pick up the opposite sex, and have some tasty fast food. Then in 1954, a new Sully’s was built just a few feet away at 3920 W. Saginaw Highway. Now there was a dining room that could hold 50 people, making it a place that even mom and dad could come for a bite to eat.

With enough space for 65 cars, Sully’s was one of the first to feature the unique 115-foot-long canopy out back that could accommodate 20 cars.

In 1960 under new ownership, an automatic electronic ordering system called Dine-A-Mike was installed. By 1975, that was it for Sully’s and everything, fixtures and all, were auctioned off.

Sully's can be traced as far back as 1947, and it catered to all the street racers and hot rodders until it shut down. Eventually the building was turned into a Wendy’s but currently sits vacant.