Jun 22, 20232 min read

Texarkana, AR: Lee's Drive-In

Address: 1010 E 9th St, Texarkana, AR 71854

Status: Demolished, now a Duran's Italian Pizzeria

Elvis Dates: 1954-1955

Relevance: Where Elvis and the crew would eat after late performances

Restaurant Sign Designed By: Baron Stanhope

I Visited On: June 10, 2023

My experience

Although it was open, I didn't get any shots of the interior, because I was in Texarkana while a massive store was rolling in (thunder, lightning, and pouring rain). I got this one pictures and then promptly ran back to the car. lol

I actually expected the restaurant to be closed for good, but was pleasantly surprised. There's not really any information online that I could find, so going off images of Lee's from the 1950s and my picture of the building, I somehow doubt this building is at all original, so I marked the building status as "demolished, now..." If it is the same base building, it's been through a massive remodel and doesn't even kind of look the same anymore.

History of the lee's drive-in

Like a surprising amount of these older places, I couldn't find much online about Lee's Drive-In, even in the Texarkana and Arkansas online archives. All I could find is that during the 50s and 60s, Lee's was a popular teen hangout and "the restaurant featured a large handmade neon sign by H.D. (Baron) Stanhope, who worked on indoor advertising in Texarkana for nearly forty years."

Elvis at lee's drive-in

Margie Marek, 15 yr old: After signing all the autographs, he asked if we had eaten yet. We said no, so he said, "Neither have I. Want to help me find a good place to eat?" We agreed. After changing, Elvis returned and said he called his Mom before she went to sleep. He asked Scotty and Bill to drive his car to the Park Plaza Motel. We took him to Lee's Drive-In, a popular hangout for teenagers. Elvis and I were in the backseat! Though he was sitting close to me, Elvis made no improper advances. Anyway, there we were, the four of us, sitting in the car in the drive-in. Elvis ordered three cheeseburgers, French fries, and two or three chocolate milk shakes! He surely had an enormous appetite and was so hyper and so full of energy he tired us out just watching him.

Pictures of lee's drive-in in the 1950s