While other metro-area drive-ins have blossomed during this early spring, one has remained quiet: the Galaxy Drive In (3712 Quebec Av. S., St. Louis Park).
"We're putting a pause on the Galaxy," said owner Steve Schussler. In other words, the 65-year-old property is up for sale.
Local diners know Schussler as the father of the Rainforest Cafe, but he's also the force behind a long list of high-profile restaurants concepts nationwide.
The Galaxy is a pet project that started when Schussler began officing across the street from the former Wagner's. "I started looking out the window and thinking, 'Boy, what I would do with that,' " he said in 2009.
One flashy makeover later, and the place was drawing a bumper-to-bumper crowd ("we were doing $12,000, $13,000 a day," said Schussler). During the intervening six years, a series of operators came and went, and over time the Galaxy wasn't living up to Schussler's expectations.
"There has got to be somebody out there who can do it better than I can," he said. "It should continue."
Meanwhile, Schussler is accumulating frequent-flier miles. On June 16, he's launching an iteration of the Boathouse — his high-end, Lake Minnetonka-inspired concept at Disney Springs in Orlando, Fla. — at the new $5.5 billion Shanghai Disney.
By the way, those other drive-ins? They include the Dari-Ette Drive-In (1440 E. Minnehaha Av., St. Paul, 651-776-3470), Minnetonka Drive-In (4658 Shoreline Dr., Spring Park, minnetonkadrivein.com), Peppermint Twist (115 Babcock Blvd., Delano, thepepperminttwist.com), Wagner's Drive-In Restaurant (7000 W. Broadway, Brooklyn Park, wagnersdrivein.com) and the Drive-In (572 Bench St., Taylors Falls, Minn., 651-465-7831).
