Sneak peek: Wells Roadside opens next week in the former Galaxy Drive In

When a drive-in was first established in the 1950s at the intersection of Highway 7 and Quebec Avenue in St. Louis Park, a burger cost 20 cents, and fries would set you back another 10 cents.

You won’t see prices like that at Wells Roadside, a new burgers and soft-serve spot opening Wednesday in the former Galaxy Drive In. But with burgers starting at $5.99, fries for $2.99 and almost every other dish coming in under $10, the owners are taking a decidedly retro position on their budget-friendly menu.

“Nobody else is doing anything like it in town,” said Luke Derheim, co-owner of Craft & Crew Hospitality, which is also behind Hwy. 7-area restaurants The Block, Duke’s on 7 and Pub 819, among others. “We’re trying to really buck the trend of the cost and have it be affordable. The whole menu was designed for quick and simple.”

Designed by Craft & Crew’s corporate chef Kyle Darling, the Oklahoma-style smashburgers are a wagyu blend, and they’re griddled hot with the onions right on top in a contraption with an automated press that’ll give them a crispy sear in just over 30 seconds. The hot dogs are American wagyu, too, from Snake River Farms. There’s also a vegan Impossible patty, a salmon sandwich or a salad that can be topped with piece of salmon. Hand-cut fries come plain or “with benefits” (with a chopped up burger and drizzles of cheese and sauce). And $2.99 vanilla cones can be augmented with choose-your-own “flavor bursts.”

“We thought, if we’re gonna have a small menu, then it better be good,” Derheim said.

For an all-day breakfast option, there’s an egg sandwich with a Jimmy Dean sausage patty, smashed with onions, Oklahoma-style, and iced coffee.

An IPA collaboration with St. Louis Park’s Steel Toe Brewing will be on tap, along with four cocktails from Earl Giles that pay homage to the restaurant’s drive-in roots, including an old fashioned made with 1919 root beer, and a cherry cola smash. At $11.99, the cocktails are the most expensive menu item.

Though it’s technically not a drive-in anymore, Wells Roadside retains the feel of one on a site that’s hosted quick-serve burgers and ice cream for 70 years. Each generation had its own version. There was Bud’s Dairy-Mor, Oak Hill Drive In, Wagner’s Drive-In, and, most recently, Galaxy Drive In (and, for a brief time, Clays Galaxy Drive In).

Derheim and Craft & Crew co-owner David Benowitz bought the Galaxy from Steven Schussler, the large-scale restaurateur behind the Rainforest Cafe and several Walt Disney World eateries, who has a warehouse across the highway. Schussler made plans with Famous Dave’s founder Dave Anderson to turn the place into a pizza chain called Big Dreams, but the property was too small, he said. He put it up for sale in 2023.

In Craft & Crew’s hands, Wells Roadside takes its inspiration from another iconic burger joint, the James Beard Award-winning eatery Gott’s Roadside. There are several now, but the first opened in 1999 in Napa Valley’s St. Helena. It’s a casual spot with a streamlined menu of burgers, fries, salads and shakes, but with upscale ingredients, many organic, and a Napa wine list to match. Derheim and Benowitz were drawn to “the vibe,” Benowitz said, along with the approachable menu.

“We fell in love with that spot and thought if we could do something like that in Minnesota but make it year-round, it would be something that people would really want,” Derheim said. (It’s named Wells after Derheim’s 4-year-old.)

The previous restaurants all operated seasonally. But a year-round outdoor restaurant in Minnesota is a rarity for good reason, and Derheim and Benowitz had to get creative to make one work at a place where the only indoor space is a snug kitchen.

Seating is on two heated, covered patios on either side of the building, with the ordering window on one side, and the food pickup on the other. By next week, retractable clear vinyl walls will be installed, and a slatted ceiling will be able to open, so light and air can be let in or kept out as needed. If this winter is as unseasonably warm as last year’s, outdoor dining will be available on demand.

“If there’s a nice day in March, everybody wants to feel like they’re outside,” Derheim said.

Even the patio has a patio. Beyond the all-seasons pergolas, a strip of turf is home to red metal picnic tables, Adirondack chairs and fire pits. And, like many Craft & Crew restaurants, the patio is dog-friendly.

They kept some of the iconic, midcentury modern elements of the previous drive-ins, such as the steel awning. And they added new ones, too, like pendant globe lights over the dining area that bob in the breeze. The lights are touched with a forest green accent, a switch from the former Galaxy Drive In’s alien-green exterior, purple picnic tables and red writing.

“It was galactic,” Benowitz said, laughing.

Though the new black, baby blue and dark green palette is more slick, by today’s standards, the proprietors expect that the larger seating area and budget-conscious menu will make it appealing to families, teams and neighborhood regulars. And if it does, they hope the tight menu and throwback atmosphere could be replicated in more places, too.

“We just want it to be fun,” Derheim said.

Wells Roadside, 3712 Quebec Av., St. Louis Park, 952-277-7777, wellsroadside.com. Open daily from 10:30 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. starting Wednesday, Sept. 11.