When I talked about the Hunger Hut a couple of weeks ago, a few people in the Facebook comments had memories of the Hunger Hut, but it seemed like many more had memories of another little burger shack in Carson City, the Carousel Drive-In.
The Carousel Drive-In was at the corner of Carson and Adaline Streets, sharing the block with a gas station. I’m not sure when it opened or closed, but it was there in the mid 60s at least. Based on the number of memories in that comment section, it was a popular place, well loved and well remembered. From the photos it looks like an unassuming building, but sometimes those can be the best places.
Like all these other burger shacks that were around in the 60s and 70s, the Carousel is not only closed, it has been wiped off the map. The gas station next door is still there; it was a Shell for a long time, and now it’s a VP Racing. But the Carousel is gone and has been for a long time.
There’s still a weathered concrete pad at the spot where the Carousel used to be. Is it possible this is still the original foundation and floor of the Carousel Drive In? If so, this is one of the few old burger shacks that still has a physical remnant left behind. I can’t remember anything else ever being built on this spot, so it might be. But the pad also seems a bit smaller than the size the Carousel looked to be.
Other than these two photos and the memories on Facebook, I don’t have much other info on the Carousel Drive-In. But maybe some of you will remember and chime in.
The owner of the Carousel was a guy named Pete. My brother used to wash down the parking area in front and eventually I took it on. Friday nights mom and dad would give my brother and me a buck each for a burger at the Carousel – if memory serves me, a burger would be thirty-five cents, add in the fries and a drink and there would be enough left over for a game or two of pinball. Pete hired the local hotties — Rebecca and Chris stand out in my mind – would have been about ’71 or ’72. Gosh I had the hots for Chris P.!!