New owner promises new life for Burkie's

MUNCIE, Ind. (AP) - Four months after it was closed and was put up for sale, a landmark west side Muncie drive-in restaurant has a new owner.

Teege Krown, a Michigan businessman with a history in the food industry, is the new owner of Burkie's Drive-In, in the 1500 block of West Jackson Street.

"We are under contract," Krown told The Star Press on Monday. "We're hoping to be open by Memorial Day weekend."

Krown and business partner Jonah Sizemore have been posting on the Lost Muncie page on Facebook in the past week, asking customers of the Muncie business landmark about the drive-in, their memories of it and its menu.

Sizemore will run the service end of the operation and has more than 15 years in restaurant customer service experience, Krown said Monday. Krown said he has more than 30 years in the food industry, including recent experience in carnival food.

Krown, who is from Adrian, Michigan, said he will move to Muncie. He bought Burkie's for $158,000. The asking price from previous owner Rob Wardrop was $195,000, real estate agent Brian Allardt said.

"We had quite a bit of interest in it" before the contract was signed, Allardt said.

Burkie's was opened in the 1940s by the Burke family and was purchased in 1969 by the family of Scott Boylan, who sold the drive-in to Wardrop in 2013.

Although Burkie's is a Muncie landmark, operating a drive-in restaurant in Indiana, where winters can be brutally cold, can be a challenge. National drive-in chain Sonic vowed to open in Muncie a few years ago after opening in Marion. But the Marion drive-in closed and Sonic never came to Muncie.

Krown said he plans to refurbish the Burkie's sign to return it to its original state and do some repainting.

Other than the addition of a full line of ice cream products, Krown said Burkie's offerings will be very familiar to customers.

"I have the original menu from Burkie's," Krown said. "Our menu is pretty much the same."

As for those brutal winters: Krown said that while Memorial Day weekend is the projected opening this year, his plan in future years is to open in late February and remain open until the second week of November.

"I think that people will patronize Burkie's and it will be worth the extended hours," Krown said.

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Source: The (Muncie) Star Press, http://tspne.ws/2jiJgow