Hinsons Drive-In

Amazing burger! It’s a little hole in the wall but don’t let it fool you the food that came out of the kitchen was fantastic. You can tell they change their fryers. Very homely and they have live bands on Friday nights. Great place to have a beer!

Best burger in Charlotte. Love the down home atmosphere and the fried okra. Bands perform most weekend nights and there’s no cover charge.

I have never been so disappointed in my fellow Unilocalers. This place is a dive bar and certainly no place to get food. This place is basically a rundown shack that is pretty scary to walk into. But I was already running late and had no time to find another place to stop. And since all of you have given it four stars I figured I should give it a try.
There’s only one employee to run the bar and the grill and to take money. Hygiene here is nonexistent even though it got a 94% health rating according to the sign. I placed my order for a few hamburgers and a few hotdogs. I noticed some very worrisome food safety behavior. She reached into the cooler for the hotdogs and put them on the grill and then she reached into a plastic bag for buns without washing her hands. She later cut the hotdogs on the grill in half and put down the knife. Later I saw her cut mushrooms with the same knife without washing or cleaning anything. The raw hamburger meat is sitting out at this tiny work station next to the buns and her cooked food wrapping area. The hamburger meat was in a metal pan and it was sitting on the counter at room temperature.
At one point she took drinks to some bar patrons and took someone’s money and went back to the grill and touched the food without washing her hands. I asked for a side of chips and she told me to go to the other side of the bar to pick them out. However all the chips on display were two weeks expired. As I walked out of the bar, I saw a box of frozen turkey patties laying open on one of the customer tables. I have no idea why they were thawing food in the dining area.
We each ate a hotdog and a hamburger and I have to say they were pretty tasty. However, by the next day our stomachs were feeling pretty horrible. I cannot say that it is directly related to this experience but I would caution everyone to be careful if they decide to try this place.

Took awhile for the food but it was very good. Service was great. We’ll be going back.

Great food and fun folks without paying a premium for the building. Hot dogs and sausage dogs are the bomb. BBQ and turkey sandwich are great too. A big shout out to Maggie May.

Regrettably, it pains me to write this review as I have very high expectations given the previous reviews. The one positive note I can say is that the owner and employees were very pleasant. However, the negatives far outweigh the positive.
The interior is just old and dilapidated. We went there on a colder day and there’s and there’s two kerosene heaters heating the area. We were very kindly greeted and then placed an order. I got the fire burger and a small fry. Within about 10 minutes or food arrived just wrapped in a general piece of white paper, no Tray, no silverware, no nothing. Sadly the icing on the cake was that the burger was mediocre at its absolute best. The bun with stale the meat was raw and stringy, all the toppings were old. Top it off with the fact that I could not drink my sweet tea because it was stale and rancid. Given the demeanor of the owner, I sincerely hope they strive to improve as I do think they could have a Goldmine on their hands. Maybe I just caught them on a really, really bad day

Chilli dog & fries were good. They have been in business 60 years! An old school décor for regulars. DECOR IS 1950’s old school. No plates. Cinder block building. Beside a strip joint.

Don’t let the location and outside fool ya, the Best hamburgers and hotdogs I’ve ever had. Homemade barbecue too!

I recently have moved to Charlotte and i’m always looking for a new hole in the wall/​dive/​greasy spoon restaurant. I’ve drove by this place prolly 20 times and always wondered about it so i decided to check out the reviews and found were very good so i took the wife tonight and we order Turkey Burger with bacon {wife} she really liked it and very juicy and lots of flavor. I was debating on the Fire Burger and the pulled pork sandwich. I ordered the Fire Burger {double} medium rare and was cooked to perfection and one of the better greasy spoon burgers i’ve had in a long time. I like that all the burgers are not frozen and fresh made to order. We also had the tater tots, Onion rings and Corn nuggets. Wife said the tater tots were good and i loved the onion rings. The corn nuggets were decent. The regulars were pretty friendly and the owner manning the grills was also very friendly. We were delighted to find this gem. I see this being a regular place to have lunch. Looking forward to coming back next week. Pulled pork sandwich look out!!!
Lance
PS. To get into this place is a bit confusing just ask my wife, But you drive down about 2 blocks past hinson’s and turn right before the shell gas station. If you are at the shell station you have gone to far. Also once you take the right you go down prolly 200 feet and take immediate right and go down what you would call a frontage road i guess and park out back. Don’t let the outside fool ya it’s worth the stop. We ordered 2 sandwiches and 3 apps and order was right at $ 20 pretty tough to beat that.

I have nothing against a good dive. In fact, a good dive on its own may get an extra star just because it’s not a fast casual restaurant. Place it next to a topless joint and that alone may be enough to put it in the running for five stars.
In this case, however, maybe not so much.
First, finding your way into Hinson’s isn’t easy. It’s not difficult, but it’s not as simple as it could be. Then, as with the infamous Asian Corner Mall, you may need to check your alignment afterwards.
Second, the hours are not exactly regular, and the signage doesn’t help. Typically you see a building with lit neon and you think «open». Not always the case here. They are supposedly open at 11am most days (they are not open Monday). At least one day, however, we came by and they weren’t open when they «should have been». No explanation — just no one there. It wasn’t even the typical July 4 week that some small companies take off. Just nobody around.
If you do happen to get by when they are there, the inside isn’t much to look at (there is an inside, in comparison to say Brooks). Staff is friendly, if not overly welcoming. Food is decent, but not exceptional.
Now what makes them a «drive in»? Nothing, really. Apparently they used to be a drive-​in (think South 21 on Independence near Uptown), but since Independence/​Highway 74 grew, they don’t do that these days. Frankly, this cinder block building doesn’t look much like it could have ever supported a drive-​in. But that’s neither here nor there, just a tidbit of information I found interesting.

This place has great food and I have been quite often with friends. The cheese burger «all the way with chili» is the way to go but their dogs are real good too. This place has been here, owned by Phil Hinson and family for over 50 or 60 years. I think the reason it is called a «drive in» is because before his frontage was taken to widen Independence Boulevard, people exited the highway and parked out front. As has been mentioned, you now have to exit near the gas station and turn right to drive up behind the restaurant (and the tata club next door.) Always fresh ground beef and always good and reasonably priced. Hope it stays around for a long time to come.

I have driven by Hinson’s numerous times, it has a fluorescent hot dog in the window and it’s beside a cement building strip club that just reads: TOPLESS. Always catches my eye.
I remember reading about Hinson’s in last year’s burger bracket. This week was the day I tried it!
The chili and slaw is made in house, he had a bbq sandwich special the day, I was with one of my friends so we ordered a bbq sandwich, hot dog and a hamburger, I wanted to try EVERYTHING!!! I ordered a jalapeño burger, he put pickled jalapenos on the grill before he placed them on the burger! I watched him make all the food, he makes every sandwich with care.
The hot dog won my vote, it was piping hot and I asked him to cook it well done, it was perfect. My French fry barometer registered a sexy whistle because I thought I was at the strip club. The French fries were so hot, you had to let them cool, even dipping them in ketchup didn’t work. hot, hot, hot!
Phil, the only employee who was there told me they have karaōke on the first Friday of every month, dare I say??? Let’s go?
On the list for off the beaten path, authentic, unique to Charlotte lunch stop.

My group had just finished a round of golf and needed some beers and burgers but didn’t want to go to a chain… we found this place on Unilocal,great place, great food! As the song that was playing on the jukebox «I love this bar» — Toby Keith
We’ll be back again.

Hinson’s Drive-​In is another entry on the Observer’s «Burger Bracket» so I decided to give it a try. It’s in Matthews right of 485. It’s pretty easy to find, but you have to be paying attention. You actually have to go past it and take a gravel access road back to it. It’s more of a dive bar & grill than a drive in. It’s small with a bar, about 6 or so booths and pool table & some video games. The regulars gave me a once over, but the proprietor was friendly and the service was great. They make their burgers from fresh hamburger. Sit at the bar and you can watch yours being made. I opted for a cheeseburger all the way with chili. All the way includes cole slaw, onion, mustard, and probably some other things which I’m forgetting. The burger was juicy and tasty. The fries are frozen, but they were crisp on the outside and fluffy on the inside which is exactly how I like them. My burger, large fries, and two beers came to $ 13, you can’t beat that. Great service, good food, give Hinson’s a try.

This place is awesome. I have only eaten there a few times so far, but every time I try new things and they are always great. The burgers are handmade to order, they put jalapenos on your burgers/​sandwiches if you so desire, and the turkey sandwich is so so so good! The fire burger is just phenomenal and the veggies and breads are fresh as can be.
Couple excellent food with cheerful service and a local-​yokel vibe, pool table, jukebox with variety (!) and tall boys of pbr and you have found a gem! Great spot, cant wait to return.

The best turkey sandwich ever my girlfriend says, and a great hot dog and burger also. Doesnt look all that inviting but warm inside. The locals that hang at the bar are very friendly and we actually moved to the bar and hung out after we ate. Burgers are fresh not frozen and grills the dogs. Turkey was deep fried and the sandwich was good!