Gene’s Drive-In

Stopped here on our way through Redding on a friend’s recommendation. Just what we needed! Good burgers, great fries, onion rings, and chili. nice to have outdoor seating so our dog could be out of the car. They even offered to fill his water bowl before we could even ask.

Will never go back. Took my family here for the first time. My kids liked their shakes and the fries were good but the burgers were yucky and here’s the worst part.
A family was sitting behind us and when they left, they left a bag of fries. The cashier came out and said «really? They only ate like 2 fries… should I just put them back on the warmer?» (to the cook)… NO WAY WILL I GO BACK. disgusting.

This used to be my favorite place as a kid! We didn’t get to be treated much so going to gene’s was the best. But alas, over the years it’s declined in quality.

I don’t mind eating out side or in my car if it’s this good!

The shakes here are by far the best I have ever tasted! My boyfriend got a vanilla and I went with a chocolate strawberry one. The fries and tater tots were also pretty yummy. I took off a star though for the burger. The bun wasn’t even grilled. The burger itself wasn’t good in my opinion, but my boyfriend liked his and ate it up!

Ewwwwww this place is horrible. If you’re looking for a burger drive a mike down the road to Pops 50’s Place.

We stopped here on the recommendation of a family member. Maybe today was an off day. Maybe. The service was painfully slow. So, we waited with the flies, which were buzzing all around and landing on everything. No big surprise then that the bathroom looked like something out of a scary b-​movie horror flick. Gross. And, no soap. Double gross.
Once we finally got our food, we were very pleased with the fries, onion rings and shake. The burgers were OK. Better than McDonalds, but not worth coming back for.

A burger is just a burger anywhere else… but at Gene’s a burger is an experience!!!

Local spot with great bergers and fries. Yes it is a dive but better than In and Out.

This is from the horses mouth. The fries are not reconstatuted they are a quality fry, actually one of the best on the market. They are crispy on the outside because they are coated. They are the top of the line frozen fry from Lamb Wesson called a Stealth Fry. The meat is purchased fresh from R&R meats delivered three days a week. The gray pictures in the windows have been taken down.
Thanks for the reviews — because of these I can improve my product per your comments.

Fantastic burgers, shakes & fish & chips. Tuesday night is bike night and Thursday night is classic car night. Come out & see the cools cars & bikes

Can’t go wrong with Gene’s.
In the 22 years I lived in the Redding area it was a staple. Burgers are good (not great but they do hit the spot), fries are munchable, but their shakes are still the best I’ve ever had. Monstrous concoctions that will stick to your insides long after the 1.5 hours it takes to down them. Made with fresh ingredients, those shakes are.
Pricing is perfect for any budget, and the atmosphere is just grand. Can’t beat a drive-​in with classic cars, oldies music, and people who enjoy being there. You can literally start a conversation with anybody there and never once feel put upon or threatened.
Gene’s needs to survive another 50 years so that I may take my grandkids there.

genes is a classic «old fashion» burger joint. you can tell its been there since the 70s at least. honestly i dont know how long its been there but my wifes mom worked there when she was a teenager so that says something about time.
anyway its a great little place. every week they have a little car show. the food is what youd expect from the place. the shakes are the best item on the menu in my opinion. if your looking for just an old school burger and shake this is where you wanna go. its practically a historical land mark to redding.

Genes is more than a burger joint. It is a great place to go for a good burger and socialize with people, especialy when the cars are out there. This place really reminds me of the burger joints of
Los Angeles. It’s old, small, crowed, and next to a busy street, but I would not change a thing about it. When all the old cars are there it is the place to be if your into cars. Redding needs more places like this around town. This is one of the few places left in town with character.
I have taken my 38 Chevy out there, had a good burger, and met lots off great people that I may have not met otherwise. So for that, I say this is a must place to eat at !!!

I’m staying with three because you’re stuck outside in Redding, and the place is pretty old and worn out. I compared taste to In-​And-​Out, and I liked Gene’s relish sauce better, and it wasn’t too gooey for me. I don’t do cheeseburgers so I don’t have to deal with cheezy cheese questions. I actually like this kind of french fry better, myself (the reconstituted ones — I like crunchy/​fluffy).
But it IS an eat-​outside-​at-​a-​picnic-​table deal, right on a busy 4-​lane street. In Redding, that’s not really an attractive idea to me in the summertime.
On The Other Hand: It’s a decent hamburger stand close to the downtown exchanges, and you might have to travel significantly further down Hwy. 273 from this point to find a decent drive-​in (unless you’re really HOT for JackInTheBox).
I’ve always been curious about this place because I almost always see classic cars or nice motorcycles parked in front. It’s an okay burger on the west strip (Hwy. 273), but it really needs to be remodeled a little bit. The photos in the windows (of people on bikes and in classic cars) have all turned gray and dingy.

The banana shake was thick and delicious. The fries were crisp, the way I like them, but made of that reconstituted potato meal that makes the insides fluffy. Some people like ‘em that way, but it offends my Irish. The cheeseburger was kind of soggy, with a slice of American cheese (bleah) and mayo-​saturated shredded lettuce (bleah). The pickles were good, though. It wasn’t God-​awful, but a little reminiscent of a Big Mac (bleah), though not that bad — the patty wasn’t a gray disk of ground beef from a rainforest steer that got sledge-​hammered in a Brazilian slaughterhouse more than a year ago. I certainly can’t say it beat an In-​N-​Out burger, which is the standard that mom-​and-​pop drive-​ins have to meet or beat in order to say that they’re better than chains. (And that’s not asking anyone to run the mile in less than four minutes, by the way.)
Also, the seating is outside, which would have been great on a day when it was 70 degrees Fahrenheit at noon. Except that it looked like the tables hadn’t been wiped down in about two weeks. There was trash everywhere. It was mildly disgusting — you wouldn’t be surprised to see a rat scurry out from under the building to grab a stray fry.
My take-​home advice: If you want a good shake, get in and get out.