538120 Sat Jul 12 17:44:08 -0700 2008 9 1 San Francisco Bay Area 0 3863348 Driving past Sequoia Drive In ( www.sequoiadrivein.com/home.html ) on the Gravenstein Highway innumerable times, nothing ever compelled me to stop. Sitting outside at Sequoia Drive In - http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3165/2636911949_2ced8f8581.jpg?v=0 That is until I spied a red banner promoting Boston clam chowder back in March. That was good enough incentive to make a u-turn to check it out. Clam chowda’ banner - http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3277/2636911947_9564a62182.jpg?v=0 Looking at the menu here, I started to regret not stopping sooner. It's know for something called "barrel chicken". Yes, it reads like typical fast food burgers and fries, but with seemingly more care. Milk shakes made with ice cream, not mix, handcut French fries, fresh ground beef, you get the picture. The man behind the counter who took my order had a thick northeast accent. I’ll leave it one of the native New Englanders to identify which suburb he hails from. Anyway, back to the chowder . . . quite a respectable rendition. Savory with some celery and I think it had bacon in it. Still milky and only slightly thickened (maybe with potato starch?) and brimming with sweet chopped clams. Cup o’ chowda’ - http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2274/2636911939_e901b82437.jpg?v=0 Spud Point in Bodega Bay is still my favorite, but this is quite enjoyable and I suspect what Boston folks remember from back home. Anyone else tried it? Sat Jul 12 17:44:12 -0700 2008 10039 Melanie Wong 1 3865457 I stopped by Sequoia Drive In today. I mentioned that I didn't see any sign for clam chowder and the owner said he had to drop it when the weather got warm because there was so little call for it. It will be back with cooler weather. Now, the good part first. I had their onion rings, small order that's plenty for two people, and they were just great. Real onions in a quite good batter. It's so rare to get them that good. Now the bad. The burger I had was possibly the worst burger I've ever had. The meat was like a gray compressed disk that had no juiciness at all. Maybe I caught a bad batch, but I doubt it. Someone else is going to have to try a burger if we're going to get a second opinion because I'm sure not going to order another one. Also strange to me was, while their website explains in detail how they fix everything from scratch, etc., there is no mention of this anywhere in the place itself. The only text visible is on the standard (and confusing) drive-in-type of menu signs. I'll say that from the example of the onion rings, they do try to do it right. How they could get the burger so wrong baffles me. Sun Jul 13 17:40:43 -0700 2008 3863348 10724 Mick Ruthven 2 3868958 Sorry, it didn't occur to me that clam chowder would be a seasonal item. Hope you didn't make a special trip. It wasn't on the website menu at the time. Glad to hear the onion rings are good. Rubbery compressed gray disks often are the result of a the cook pressing down on the patty on the flat top. That practice should be banned as it squeezes the life out of the meat. One time I could see the short order cook at another place doing this to my order, and I told the owner to cancel the burger for me. The owner reprimanded the cook and had her do it over. She said that she didn't learn that from her and that she doesn't do it that way when she's on the grill. Maybe these bad habits come from some where else. The take-out menu extols the scratch cooking, my reading material while I enjoyed the chowder. But otherwise, I didn't notice it on any other the other signs. Mon Jul 14 19:23:49 -0700 2008 3865457 10039 Melanie Wong 1 3883635 Cleaned out my wallet and found the receipt --- the cup of chowder was $2.99 plus tax. Sat Jul 19 12:38:08 -0700 2008 3863348 10039 Melanie Wong 1 4147272 I didn't stop, but when I drove by yesterday, I saw two signs promoting clam chowder. Might be time to visit again. Mon Nov 03 15:21:15 -0800 2008 3863348 10039 Melanie Wong 1 5150721 I had their clam chowder yesterday and found it OK, better than the bad clam chowder you too often find, but not in the same league as the chowder at Spud Point. I don't think I liked it enough to order it again. Mon Nov 02 17:40:46 -0800 2009 3863348 10724 Mick Ruthven 1 5153292 Steller chowder, closer to home: Bar Crudo. When its on their happy hour menu, its only $5, and it is delicious. Not thick at all, perfectly cooked fish (pieces of what they are serving on the rest of the regular menu) clams and shrimp. So rich with a great depth of flavor. Fellow diners at the next table told me they cook each serving to order. Don't know, but sure tastes like it. Tue Nov 03 15:15:35 -0800 2009 3863348 133350 annabana 2 5153839 Sequoia Drive-In was my go-to burger place when I worked at O'Reilly in Sebastopol... but now Bar Crudo is just a 5-block walk from home. Thanks for the Happy Hour chower tip, I'm there! Tue Nov 03 18:58:55 -0800 2009 5153292 13519 Cynsa 3 5153904 >Sequoia Drive-In was my go-to burger place< Please tell me about their burger in your experience. I only had one burger there (over a year ago) and, as I posted above, found it to be possibly the worst burger I've ever had. The meat was like a gray compressed disk that had no juiciness at all. Was that just a bad day for them? Tue Nov 03 19:32:25 -0800 2009 5153839 10724 Mick Ruthven 4 5154245 Ownership changed in 2007; I was last there in 1990. Then, it was a medium-rare juicy burger and a one-woman operation. It always closed during Winter and we applauded it's seasonal opening! Times change. Sorry to drag you down memory lane. It's the bane of old threads. Wed Nov 04 01:51:52 -0800 2009 5153904 13519 Cynsa