Budget-Friendly Bites: Cowgary Commute (Part 3: Quick Cow Cuisine - a.k.a. Peters' Drive-In)

...And last but not least, enjoy the third and final part of the Cowgary Commute series~

One of the best-known local eateries in Calgary is "Peters' Drive-In" at 219 - 16 Avenue NE which is open daily from 9am until midnight (with the exception of holidays). Neither E nor I had ever been there, so we had to give a try before leaving.

This picture was taken from the the Peters' Drive-In official website. We went before noon on a Sunday, so there were wayyyyy less people in line. Thank goodness.

I was told that the typical thing for people to order was a milkshake and a burger. The milkshakes were one size and came in a fantastic retro-y cup for $4.50 - between the size of a medium and large pop from McDonald's - and there were a lot of different flavours to choose from. You had the option of mixing up to 3 flavours if you wanted to, but I'm kind of glad we didn't. E and I got a watermelon milkshake, and unfortunately, we were less than impressed with it. There was way too much flavour syrup in it that it was very very obvious that it was flavour syrup or at least fruit juice with a LOT of sugar. I can't imagine what it would have tasted like with 3 flavoured syrups in it :/ Also, the "drink" was so thick that you couldn't really suck it through the straw to drink. E said that it might have been okay as a dessert if a spoon was served, or at least a larger straw, but I beg to differ. Then again, I don't have even half as much of a sweet tooth as him. You know something is way too sweet if E says it's too sweet.

As for food, we got 2 cheese burgers, 1 small fries, and 1 onion rings. We also later replaced our milkshake with a small iced tea, which was about the size of a medium pop at McDonald's for $1.50 including tax. G got a small Coke, small fries, and a double burger. N got a blackberry milkshake and a double cheese burger.

The cheese burger came with two decently-sized, but thin beef patties, cheese, special sauce (consisting of BBQ sauce and ketchup among other things), mustard, and a bit of chopped onions and relish. Normally, neither of us like relish or anything else with pickles, but it wasn't very detectable in the burger, which made it taste pretty good! The burger was at least as big as what you would get from McDonald's, and the cheese burger was only $3.60.

The fries were just crispy enough, and not heavily salted, which was great! E said the size was about an extra large order of fries from McDonald's, and it was only $3. The fries were 3 times as thick as the ones from McDonald's, and much tastier! The onion rings were pretty good, but nothing that special. Again, it was about the size of an extra large fries from McDonald's for $4, which is actually quite decent as well.

Sorry for not taking more pictures... I wanted a picture of the burger and the seagulls, but I was too hungry. This meal was "brunch".

All in all, while I don't think the milkshake is worth it, I would actually go back for the food! The only thing is that it's a 3 hour drive from E-town, but I'd definitely go if I was in the area! :D

-M