In 1946 John B. White opened the Beacon Drive-In restaurant on the outskirts of the city of Spartanburg. The name was selected in deference to a proposed beacon that was to shine forth from the rooftop. White, who had begun working at a local drive-in at the age of eleven, was an astute businessman, a showman of sorts. He constructed a helicopter landing pad across the street and erected a series of billboards along highways advertising, for example, \u201cYou Are Only 100 Miles from the Famous Beacon Drive-In.\u201d If a competitor opened nearby, local lore holds that White would tell his cooks, \u201cPut more meat on the bread, pile more fries and rings on top.\u201d When White ran the enterprise, the Beacon served an evangelical role in the community. Easter services were held at sunrise in the asphalt parking lot, and revivals\u2013 complete with a gospel band and a throng of worshipers\u2013were staged each Sunday in August. Also popular was a July Fourth \u201cI love America\u201d celebration.<\/p>\n
Though White sold the enterprise in 1998, the Beacon continues to do a high volume of business. Among the signature dishes is the \u201cChili Cheeseburger a Plenty\u201d (a traditional cheeseburger smothered in chili and then topped with a tangle of French fries and onion rings) and the \u201cPig Dinner\u201d (ten scoops of ice cream atop two bananas, the whole affair smothered in whipped cream).<\/p>\n
One colorful figure at the Beacon, J. C. Stroble, was a veteran of more than forty years as a curb-hop and order-taker. \u201cLet\u2019s Don\u2019t Boogie-Jive. Let\u2019s Merchandise!\u201d read a placard that hung above his head. Even after a bout with glaucoma dimmed Stroble\u2019s sight, he worked the crowds ably. \u201cTalk!\u201d he would boom as customers approached. \u201cI\u2019m ready for you. Come on with it. Tell me! Tell me!\u201d<\/p>\n
Edge, John T. Southern Belly: The Ultimate Food Lover\u2019s Companion to the South. <\/em>Athens, Ga.: Hill Street, 2000.<\/p>\n Rogers, Aida. \u201cBig, Loud, Cheap and Good.\u201d Sandlapper <\/em>7 (spring 1996): 29\u201331.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" In 1946 John B. White opened the Beacon Drive-In restaurant on the outskirts of the city of Spartanburg. The name was selected in deference to a proposed beacon that was to shine forth from the rooftop. White, who had begun working at a local drive-in at the age of eleven, was an astute businessman, a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":-1,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","template":"","class_list":["post-6326","entry","type-entry","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","ecms-a-z","ecms-b","ecms-business-and-industry","ecms-encyclopedia","ecms-popular-culture","ecms-recreation-and-leisure","ecms-spartanburg-county","ecms-upstate"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n