Serving up burgers and nostalgia
Steve Large grew up running from car to car, taking orders and hooking trays of burgers and shakes onto windows at Skyway Drive-In, owned by his grandfather, “Pops Ross,” in the ’70s when drive-ins were the place to be.
“High school kids would come in at night, especially on Friday and Saturday. In the summer, it was virtually every night. … They’d go and show their cars off, sit and socialize,” Large says. “It was pretty cool.”
That experience led Large to carry that classic atmosphere into the present, as a third-generation owner who took over leadership of the restaurant in the mid-’80s with his cousin and is now the sole owner-operator. He has helped Skyway grow from the only business in what is now Fairlawn Town Centre plaza into a local staple for nostalgic bites with another location in Green.
People still eat in their cars and enjoy burgers, fries and onion rings that have the same recipes as they always did, most of which were made by “Aunt Ruth,” Ross’ sister-in-law, who has the Aunt Ruth’s Onion Ring Burger named after her. The onion rings are house-made, as employees cut the onions in the morning, dip them into a dough made on-site and then dip them into ground breadcrumbs from Ideal Bakery, which provides the hamburger buns too, before deep-frying them.
Skyway is known for its traditional hamburg, which has special recipes for both the sweet meat and the sweet toasted buns that haven’t changed in over 50 years, much to loyal customers’ pleasure.
“We’ve been doing it the same way since we opened in 1952,” Large says. “That was really the goal, to make sure everything was consistent, high quality.”
Try the signature Sky Hi Sandwich, which Large’s dad first made in the ’60s. It’s piled with two junior patties, a middle bun, cheese, pickles, lettuce and the sought-after Sky Hi Sauce, a mayo-based condiment with onions, pickles and pickle juice. Or take a big bite of a gourmet burger, which Large added to the menu, like the Ultimate Burger, which has triple quarter-pound patties.
“That seems to have a following,” he says. “People that … have that hearty appetite, they keep getting it.”
Save room for local specialty sauerkraut balls with bits of ham or a customizable milkshake with flavor options including hot fudge, cherry, mocha and butterscotch.
No matter what you dig into, know you’ll be enjoying a piece of history, as Skyway opened nearly two decades before Fairlawn’s formation.
“We’ve been here before Fairlawn, so people kind of embrace that,” Large says. “They kind of feel Skyway is Fairlawn.”
Flagship, 2781 W. Market St., Fairlawn, skywayrestaurants.net