The Highway 12 Drive Inn is located at 10220 US-12 in Rochester.
Christina Baker brings out a to-go order Tuesday afternoon at the Highway 12 Drive Inn in Rochester.
Vehichles pull through the Highway 12 Drive Inn Tuesday afternoon in Rochester.
Christina Baker, left, Kim Cooper, and HiDeeann Shields pose for a photo outside the Highway 12 Drive Inn Tuesday afternoon in Rochester.
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ROCHESTER — Highway 12 Drive Inn at 10220 Route 12 in downtown Rochester has been a restaurant from time to time since the late 1940s. The old standalone building has been Bob Maybee’s hamburger/seafood joint ever since he opened it with his daughter, Kristen, in February 2015.
The restaurant was created as a means to cope with the passing of Maybee’s wife, Pam, of 43 1/2 years, who died from cancer three days after Christmas in 2013.
“It was a very dark time, not just for me, but my daughter was very close to her mom,” Maybee said. “It was very tough times for her, too.”
Kristen, who was a chef at the time, had no room for advancement with her employer. Father and daughter both needed something to occupy their time and get their minds off losing their wife and mother.
“I thought, well, let’s just try a new adventure,” Maybee said.
Maybee bought the diner on the steps of the Thurston county courthouse in downtown Olympia in a foreclosure sale. Maybee and Kristen spent the next 10 months revamping the diner, which included repainting, rewiring and a installing a new roof.
“We were excited to get it open and going, and it’s done quite well,” Maybee said.
The joy was short-lived. Three years later, in May 2018, Bob and his daughter were hit with another setback as Kristen suffered a brain aneurysm at 43 years old.
“It’s been kind of crazy for me the last few years,” Maybee said.
She survived the aneurysm but is no longer able to work, suffering from some paralysis and a speech impediment. She’s currently living in an assisted care facility.
Bob has been running the restaurant on his own the past two years. The diner is doing surprisingly well despite the coronavirus outbreak that’s put statewide in-house dining restrictions on places of entertainment the past month. It’s been boosted by huge support from the community and Maybee’s six employees.
Luckily, the diner has always had a double drive-thru window, and even before the coronavirus, the drive-thru was busy. With few options for food in the Rochester area, coupled with the temporary closing of the Lucky Eagle Casino, which contained a few popular restaurants, Highway 12 Drive Inn’s drive-thru is stronger than ever.
“It’s been a savior, so to speak, for me and the business,” Maybee said. “I consider myself very fortunate that I have this double drive-thru window. The drive-thru has really saved us. We’re certainly holding our own.”
Before there would often be a line of two or three cars, but now that line has grown to five or six cars in the past month. The demand has been so strong that Maybee has had to post on the diner’s Facebook page asking customers to be patient due to the long lines.
It’s not only from the stress put on the drive-thru, but also the fact that Maybee and his employees are having to be much more careful with not potentially spreading anything from a sanitary perspective. He’s stocked up on gloves, sanitary spray, antibacterial soap and so forth, many of which are difficult to find during these times.
“We’re doing the best we can,” Maybee said. “We’re going through gloves by the case, which is important. We change them quite frequently. We need to not just protect ourselves but the public, too.”
He’s anxious to get back to normal living and to reopen the dining room. In the meantime, he’s taken advantage of having that dining room closed for the time being. He’s had the floors completely stripped, sealed and rewaxed. He’s currently in the process of repainting it, as well. These are things that are normally difficult to do when the dining room is open seven days a week.
“From that perspective, I’m getting some things done that I’ve been wanting to do, anyways,” Maybee said. “I don’t have any idle time, that’s for sure.”
Highway 12 Drive Inn specializes in hamburgers and seafood and has a daily special each week, ranging from hamburgers to fish and chips with a homemade clam chowder. It’s most popular burger is the Super Sport, which is double patty, double cheese for $7.15. The Monday special offers the burger with fries and a drink for $9.25. The fish and chip special on Friday goes for $9.25 and can have clam chowder added for an extra $1.79.
“The only day we don’t run a special is on Sunday,” Maybee said.
The diner has the same hours as always, open seven days a week from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m., Monday through Saturday, and 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Sundays.
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Reporter Eric Trent can be reached at etrent@chronline.com. Visit chronline.com/business for more coverage of local businesses.
