Jon Hale
Second-generation owner of Utah's original drive-in. Hand-cut, never frozen, made from scratch since 1959.
This listing is not yet verified. Claim and verify with USBC
Services
- Burgers & Drive-In Classics
- Fresh-Cut Fries & Onion Rings
- Shakes, Malts & Root Beer
- Catering
- Online Ordering
Jon Hale is a second-generation owner of Hires Big H, the Salt Lake drive-in his father Don opened at 400 South and 700 East in 1959. Don was a grocer’s son. He worked his parents’ Depression-era garage store from age eleven and brought that eye for ingredients to the burgers. The family has kept that bar.
Jon built the Veggie H from scratch. He still buys and mixes the chili himself. Some recipes stay in the family.
They grind USDA Choice beef in house every day and don’t freeze it. Potatoes get hand-cut in the morning and double-fried. Onion rings get dipped twice. Dressings are made in the shop. Buns come from a local bakery using Don’s 1959 recipe. Locations: the original Salt Lake drive-in, Midvale, and Daybreak.
When Don Hale opened the drive-in in 1959, he and his mother made the fry sauce after hours in his kitchen, stirring large batches until the ratio and spice blend were right. The shop still uses that recipe: Heinz ketchup, Best Foods mayonnaise, and the same secret spices, mixed from scratch each day. They also bottle the drive-in root beer as a 4-ounce extract. One bottle makes 3 to 4 gallons at home.