The Triple XXX Rootbeer Drive-In (98 N.E. Gilman Blvd, Issaquah) has all the ingredients for all your senses:

– Smokey aroma from the kitchen for your sense of smell.

– Big, juicy burgers for your taste buds.

– Doo-wop and ’60s songs blasting through the loudspeakers for your hearing.

– Kitschy decorations plastering every inch of wall and ceiling space such as dollar bills, student ID cards and automotive memorabilia for your eyesight.

And greasy fingers from holding your food, for your sense of touch.

The resulting sensory overload scrambled my logic. Instead of ordering the iconic root beer, I ordered a Coke. Instead of ordering a burger, I ordered a Caesar salad. I wasn’t thinking straight.

At least my wife was smart and ordered the Lowrider burger: A bacon burger with grilled onions, mayo and jalapeno. The buns look like the equivalent of half a loaf of bread, and three meat patties looked like a pound of ground beef I get at the store. I couldn’t look away at her food. As always, she gladly shared with me. (Still, we ate only a quarter of the burger between us. The leftover is dinner tonight.)

This XXX drive-in has been here since 1968, although the chain harkens back to its first drive-in in 1930 where it originated in Renton.  Owners have come and gone, and the current owner has owned the Issaquah restaurant since 1999.

There’s usually a car show from March till December on Sundays.

Note: XXX doesn’t accept credit or debit cards.  But there is an ATM on the premises.

Website: www.triplexrootbeer.com

— Story and photos by David Carlos

Mountlake Terrace resident David Carlos often submits photos and videos profiling interesting places nearby.