New Drive-in-Style Roadhouse to Open in Cape Town
Back in the day, before the advent of fancy cinema houses and digital surround sound, roadhouse restaurants and drive-in theatres were all the rage. Many of us have fond memories of piling into the car to drive to an empty parking lot with a big screen for a night of entertainment or visiting a local roadhouse to enjoy a burger and milkshake in the back seat of mom’s old station wagon.
Now, with Covid-19 forcing us all to rethink how we go about our daily lives, drive-in cinemas and roadhouses are making a comeback, with many business owners stepping up to announce plans to bring the nostalgic concepts back from the dead. One of the latest to announce plans for a new outdoor dining and entertainment concept is Hillcrest Restaurant in the Durbanville Wine Valley.
Taking to their Facebook page, the Hillcrest Restaurant team announced plans to transform their offering into the Hillcrest Roadhouse Restaurant, complete with a massive outdoor movie screen. Hosting 100 cars for a movie screening and roadhouse dining experience, Hillcrest Roadhouse Restaurant will see guests ordering food from their cars and having it delivered by waiters while enjoying the movie on offer.
Mike Crawford, owner of Hillcrest Restaurant, explained; “So people will drive in and park, order their food from a menu which you can pick up off QR codes on your phone. It will be waiter-served as well. And while people are in their cars we will be showing movies.”
The ultimate social distancing night out, Hillcrest updated its plans to launch the new concept on Friday 17 July. At first, the concept will only run on weekends – Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays – with two screenings on a Saturday. Crawford explained that if the trend catches on and there is a demand for more movies, they plan to screen movies every Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, two on a Saturday and one on a Sunday.
As for the movies on offer Hillcrest will be screening predominantly old school movies, ranging from comedies to action, and even a few family-friendly options.
Today, Crawford took the Hillcrest Facebook page to update fans saying; “Please bear with us as we have a meeting with the City of Cape Town events Department on Tuesday, 7th July, as they have a few concerns which will be addressed and concluded, just to ensure that we are fully compliant with all regulations. We will post all roadhouse booking and menu information by latest Wednesday.”
The price for the experience is yet to be confirmed by Hillcrest. We will update this story as soon as more details emerge. For more information follow Hillcrest Quarry on Facebook.
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