TLO Restaurant Review: Tim’s Drive Inn

When it comes to most food, I usually believe that people are trusting and their edible creations come solely from them.

Coming from a Latino and Indigenous background, I try to never investigate people’s lives, especially when it comes to the food they create; typically, I don’t care who is churning out the food and whose blood it is cooked in.  

It’s the honor system, right?

So that’s why I gave Tim’s Drive Inn – 5037 N. Macarthur – the benefit of the doubt.

Located in the Bethany and Warr Acres area, Tim’s Drive Inn is a classic, character-fueled dive that's been filling local guts for 50 years. With outdoor tables and drive-thru service, it offers classic American eats and Native Tacos in all their simplest forms.

I partook in the Tim's experience on a recent sunny November afternoon, wanting some oily frybread to screw with my stellar complexion as the leaves turned from green to red, orange, yellow, and brown.

Before the Native Taco, as a preamble, I started with Tim’s Burger ($8.74) and Fried Pickles ($4.30). You know, to clear my palette.

A burger baptized on the flat-top grill is so much better than any top-line sandwich, and Tim's fits that bill. With the melted cheese and sizzling ground beef – and all the accouterments of lettuce, onions, pickle, tomato and mustard – Tim's Burger might not be fancy, but it's a well-made burger, and I can’t fault Tim for that.

Instead of French fries, I was a rebel without a cause and chose the Fried Pickles. I've had pretty good experiences with them in the past and these were some of the best. Every slice felt fresh and sturdy, straight out of the tasty brine. It was a truly great side, one that I dug.

But, either way, it was that Native Taco that burned a hole in my medicine bag. Putting the remnants of the burger down, I decided to take this frybread straight on.

While it’s slimmer than other Native Taco—both in width and density—it’s still pretty good. The frybread is compact but still mobile, acting like a flotation device for the chili, beans, tomatoes, onion, and other extras, like sour cream and such.

While saying it’s a little dinky in size, Tim’s really makes up for it in taste. The chili and beans were fresh and rich, and the sizzling fry bread – from the accountably tasty batter to the hot oil bath to the perfect drying time – was well-prepared, and definitely something I'd recommend to any fry bread fanatic.

Overall, Tim's gets high marks for its character, charm, and classic eats, and makes some of the best fast food on this side of the Canadian River. You can see why Tim's has made it for 50 years, and will likely make it for 50 more.

Cómpralo ya!

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Follow Louis on Twitter at @LouisFowler and Instagram at @louisfowler78.