Reviews:
I have been pretty negligent about writing reviews and feel that Ritz Drive-In would be a good place to fix that. We found ourselves in Shelton over the weekend for the Farmer's Market and wanted to grab a burger for lunch. We stopped by and Ritz was actually quite busy when we arrived, generally a good sign for a local place. We waited in line and when it was our turn to order we were quite pleased with how friendly the staff was. There was some good natured humor back and forth during the ordering process but it was still fast. Some of the reviews that I have read were somewhat negative in that it wasn't a more "farm to table" sort of place, others seemed upset that they used frozen ingredients. Neither of these bothered me as that is not at all what I was expecting, I was expecting a decent burger from a small town burger stand, and Ritz exceeded that for us. The burgers were quite good. I enjoyed the chocolate shake I had, and the fries were also good. What really put it over the top for me, and would have been worth a star on it's own if I weren't already at 4 stars (I have decided that 5 stars from me needs to be very rare), was the fry sauce. I grew up in the inland Northwest where fry sauce is a much bigger deal than it is here in Western Washington where "goop" seems to rule the fast food world. The fry sauce at Ritz was perfect and would fit in at any of the inland northwest burger places that I love. As long as you are not expecting more than what Ritz offers, the place is great and we will certainly stop by when we find ourselves in Shelton.
The first time I ate at the Ritz I wasn't blown away. Rather I was turned off. When I try a burger place I usually opt for a mushroom swiss burger if they have it on the menu, which the Ritz has listed as a Swiss mushroom. The Ritz's version includes canned mushrooms which I have a thing about so that kind of turned me off. Thankfully I gave them a second shot. Their deluxe burger is your basic burger with tomato, onion, lettuce, pickle and the Ritzed up mayo/sauce. They do a great job witth seasoning the meat just right. The fresh veggies are fresh and everything works together to deliver a satisfying burger experience. Prices are ridiculously low. Service isn't the fastest but unless it is the thick of lunch time you shouldn't have to wait too long. I like that they have a drive through window, just don't expect it to be as quick as the place with the clown or the other fast food places that make your meal about 45 minutes before you walk through the door. Understand that the staff at the Ritz don't make your food until after you order it (and it is not simple assembly line food). I look forward to exploring their menu a bit more but I will just continue to avoid the Swiss mushroom burger.
This is the perfect place when your craving a burger 'n fries. Just good food with generous serving sizes. My husband especially loves their milkshakes. I love the fry sauce. I had to dock a star for the parking lot, but I still recommend.