Jack Rabbit Slims

Jack Rabbit Slims isn’t a place you walk into by accident. You make the intentional decision. Outside the 1950s diner, the large jack rabbit neon sign hooks you, but the inside and shake are what makes the sale.

A dance floor surrounds 1950s multi-camera sitcom sets. One is filled with pleather sofas and lounge chairs next to a cobblestone fireplace and a flashy wet bar. Another is an Astroturf putting green with metal umbrellas and picnic tables. And finally, there is a drive-in movie theatre filled with stripped classic ’57 Chevy’s.

Patrons say Jack Rabbit Slims is “a wax museum with a pulse”. The waiters, waitresses, busboys, bar-backs, and bartenders dress and act as if they were the characters one would see outside the TCL Chinese Theater on Hollywood Boulevard. You can be waited on Marilyn Monroe, Elvis, or Buddy Holly, but the fan favorite is Jayne Mansfield.

The menu matches the restaurant’s kitsch but the standout is the $5 dollar shake. Served in a tall, frosted glass alongside the sloppy seconds in its aluminum canister. This shake is not a smoothie. No blender is ever used. And the thickness is Goldilocks. Slurpable through the straw without being dense like a Blizzard. Maraschino cherry on top. 

Go for the nostalgia, stay for the shake.