Meal: Matt’s Place Drive-In
Except for the neon star luring burger lovers near and far, Matt’s Place (PDF) is a nondescript house backed by a railroad, down the hill from Uptown Butte on the far side of the interstate. Still, it has managed a designation on the National Historic Register, it being a prime candidate for Montana’s first–and now oldest–drive-in.
Drive-in may not be the right word. I pulled around back to park, and while menus were posted outside, your best bet at placing an order is to walk through the front door and grab a seat at the original horseshoe dining counter. On the menu, my eyes immediately gravitated toward a single enticing word: nutburger. That, an order of fresh-cut fries, and a bottle of Coke on the rocks would be lunch for today.
In a lot of newer joints, a nutburger would be, say, “a Nut and Vegetable Pattie on a Toasted Whole-Wheat Bun, Baked with Raw Cheddar Cheese, and Topped with Sprouts, Tomatoes, Pickles, Vegenaise, and our Special Sauce.” But at Matt’s, nutburger meant one of their old-fashioned quarter-pound beef patties slathered with an exotic mixture of chopped peanuts and mayonnaise (no “Vegenaise” in sight) and your choice of toppings on a standard bun, all tucked into an old-school folded paper pocket to keep every drop of greasy nuttiness beside the burger.
The burgers are tasty enough to stand on their own, but the nuts add a roasted saltiness straight from the sundae bar. And those old-school handmade fries are as good as they get–even better with a few drops of nut sauce. You may not be able to literally drive-in to Matt’s, but since it’s right off of Montana’s two interstates, there’s no excuse not to stop by.
Matt’s Place Drive-In
2339 Placer Street
Butte, Montana
(406) 782-8049