Airport Drive-In Restaurant

Classic diner feel, with absolutely fantastic food! Love coming to this place. Just make sure to bring cash, because they do not take cards. There is an ATM, but it isn't your banks (so yeah, fees). Otherwise, the staff are absolutely wonderful, and attentive. The food is absolutely amazing and the prices are a fantastic value for what you're getting! Make this a stop!

Not fancy, but a clean, friendly place with good food. They have daily specials M-F for lunch (meat and a selection of vegetables). My favorites, homemade hamburger and the meatloaf. If you haven't, give them a try.

I do not recommend the chicken casserole, which seemed to be mostly breading with a small amount of shredded chicken. Sides all seemed great: green beans, pinto beans, watermelon, hush puppies.

Wife brought biscuits and gravy home. It is bland and tasteless. No meat in the gravy. One bite was enough to say no thank you, for me. Just not good. Didnt try the buscuit as it was covered in the "gravy".

Prefect lunch spot in these trying times. Drive up, and a waitress comes out, takes your order, and is back in a flash with hot tasty food. Place was packed so we took our lunch for a picnic to the Mayo State Park up the road. Wife had the sliced bbq sandwich with hushpuppies and fries. I went for the flounder sandwich with puppies. Flounder was hanging all off the bun it was so big. Crispy fried, and the tarter sauce was wonderful. The sliced Q was heaping, and the wife loved their Cole slaw. Nice smoky flavor with a tangy sauce on the side. The puppies, and fries had sat a while so I can't give them the proper evaluation until sampled directly from the fryer. Drive ins are booming right now, so frequent your local folks. I recommend these guys for sure.

We stopped by the Airport Drive-In Restaurant for brunch while passing through. It was our first time hearing of this place, and we were drawn in by the cheap prices and the fun, retro atmosphere. My husband really enjoyed his meal, but unfortunately, mine didn’t live up to expectations. The pancakes didn’t taste like pancakes—they just had a heavy, old grease flavor, almost like the grill hadn’t been cleaned in a while. I also asked for the bacon not to be crispy, but it came out undercooked and borderline raw. While the atmosphere was enjoyable, I’m hoping this was just an off day for the kitchen. With a few improvements, this place could really shine. I would be willing to try it again and I'll update my review if this was just an isolated event.

If you are in the Mayodan area, perhaps to visit the fledgling Mayo River State Park (more on that later), then the Airport Drive-In is not a bad place to grab lunch. As is my custom, I had the “Homemade” version of their cheeseburger, and it had a good flavor, complimented beautifully by chili, slaw, mustard, and onions. The fries were good and were not traditional diner fries, but appeared to be hand-cut. The real stand out of the lunch was the hush puppies. I’ve never had hush puppies like this: long tubes as big a round as a roll of dimes (see photo) — they were delicious! Frequented by locals, some of the country banter is irresistible. Earlier in the day, I visited the nearby Mayo River State Park, which is still under development. Right now it exists in several parts as North Carolina slowly acquires land and cobbles together a cohesive single park unit. I would recommend going to the main park office and asking for directions to the portion of the park where the Fall Creek waterfall is—it is a very pretty waterfall (see photo). There is a trail downstream along Fall Creek and then upstream along the North Mayo River that will eventually take you to the North Carolina-Virginia state line, where Virginia is going to have a state park that butts up against North Carolina’s. This is a really scenic walk through the woods along these two rivers.

Could easily become part of your daily routine. The food is always great, and the employees feel like family.