The original Greater Cincinnati location of Akron-based Swensons Drive-In has closed.
Marissa Schimmel, who manages Swensons' only other Cincinnati location, in Oakley, told me that the Union Township spot, which opened in 2022, is merging with the Oakley location, but could not provide any details on how many employees will transfer there. She did say Swensons isn't giving up on Greater Cincinnati and that it plans to open more locations in the future. "There will be more information coming soon," she said.
The Akron-based drive-in opened by Wesley T. "Pop" Swenson in 1934 is known for its Galley Boy burger, two beef patties topped with your choice of secret sauces. One tastes like tartar sauce. The other tastes like barbecue sauce. Both are
excellent. Each burger is served with a pimento-stuffed olive, pierced into the bun with a toothpick.
Swensons has received shoutouts fromnational TV shows and glossy food magazines and was included in Jane and Michael Stern's iconic book series "Road Food" (in which they called the onion rings “brittle-crusted joy"). It even has a celebrity fan. In this case, LeBron James, who loves Swensons so much that he took the cast of the Amy Schumer movie "Trainwreck" there when it premiered in Akron.
But in the past year, Swensons, which now has about 30 locations in Ohio, has been called out on social media for skimping on its ingredients, replacing its hand-sliced cheese with pre-sliced cheese, using squirt bottles to apply its condiments and sauces, instead of the traditional way, with a spoon.
The biggest blowback came when the company replaced its hand-buttered buns, which were made by Akron-based Massoli’s Italian Bakery, with a cheaper product. They also changed the way they toasted the buns, using a regular toaster, instead of Swensons' traditional vertical toaster.
It seems company brass it taking those complaints seriously. In a press release shared with The Enquirer last week, Swensons' CEO Jeff Flowers said they are bringing back both the Akron-made buns and the vertical toasters.
“At Swensons, our Akron roots made us who we are, and our guests consistently make us better, telling us when things are working and when they are not,” Flowers said. “We recently tested some new buns and toasters, and the Swensons community made it clear that the change was not their favorite. The true magic of Swensons is rooted in the timeless flavors of our original products, starting with the flaky, fresh, hand-buttered, and toasted bun that is a cornerstone of our award-winning burgers.”
Swensons will also stop using squirt bottles to apply its condiments, going back to hand-spreading them with a spoon, which makes for a less messy burger.
In an interview with the Cleveland Scene, Flowers explained that even the smallest changes to a beloved restaurant can affect the final product, as well as customer loyalty.
“In and of itself it’s not like you totally remanufactured the whole sandwich,” he told the paper. “But if you change the way you apply the butter, you change the bun toaster, you change how you put the mustard on it, then all of the sudden these series of smaller changes – it completely changes the product.”
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Swensons Drive-In closes Cincy location as company goes back to basics
