Dude’s Drive In – Best Breakfast Sandwich Ever!

Dude's Drive In in Christiansburg VA is our first Retro Roadmap entry for Virginia, and well worth them mention. Just down the hill from the Starlite Drive In movies, Dude's has been serving locals and folks just off of Interstate 81 since 1978.

I had researched Dude's a little bit on Roadfood so we knew it was an eat in your car type of place, but unfortuntately we could not seem to find the ham biscuits nor the drive through service they mention.  Luckily we didn't even have to honk for the car hop waitress who quickly appeared at our window after we parked in front (that's our Retro Roadmobile behind the sign.)

Since it was  breakfast we opted for ham and egg sandwiches on the recommended wheat bread. I was a bit thrown off by the "do you want tomatoes and lettuce on that?" question, with it being a breakfast sandwich, but am SO glad we went with that local option, as our sandwiches were just delicious.Take a look:

Kind of like a BLT with egg in it, the sandwich was perfectly grilled and crispy on the outside, glistening with butter and hammy goodness. One thing I did try per Roadfood was Virginia country ham, versus baked ham. The country ham was mighty tasty though on the salty side, but worked well with the melange of flavors in the sandwich.

Dude's offers all sorts of other foods for other times of the day and is known for it's Dude Burgers and Red Hot Dogs topped with chili sauce, a local favorite.

It's convenient on / off access from the major highway make this an easy detour away from the boring sameness of the highway and chain restaurants. Always good to know about local stops like this when on a retro road trip!