All through the years, no matter where I have lived or traveled to, I always knew the Beacon was waiting back home, like an old friend. A
greasy friend, but a good friend. I watched as Spartanburg’s Marshall
Tucker Band sang its praises in interviews across the country and as Charles Kuralt brought his iconic On the Road series to the restaurant. I watched as John White let everyone know that the Beacon would never be open on Sun- day (which new ownership and a flubbed economy changed a few years back). I watched as Presidents and Presidential candidates walked the line at the Beacon for some hash, fries or chicken. I watched as J.C. Strobel, the man who - nine times out of ten - meets every customer at the front of the line and calls their order back to the cooks in his own unique style, became a local and national celebrity. (At press time, Mr. Strobel has been upgraded from critical fair at the Spar- tanburg Hospital after a fall. His family has taken him off of life support as per his living will. Of course, a legend never dies.)
The Beacon Drive-In, which holds the
record as the second-largest Drive-In Restau- rant in the USA, is located on a section of Rei- dville Road that, in 1999 became John B. White Sr. Blvd. after the late owner (255 John B. White, Sr. Blvd.). Mr. White opened
their doors over 60 years ago, on Thanks- giving day, 1946 right after World War II, serving food made from his own recipes. Along with his sons, White personally manned the cash reg- ister for over 50 years. Everyone loved Mr. White, and he knew pretty much everyone in town. He retired on May 1, 1998, and the Beacon was sold to a local family, Sam Maw and Steve McManus, brothers-in-law, who kept everything pretty much the same in the tried and true tradition of White. The Beacon's menu
(which, during the ‘70’s featured The Marshall Tucker Band logo, with “We are proud to be the hometown of the
MTB,” and another for racing legend David Pearson) includes sandwiches, side orders, plates, seafoods, desserts, breakfast biscuits, and features an entire selection of "a-plenty" dishes served with a massive pile of french fried potatoes and onion rings, such as hash a-plenty ($7.50), and my old favorite, the chili-cheese burger a-plenty ($7.00). Of
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