Taylor's Drive-In, open since 1947, has closed because longtime owner Darlene Collins, 83, had a heart attack on Dec. 18. She is recovering.
Collins said Thursday, Jan. 25, there was a possibility someone might buy the business but there is nothing definite. Taylor's was last open Dec. 23.
“It's up in the air,” she said, adding that people have expressed interest in buying the business in recent years.
She said that she had also undergone chemotherapy and radiation for cancer treatment earlier in 2023.
“It's been very devastating for me,” said Collins. “I'm just struggling along here.”
Her husband died in 2012.
“I'm not going to be able to do it and I'm 83 years old. It's devastating because I've been there for 45 years.”
She has owned the steak burger-and-fries joint at East Trafficway Street and North Benton Avenue since 1978. The business is one of the city's oldest continuing operations.
Hours in recent years have been few: 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Tuesday through Friday.
For all those years, Collins was the woman at the cash register. One oddity of the store — similar to the former Anton's Coffee Shop that closed in March 2020 after Anton Tasich died — is that it was cash-only, no debit or credit cards accepted.
