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What's Cooking: The Lemon Drop

The Lemon Drop has been serving customers for more than 60 years. Not a lot has changed - from the bright yellow bricks outside to the prices inside and what Bill Pitts is serving up on the griddle.
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Burgers and fries are on the menu for this week's "What's Cooking" at the famous Lemon Drop in Anderson.

The restaurant has been serving customers for more than 60 years. Not a lot has changed - from the bright yellow bricks outside to the prices inside and what Bill Pitts is serving up on the griddle.

"We're not fancy. We're just good," Bill said. "We like it nostalgic for people to come back and know it's going to be just like it was when they left."

"It's good food and there is just not another place around that is like this," said one customer.

"The Lemon Drop name came about because Mike Lemon is the original owner and he opened in 1954 and I bought it in '72 from him," Bill said.

It's a small place, but Bill says there's "seating for 300, 27 at a time."

Customers, many who have been coming to the Lemon Drop for decades, have their own reasons for coming back.

"To us, it was the train and the free lemon. That's what we always remembered, free candy."

"The onion burgers. Yeah, the best thing."

"It's amazing. It's simple, like-home cooked food. I think that's why it's so popular," said a female customer.

The famous Onion Burger is just as simple as the building that has made it famous.

"It's two patties of meat with onions we placed inside and it's delicious," Bill said. "There's a couple of places that tried to copy us, but they don't do it well."

Bill isn't modest when he talks about his creation.

"I tell people it will be the best burger you have in your life and I have people tell me that once a week," he said.

"It's good food. I've been coming here since I had hair, many years ago, probably back in the 50s," a customer said.

"We were looking for the perfect tenderloin and we found it right here. We found excellent tenderloin," said another customer.

"High quality never goes out of style," Bill said.

With more than 40 years of service already in to the Anderson community, Bill says he'll still be around for awhile.

"Probably forever. Another 30 and I'm going to hang it up," he laughed.

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