Tip Top Drive-In, Las Vegas, Triblend Tee

Description

The Tip Top Drive-In was one of Las Vegas’ most beloved mid-century roadside eateries—a neon landmark that captured the spirit of car culture on the famed Las Vegas Strip. Located at 1100 South Las Vegas Boulevard, right at Charleston Boulevard, Tip Top opened in January 1959, taking over the former Sill’s Drive-In site that had served motorists since the early 1940s. Designed around the classic circular drive-in layout, Tip Top invited customers to pull up, park, and be served right at their car windows. The lot glowed under bright marquee lighting and a lively roadside sign that made the restaurant impossible to miss for travelers heading into town. Burgers, fries, malts, shakes, and quick grilled plates formed the backbone of the menu—simple, satisfying fare priced for families, servicemen, and locals. During the early 1960s, Tip Top flourished as a social hangout. Teenagers met there after football games, casino workers grabbed late-night meals, and highway travelers paused for a break before continuing downtown. Photographs from the era show a bustling parking court framed by nearby motels and low-rise neon signs—a snapshot of Las Vegas before the rise of mega-resorts. The drive-in was also a symbol of changing times. As national fast-food chains expanded and redevelopment pressures increased along Las Vegas Boulevard, independent roadside diners like Tip Top struggled to compete. In 1965, Tip Top closed and the structure was demolished soon thereafter. In a fitting nod to Strip resourcefulness, its sign was repurposed in 1966 for a nearby restaurant called Steak Corral. Today, the original Tip Top site has been redeveloped—the property serves as home to a 7-Eleven convenience store. Yet the memory of Tip Top endures through postcards, home movies, and the nostalgia of longtime Las Vegas residents. More than just a burger stand, the Tip Top Drive-In represents a vanished chapter of Las Vegas history—when neon motels, independent diners, and open-road optimism defined the city’s character. It remains a vivid reminder that Las Vegas wasn’t built on casinos alone, but also on the everyday places where people gathered, ate, talked, and watched the desert night roll by from behind a steering wheel.