The restaurant at 5130 East 10th Street on the outskirts of opened in the early 1930s as a frozen custard stand called North and South Poles, Inc. By 1941, Harrison and Hellen Northway bought the building. The couple changed the name in the 1950s—the first of many name changes for the venue—to Northway’s Drive-In—and expanded the menu to include sandwiches and drinks. The drive-in was open for business only during the warm months. During the winter holiday season, the Northway’s used the parking lot to sell Christmas trees.
Lloyd Laughner, whose family’s history in the restaurant business dates to 1888, bought the drive-in around 1960 (See ). He reopened it on August 22, 1960, as Laughner’s Steer-In, so named to convey that the drive-in served beef specialties. In addition to expanding the menu, Laughner increased indoor seating and added parking spaces for carhop service. Though popular, Laughner’s Steer In did not prove successful financially, and he sold it four years later to Harold Phillips.
Phillips changed the name to Harold’s Steer-In and expanded the menu with his family recipes. Over the next couple of decades, the drive-in gained a reputation for its Twin Steer Burger, which debuted at just 40 cents, as well as its cole slaw and homemade coconut cream pie. Curb service continued at the drive-in until 1985 when the building expanded to include more dine-in seating. Though no longer technically a drive-in, Harold’s Steer In continued to serve its loyal following of neighborhood residents as well as the many out-of-towners, politicians, professional athletes, and celebrities.
By 2000, the restaurant was in financial jeopardy. Gina Huber and Lisa Weist bought the restaurant around 2001 in hopes of saving it. They expanded the menu and began holding special events and performances. These efforts, however, were not successful. Huber and Weist filed for bankruptcy and shut down the restaurant on Halloween 2004. A few of the drive-in’s regulars, known as the “Counter Guys”—a group of local men who had drunk their morning coffee at the diner’s counter every day—subsequently started a coffee club in the parking lot of the closed restaurant to show their support and continue their daily coffee routine.
The restaurant was only closed for a brief time before Dollie Smith and Leigh Hockman took over ownership. With the help of former customers, they cleaned up the building, made repairs, and were ready to reopen on Thanksgiving Day 2004. By 2008, ownership of the restaurant changed hands once more when the Kehrer family took it over. The Kehrers renovated the building, careful to keep the 1960s diner feel, and changed the name to Historic Steer-In. The restaurant gained some national attention when it was featured in a March 2011 episode of the Food Network television program, Guy Fieri’s Diners, Drive-ins and Dives.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, the Historic Steer-In stayed in business by offering carryout and delivery services. The Kehrers also used pandemic restrictions as an opportunity to temporarily bring back carhop service.
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