Frostop Root Beer Drive-In Huntington, WV

by Erin September 6, 2021

written by Erin September 6, 2021

Right over the border of Ohio in Huntington, West Virginia you will find the iconic Frostop Root Beer Drive-In where they have been serving root beer for over 60 years.

My latest root beer adventure was serendipitous as my path to a weekend trip in WV happened to pass by the Frostop Root Beer Drive-In Huntington, WV.

First a little history.

L.S. Harvey opened his first Frostop Root Beer Stand in Springfield, Ohio in 1926. The biggest growth of Frostop Drive-Ins occurred in the late 1960s, reaching a peak of over 350 locations, with the largest concentrations in the Midwest and Deep South.

Unfortunately, none of the Ohio locations exist anymore – not even the original in Springfield. But you can find it sold at local groceries and retails on occasion. Oddly enough, of the remaining drive-ins there are six in Louisiana, a couple in Mississippi, and one each in Idaho, Indiana, Utah, Illinois, and West Virginia. The Huntington, WV location opened in 1959 and recently celebrated 60 years in 2019.

Frostop Root Beer Drive-In

I quite literally squealed when I first saw the spinning mug on top of the drive-in. Apparently it went under repair in 2019 and was returned 8 months later in 2020. But I digress. While you could eat in your car like every other drive-in, we elected to eat on their patio, complete with a resident cat.

The root beer is made daily, using their original recipe which infuses 22 flavors and is cold-brewed in batches at thirty-six degrees. Personally, I think it’s a good classic root beer. Not much carbonation, creamy vanilla, and a medium flavor, making it a solid 3/5 on my rating scale. Which I will remind you, a 3 is a good score – a classic standard root beer.

As for the food, their mozzarella sticks were the favorite item ordered. They were so flavorful you didn’t even need the marinara dipping sauce. The cheeseburgers and fries were again good classics that definitely hit the spot for lunch on our road trip. And all priced super affordably. Even a t-shirt was only $12 so you know I had to get one.

Unfortunately, I failed to realize while I was there that three other root beer stands were the area: Midway West Drive-In, Farley’s Famous Hot Dogs, and the first Stewarts Original location. Fail, but guess it just means I have to go back!