PHOENIX — The team behind The Montauk, Diego Pops, and The Hot Chick in Scottsdale have opened a fourth restaurant in the Valley, Eat Up! Drive-thru.
The restaurant recently opened on the southeastern corner of 40th Street and Indian School Road, next door to The Porch restaurant.
Not to be confused with traditional drive-thru restaurants, owner Caitlin Jocque, who owns Jocque Concepts with her husband, said Eat Up! is not a fast-food restaurant, though the goal is to serve their food quickly.
"We're parents of young children, and we were just going through that dinnertime struggle, struggling to find well-rounded meals to put on the table," she said. "And we wanted a place that didn't sacrifice quality for convenience."
The menu is primarily focused on their family-style meals, which include a main dish and two sides, such as wood-grilled chicken, wood-grilled flat-iron steak, or braised BBQ short ribs, paired with roasted broccoli, potato gratin, mac and cheese, or cauliflower salad. View the menu.
They also have individual meals, as well as salads, sandwiches, wraps, baked potatoes, soup, and chili.
"Here, things are cooked slow but served fast and what that means is, I mean, this is real cooking. There's nothing that is pre-packaged [or] pre-made with preservatives, [it's] all from scratch," she said.
It's one of three Arizona-based drive-thru restaurant concepts that have opened in recent years. Salad & Go has nearly 30 restaurants in the Phoenix area alone, with more in the works. D'Lite Healthy on the Go has a handful of restaurants in the Valley.
Eat Up! has a small dining room with a handful of tables and booths and a larger patio with picnic tables and umbrellas.
There are two drive-thru lanes, one that can be used to order and pick up individual meals, and another that will be used to pick up family meals.
Due to the time it takes to make those family-style meals, Jocque said people are asked to order those at least 30 minutes ahead of time.
People can order over the phone or through their website, https://eatupdrivethru.com.
When ABC15 visited last week, the drive-thru lanes were temporarily closed because the menu boards were being repaired. Once those are fixed, the drive-thru lanes would reopen, Jocque said.
The dining room is open for orders and pick up, too.
Currently, Eat Up! opens in the late afternoon, prior to the dinnertime rush. They plan on opening for lunch soon, but like a lot of other restaurants in the Valley, need to hire a few more people to be able to staff during that time.
There is an application on the website for those interested in applying for an open position.
IF YOU GO:
Eat Up! Drive-thru
4001 E. Indian School Road, Phoenix AZ 85018
Hours: Daily, 4 p.m. - 9 p.m.
https://eatupdrivethru.com
