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After 40 years behind the grill, Randy Slade decided last week to pass the spatula and drive-in dining tradition to the next generation.
The sale of JJ’s Tasty Drive-In on South Highway 75 in Luverne to James Montag was completed in a matter of weeks.
The official sale took place Sept. 2. Slade’s birthday was the next day.
“It was kind of a fluke that all of this happened,” he said.
Montag, a family friend, heard via the grapevine that Slade was thinking about retirement, possibility in a year or two. Conversations between the two men brought clarity that now was the right time to sell.
“From start to finish, it took 2 to 2 1/2 weeks,” Slade said.
To Slade the transition to the younger Montag felt right.
“He is a nice young man with a lot of energy,” he said. “I think he is a real good fit for the community.”
Slade estimated JJ’s customers consume an average of 500 burgers a day from the seasonal business. Its favorites are the Big “T,” Grizzly and Whimpy burgers with fries or cheese balls.
Montag is not planning changes to the menu or to the family dining experience Slade and his wife, Donna, have created.
“They’ve got 40 years of building the experience and I’d like to keep it,” he said.
Montag is keeping the business’ name, the 1949 Harley Davidson motorcycle that greets visitors inside the diner and, for the next six weeks, the Slades’ help behind the counter.
“We are going to help out for awhile,” Randy said.
For Montag, the return stint behind the grill is for the second time.
“It’s slowly coming back,” Montag said.
He has spent the past 12 years in shipping for a machine shop in Rock Valley, Iowa, until the diner experience drew him to becoming a business owner.
Sixteen years ago Montag worked seven years for the Slade family drive-in diner in Rock Rapids, Iowa. Montag remembers eating at the drive-in there, and the positive impression he received hasn’t left him.
“I really enjoyed it,” he said. “Usually it’s a fun place to be and a fun place to work.”
The Slades are assisting Montag for the next six weeks to continue the dining experience they took over in 1977.
JJ’s Tasty Drive-In dates back to late 1966 when the Tastee Freez Drive-In franchise opened a diner in Luverne as a year-round business.
After the Slades operated the diner for 10 years, the business hours changed to seasonal and are now open from the second Thursday in March to October.
Retirement and the sale of the drive-in have left the Slades with mixed emotions.
“Five days ago we were happy and then we would break down bawling,” he said. “We love the Luverne community and our employees.”
Montag said he is used to working year-round and might expand the diner’s hours in the future.
“The season may run longer,” he said. “It depends on staffing.”
Montag and his wife, Cori, a chiropractor in Rock Valley, live in rural Rock Rapids and have three children ages 13, 7 and 1.