Healthy Influence – Persuasion Blog

Joan’s Drive In, located in Marshall, Missouri has the greatest cheeseburgers in the history of the Western World.  Just off the town square – look for the courthouse – you will find a small diner with spinner seats, formica counter, and Connie at the grill.  Let me take you on the tour.

County Courthouse, Saline County, Missouri in Marshall where the people from my mother’s side originate. Hollywood shot my closeup in “The Children Nobody Wanted” (I played Delford opposite Michelle Pfeiffer before either of us were famous).  I stood on the stairs to the left. Now, imagine turning your head to the right 90 degrees . . .

. . . and you’ll see Joan’s Drive-In which has the greatest cheeseburgers in the world. My grandmother, Nell Ellingson (aka, “The Leader”) brought me here as a child in the early 1950s and I’ve been coming back ever since, often with . . .

. . . my little brother, Rick, and more recently, his sons, Brett and Evan. We’re seated at the counter waiting for Connie . . .

. . . Connie is the third owner of Joan’s Drive In. Ms. Joan Murphy started operation before World War II, then sold to Frances and his wife (whose name escapes me).  Frances and his wife inspired me to write a sweet short story based on the diner during the year I worked butchering hogs at a Wilson’s meat processing plant in the 1970s.  Frances and his wife hired Connie in the 1970s and she stayed on.

Here’s the certificate that documents the basis of my high opinion of Joan Murphy’s. It’s an award for “Best of Rural Missouri” in the hamburger category. They also got one for chili. If you’re ever on I-70, take the Rt 65 exit north 15 miles to Marshall, go to the Courthouse, then find Joan’s. Tell Connie hello. She won’t give you a discount, but she’ll take your picture holding her awards.

The only thing better than a Joan’s cheeseburger is a Joan’s cheeseburger paid for by my nephew, Evan, who fell for a bad bet.  Man, I wish he’d been born ten years earlier!