An old Yellow Basket menu found online, year unknown.

The well-worn Yellow Basket drive-in in Central Point will soon be revamped and slightly reimagined by the owners of Skout Taphouse and Provisions in Ashland.

The red and white cinderblock and wood structure — located across from the Grange Co-Op’s landmark grain elevator on Highway 99 — will once again offer burgers and cold drinks, albeit on a slightly fancier scale than the Coney dogs and malt shakes served at the location since the 1960s.

Having run Skout since 2021, owners Tom and Lisa Beam said they’d kept an eye on the old Yellow Basket since it closed in December 2019.

Former Yellow Basket owners John and Pam Angelopoulos posted a sign informing customers that they had retired, and their children would remodel and reopen. By mid-January, the old space was listed for sale. Although it was taken off the market a handful of times, the restaurant was relisted earlier this year and purchased by the Beams in May for $400,000.

Lisa Beam said she and her husband scooped it up “as fast as we could” when it was relisted and immediately began rehabbing the building, creating something not unlike their Skout location near Lithia Park.

“We’re very much looking to do a taphouse concept over here as well as bring Skout to this end of the valley. We’re still doing exploratory work and looking at the building and the layout, working with the city of Central Point to get everything finalized,” Beam said.

“We’re pushing to get it opened up sooner than later, but we’re at the mercy of equipment and contractors.”

Beam said community interest has been plentiful. The most asked question? The fate of the old rustic awning, under which countless old cars, motorcycles and even some Schwinn bicycles have been parked.

“Absolutely, the awning is staying. We’re not tearing the building down or making big changes or anything like that. We’re rehabbing what’s there and bringing it back to life,” she said.

“We have been looking at this space for a few years. It had been on our radar for a while. When it finally came back on the market, we jumped on it as fast as we could.”

Beam, who was born and raised in Medford, said her parents remembered eating at the old Yellow Basket, and she and her husband “appreciate how much everyone loves the building.”

The Angelopoulos family ran Yellow Basket for three decades, serving burgers, shakes and malts. Social media users often recount tales of spending time there for first jobs or first dates. Former customers reminisce online about chunks of banana in their banana shakes and — a nod to the family’s Greek heritage — gyros served alongside burgers in the familiar plastic yellow baskets.

Local accounts vary on what, and when, the drive-in served under other monikers. According to old phone books and news clippings on file at the Southern Oregon Historical Society, drive-ins and soda fountains have existed at 163 S. Front for decades.

As early as the mid-1960s, the location was listed as part of the Dogs n Suds chain, founded in 1953 and still in operation across the Midwest. Dogs n Suds locations were all built with a similar V-shaped red awning.

Jim McDonald, a Central Point native who now lives in Washington state, posted on social media this week that his dad, known as Big Jim to locals, built the original building as a Dog n Suds in 1965, “exited the franchise” a few years later and ran it as Jim’s Drive-In until he sold the property in 1974. A 1971 Crater High yearbook boasted an ad for Jim’s Drive-In, featuring “root beer, burgers and Coney dogs.”

In a 1979 phone directory, the Arcade Drive Inn advertised burgers, fries, sub sandwiches, ice cream, tacos, burritos and “fountain service.”

By 1985, Piper Inn was serving burgers, fries, shakes and “16 flavors of hard ice cream” from 9:30 a.m. to 11 p.m. daily.

Stephanie Holtey, planning director for the city of Central Point, said city officials were happy to see the Yellow Basket property rehabilitated and open as a “fun gathering place for the community.”

“Since this property was originally developed … it has been a focal point for the Central Point community as a gathering place. We have been eager to see this property come back to life in a way that honors the past as well as the small-town feel that is so central to our community,” Holtey said.

John Angelopoulos said he wished the new owners “all the best.” He said he enjoyed taking care of regulars at the Yellow Basket and hoped the new owners would be successful.

“I loved it, and my family loved it, and I hope the new owners make a bundle. We had it for 33 years and it was great but, when you get into your 70s, you finally have to say sayonara,” he said.

“When we started it, we wanted to make it a favorite place to go. And it really was. When we came to Central Point, there were only 6,800 people — a very small town.” The 2020 Census lists the population at 19,222.

Beam said she looked forward to a blending of old and new.

“We’re still wrapping our heads around how to make this space awesome. The history is really fun. And we’re meeting all these different people with so many stories. People who tell us they brought their first girlfriend on a date there back in the ‘80s; people stopping in and saying how they used to come in all the time and get this or that,” she said.

“It’s not gonna be the Yellow Basket. We didn’t buy that business, but we’re keeping it community-friendly and a fun place to go. That’s kind of what we’ve always tried to stay true to.”

Beam said she looked forward to breathing life back into the old building and serving up tasty food near the corner of Front and Pine streets.

“With Yellow Basket closing down, this corner has kind of been a little sad for a while,” she added. “We’re excited to bring it back to life.”