Arnold's Drive-In (Happy Days)

Arnold’s Drive-In

Arnold's Restaurant is the name of a popular Milwaukee "greasy spoon"- a local hangout for most of the characters in Happy Days, especially Fonzie, Richie, Potsie, Ralph and their friends and schoolmates. Arnold's would later become the regular hangout for Chachi, Joanie and Jenny Piccalo and their friends and classmates.

Arnold's originally had in-car service where customers could pull into a parking space and dine in the comfort of their own cars while waited on by a carhop. The restaurant also had a walk-up window with a photo booth nearby. The dining room inside Arnold's was replete with tables and booths, a pinball machine, a jukebox, a dance floor, and even a small stage with piano for live performances. The dining room is adorned with a large "Jefferson High School" banner on the wall above the jukebox as well as pennants from other (real and fictional) schools and colleges.

The main external identifier for Arnold's is the rotating sign mounted on the roof with a large neon capital "A" with the word "Arnold's" in small lettering underneath. The lettering for the Arnold's logo used the Gill Sans Bold Condensed font, similar to the capital "A" used by the now-Oakland Athletics' baseball team (the team was based in Kansas City from 1955 to 1967, which covers virtually all of the Happy Days timeline).

Early on in the series, many of the scenes filmed at Arnold's were external, but over time the majority of the scenes switched to inside the restaurant, with brief external shots of the restaurant or the sign itself being used to establish the setting of the upcoming scene.

Fonzie's Office

The restrooms in Arnold's were marked "Guys" and "Dolls", and Fonzie used the "Guys" room as his office, where in earlier episodes he often held court in helping Richie and the others with their problems. Fun fact--though the "Guys" door is on the left, the restroom opens up to the right when the boys enter; the sinks and mirrors are on the same wall as the door, meaning the "Dolls" restroom door is just for show.

The Jukebox at Arnold's loomed large in Fonzie's legend as well. Fonzie was the only one who could rap it with his fist causing it to immediately start (or stop) playing.

"See It At Arnold's"

Beginning in Season 3, Arnold's was the venue for numerous and varying events including, but not limited to the following:

First and foremost, Fonzie jumping his motorcycle over fourteen garbage cans, which was nationally televised from Arnold's parking lot. "Arnold" (Pat Morita) makes his first appearance in this episode and uses the publicity to promote his fried chicken stand. (Season 3, Fearless Fonzarelli)

In need of a lead singer to replace the absent Potsie for the Saturday Senior Dance at Arnold's, Fonzie is reluctantly appointed to take his place. (Season 3, Fonzie the Superstar)

In an attempt to meet more sophisticated girls, Richie, Potsie and Ralph hold a rigged beauty contest at Arnold's, but their plans fall apart when the pre-selected winner fails to show up. (Season 3, Beauty Contest)

To exact revenge on a rival after being cut from cheerleading tryouts, Joanie recruits Fonzie to be her partner in a dance marathon. (Season 4, They Shoot Fonzies, Don't They?)

Fonzie's clumsy cousin Angie breaks a record for catching stacks of coins off of his forearm. (Season 4, The Book of Records)

Leather Tuscadero comes to town to audition for a gig at Arnold's. (Season 5, Fonzie and Leather Tuscadero)

The band Weezer made a music video in which they appeared at Arnold's singing their 1994 hit song "Buddy Holly". The video was filmed on a recreated set and featured Al Molinaro while incorporating brief snippets from the original series.

Arnold's Burns Down

In the Season 7 episode Hot Stuff, Al entrusts Chachi to close up the restaurant, but when Joanie finally agrees to go out with him, Chachi's elation causes him to forget to shut down the grill. As he leaves with Joanie, he tosses his apron on the still-hot grill; the apron quickly ignites, and the ensuing fire soon spreads throughout the rest of Arnold's.

The restaurant was gutted, but Arnold's was covered by insurance, and with Fonzie's financial assistance the restaurant is rebuilt and given a contemporary 60s makeover. By the final season the external shots of Arnold's show the drive-up and curbside service gone.

Fun Facts

In the pilot episode of Happy Days, the restaurant was called Arthur's.

The pinball machine featured in the show was called "Nip It". Manufactured by Bally, this particular table was first released in 1973.