Cougar Country Drive-In reopens for limited hours

Drive-in closed February, now reopens under new ownership

A+crowd+of+people+wait+in+line+on+Wednesday+at+Cougar+Country.

JAKOB THORINGTON | THE DAILY EVERGREEN

A crowd of people wait in line on Wednesday at Cougar Country.

JAKOB THORINGTON, Former Evergreen reporter

Cougar Country temporarily reopened Wednesday from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m.

Laura Yasinitsky, Cougar Country manager, said the drive-in will be opening for limited hours over the next two weeks.

“We want to get off to a slow and soft start to make sure everyone is trained and ready to go when we officially re-open,” she said.

The drive-in is keeping its temporary openings secretive, she said. Updates will be posted on social media when it temporarily opens until it becomes official.

To celebrate National Cheeseburger Day, the drive-in temporarily re-opened Wednesday and produced cheeseburgers for WSU housing at a private event, Yasinitsky said.

Mike Wagoner, Cougar Country co-owner, said his family moved to Pullman three years after the business opened and has given him great memories with his family since then.

He said one person during a friends and family event last night started “bawling” because it was the first time they ordered at the restaurant without their dad who had passed away.

“I’m looking forward to hearing memories and making new ones,” Wagoner said.

The menu items will all still use the same recipes, Wagoner said. The burgers will be slightly different as they will now be made with 100 percent all-Angus beef, which is a higher quality product than what was previously used, he said.

“A foodie last night gushed about the fry sauce last night because it was just like they remembered it,” he said.

Wagoner and his co-owner Terry Wagoner bought the business in July.

The restaurant closed last February. Wednesday marks the first re-opening of the business in just over seven months.

Cougar Country is located on 760 N. Grand Ave in Pullman.