While the drive-in restaurant phenomenon has long faded in the United States, roadhouses (restaurants in which patrons are served at their cars) are alive and well in South Africa. Kota Joe is a relatively new roadhouse chain, started in 2011, and boasts two locations in Ekurhuleni: one in Edenvale and one in Boksburg. Kota Joe’s restaurants are impossible to miss, with larger-than-life menu billboards easily readable to anyone who pulls into the parking area. The specialty menu item is, of course, the kota – a hollowed-out loaf of bread (using Kota Joe’s special recipe) filled with savoury foods like beef, chips, polony, and cheese.

Kota Joe also offers other traditional fast-food items including pizzas, burgers, toasted sandwiches, a plethora of different ice-cream cones and shakes, and more unusual items like “waffle on a stick”. Be sure to go hungry: The waitrons’ tops, which read “Screw the Diet” on the back, say it all. Their huge milkshakes, piled high with cream and sprinkles, are particularly famous.

Kota Joe’s atmosphere is its best asset, with large stereo speakers playing catchy rock and pop music. (The Boksburg location also has big-screen TVs.) Service is fast and friendly and the food is cheap. And there’s just something special about being served a tray of tasty food through the car window – messy and awkward but strangely fun.