For the last 50 years, local customers have been able to enjoy Lutz’s famous pizzas and burgers either while relaxing in the confines of the drive-in restaurant’s dining room or on the go, after grabbing their grub at one of its pick-up windows.

The restaurant has recently given people another way to enjoy its trademark tastes — by having them delivered straight to their front door.

Late last month, the drive-in restaurant began offering delivery service to customers in the Dowagiac and Sister Lakes communities. From 5 to 9 p.m. Friday through Sunday, people who call in and order at least $15 worth of food will have the option of having their meal delivered to them.

The restaurant, located at Five-Mile Corner in between the city and Sister Lakes, only delivers to locations within a 15-minute radius. However, this area covers pretty much the entirety of Dowagiac and Sister Lakes, as well as most of Decatur and even portions of Eau Claire, making it a convenient choice for many, especially those who live in the countryside, said owner Scott Scherer.

“I think the delivery service will take off soon,” Scherer said. “We hear from people all the time in Sister Lakes who say ‘no one will ever deliver food to us.’ Well, now we do.”

Since introducing the service, the number of customers taking advantage of it has grown steadily, he said. It has been especially helpful to longtime Lutz’s customers who have trouble leaving the home on a regular basis, Scherer said.

Delivery is just one of several new services that Scherer and his fiancée, Karmen Grady, have added to the beloved Dowagiac restaurant since taking over the business from founders Bob and Virginia Lutz in January.

One of the other big additions — or re-additions, rather — to the menu in recent weeks has been alcoholic beverages, as the restaurant’s liquor license was finally transferred to the new owners, Scherer said. The eatery now has three beers — Budweiser, Bud Light and Miller Light — on tap, along with several brands of bottled beers and wines, for customers to enjoy with their food.

In addition, Scherer and Grady are hoping to have a take-out license approved soon as well, so that customers may have alcohol delivered to them, Scherer said.

In a few weeks, Lutz’s will roll out another huge addition to its selection: breakfast.

The owners plan to begin offering a morning menu to the restaurant, which will include popular breakfast staples such as fried eggs, omelets, sausage, biscuits and gravy, several types of pancakes, French toast, hot and cold cereals, and more. They will also offer be serving up a dish made with hash browns and biscuits, are topped with a couple over easy eggs and gravy, which is an homage to a dish once served at a local greasy spoon diner, Scherer said.

Around a dozen or so regulars have been requesting that the restaurant get into the breakfast game since Scherer and Grady took over, he said.

“A couple of our customers have been pretty persistent about it,” he said. “They really want a new breakfast place in town.”

Lutz’s once featured a breakfast menu around 20 years ago, so making the transition should be rather simple, the owners said. In fact, the business still has the old griddle installed in the kitchen area once used for morning service.

The owners expect to roll out the breakfast menu on Saturdays and Sundays within the next two weeks, and will open up earlier in the  day — at either 7 or 8 a.m. — to accommodate early risers.

“If everything works out, we will begin serving breakfast all five days we are open,” Scherer said.

In spite the additions, the new owners said they have made little other changes to the way Lutz’s has done business for more than 50 years. They continue to use the same recipes and equipment as the old owners — the only major change they made was to the type of beans they serve with their chili — and employ many of the same staff, Scherer said.

Lutz’s is open from 11 a.m. Wednesday through Sunday. For more information, people may call the restaurant at (269) 782-5676.