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DOWAGIAC — Jake Arnold loves to cook food and serve customers.

As the owner of Happy Jake’s in Dowagiac and Wakey Jakes in Marcellus, Arnold and his wife Brooke enjoy sharing their passion for food with Cass County residents. That passion was on display Monday as the duo celebrated the grand opening of their latest venture, Arnie’s Drive In, 28102 M-152, Dowagiac, with a ribbon-tying ceremony courtesy of the Greater Dowagiac Chamber of Commerce.

The restaurant, formerly home to Lutz’s Drive In, features a variety of burgers, pizzas, milkshakes and more in its newly remodeled dining space.

“The Dowagiac community has been so welcoming to us, especially when I first opened a Happy Jake’s,” Arnold said. “I felt like we built a reputation from Happy Jake’s and Wakey Jakes so that when we did open, these people were confident that they’d see a clean kitchen and good food.”

Bob and Virginia Lutz opened Lutz’s Drive In in 1961 and served the Dowagiac community until 2017, when Scott Scherer and Karmen Grady bought the restaurant.

In 2019, the restaurant was bought by Matt Wheeler before Marissa Schoetzow purchased it in August 2020. When the opportunity to purchase the restaurant  came up, Arnold could not say no.

For many in Dowagiac and beyond, the restaurant has been a part of the community’s fabric for decades. Mayor Don Lyons, who was on hand for the event, was happy to see the space continue to serve the community as a restaurant.

“This is a very personal moment for me. As a youngster growing up in the community, this was where I hung out,” he said. “There was the drive-in theater, there was a miniature golf course right next door and those were times that are very formative they set you on the road for the rest of your life, always with that grounding of a small community and the things that it can provide for you that you don’t get in a big city. This is one of those places; this is a place that Joan and I had come to for years, anytime we just take a step back, get a nice burger or some fries and a malt.

“These are the sort of things that keep a community alive and keep it vital. When you have businesses that can continue to be a meaningful part of the fiber for over sixty years, I think it is great.”

“I hear almost every day ‘this was my first job,’ ‘I used to wash dishes here,’ ‘I used to make burgers here back in the day,’” Arnold said. “It’s cool, there’s so much history with this place. To be able to carry it on is an honor.”

Arnold was quick to thank his staff, friends and family for their continued support.

“When I got into the restaurant industry, my dad had been in it for 30-plus years and he always told me the key to success was people,” Arnold said. “It seems like people are the hardest thing to grasp nowadays with all the different technology and stuff going on but I truly do have the best people. This crew right here is foundational for me and thank you to each one of you for showing up. People are what make this happen and we’ve grown quite quickly just because of the people we have in place.”