There’s something deep down, Andy Griffith, American Graffiti, comfort food satisfying about a good burger joint.

The kind where it feels right to sip a frosty cold Coke, scarf a messy hamburger and a mess of fries and hang out with your friends.

Duane Reynvaan and Roger Hudspeth have been doing that for the past 50 years at the Tastee Treet in Prineville.

Ever since they were kids in grade school, Reynvaan and Hudspeth have congregated at the Third Street landmark, built in 1953.

They still do.

Their hair may be a tad more gray and coffee has become their beverage of choice, but Hudspeth and Reynvaan and several others still gather around the rock counter at the Tastee Treet on a regular basis and talk about the latest. Or about cars. Or to needle the waitresses.

The way they always have.

Tastee Treet is that kind of place.

”Our friends come here,” said Hudspeth from his spot at the lunch counter. ”We like the people who are here.”

And they like those burgers.

”The mountain burger is really popular with the big, burly guys,” said Marty Hartman. ”I’m the main cook. I don’t put out anything I wouldn’t eat myself. I treat people the way I want to be treated.”

Take the mountain burger ($4.99, $5.99 with fries in a basket). The patty itself is three-quarters of a pound. And it’s piled high with lettuce, pickle, tomatoes and onions (grilled on request) and topped off with relish, mayonnaise, mustard and ketchup if you so desire.

Tastee Treet burgers are 100 percent beef and the fries are hand-crafted and old fashioned potatoey.

Ever-popular items include the double bacon cheeseburger ($4.99, $5.99 basket), the mushroom Swiss burger ($3.99, $4.99 basket) and the ham and Swiss burger ($3.99, $4.99 basket).

Tastee Treet is also big on burritos, hot dogs, and fish and chips. And all the soups and chili are homemade.

Specials include the foot-long chili dog ($3.95), the burrito supreme with chili (dressed with lettuce, tomato, cheddar cheese, sour cream and salsa, $3.95) and fish and chips ($5.65).

Breakfast items include the ham and cheese omelette ($5.50), the ham, bacon or sausage breakfast (served with two eggs, hash browns and toast, $4.95) and hash browns and country gravy ($2.95).

And then there’s dessert.

Tastee Treet serves 15 flavors of Eberhard’s and Umpqua ice cream along with the perennially popular soft serve.

Just because the 1950s are long gone, doesn’t mean the kids don’t keep flocking to this old standby.

”It’s a kid’s lunch rush at lunch time,” said longtime employee Penny Scarborough.

The noon special, a student burger served with fries and a drink, is $3.59.

”It keeps going,” said Hudspeth. ”People keep coming. It’s kind of a landmark here in Prineville.”

Jim Witty can be reached at 541-617-7828 or jwitty@bendbulletin.com.