Looking at the small empty restaurant, having characteristics of a bakery with shelves behind glass, you would never expect it to be an up-and-coming place to be with friends late at night on the weekend.

By day it’s called Marilou’s Kitchen, a donut shop and Filipino restaurant, but starting on Thursday night at 7 p.m., it shifts to Midnight at Burnies Drive-Up, an eclectic burger and shake restaurant that stays open till the early morning hours. For the next three nights, it continues to maintain this identity.

Located at 3221 W. Hammer Lane, next to Subway and across the street of InShape, it’s a restaurant you wouldn’t expect to sell burgers. The exterior windows have pictures of vegetarian Filipino food, but once you walk in, you see the glass case of donuts.

A noticeable characteristic of the menu is that every week they have a new special. For example, when I went the special was the Chris Sale Fries, which are fries tossed with chicken, shredded cheese and jalapenos.

The downside of the menu is that it is limited. It only had eight options that included burgers, fries, milkshakes and hot dogs. I was expecting more. It’s supposed to be a burger place that’s open late at night, so it’s should have a larger variety of options that would have your mind thinking how it would taste.

However, even with narrow options, the food was really good. I would recommend the Cowboy Burger, which is a burger with barbecue sauce, grilled jalapenos, mushroom, bacon and cheddar cheese. It had a unique taste that made it different other burgers. It made your taste buds jump around and just tasted like a meal you haven’t eaten in all time.

The milkshakes are delicious. The have a great taste and goes down smooth. I would suggest ordering the fruity pebble milkshake. It has a cool rainbow color and creative look to it.

While you’re waiting for your food you can play card games, board games and other classic games. The games I saw were Jenga, Monopoly, Connect Four, UNO, and several others. It was unique other than being on our phones waiting for food. We were playing games, laughing, having fun, and trying to beat each other. It was a way to bond without having to stare at a screen.

The atmosphere was relaxing calm and made you feel safe. Everyone around us was playing games, laughing, and smiling, just having a good time.

Midnight at Burnies is shaking up the late night scene for teens and young adults in Stockton.