Posted on 08/23/2016 7:32:32 PM PDT by RightGeek
BANGOR, Maine — The closing of one of the last two Howard Johnson restaurants in a couple of weeks will mark the end of its fried clam strips, ice cream and other menu staples that nourished baby boomers and leave the once-proud restaurant chain teetering on the brink of extinction.
The slice of roadside Americana will no longer be served up in Bangor after Sept. 6.
For waitress Kathe Jewett, it's the only job she's held since starting work when the restaurant opened in 1966.
"It's bittersweet, but it's nothing to be sad about," the 68-year-old Jewett insisted Tuesday during a break from serving customers. "I've been here for 50 years — and it's time."
The closing will leave only one Howard Johnson restaurant, in Lake George, New York.
[More nostalgia and pictures at the link]
(Excerpt) Read more at wral.com ...
Fried clam strips were the ONLY reason I went to HoJo’s. Especially when they had all-u-can-eat specials. Yum.
My grandparents thought George Webb was fine dining. Went there for their anniversary just about every year.
Of the old "five and dimes", no, they've been replaced by "dollar stores". Thank you Federal Reserve...
the infowarrior
I met their road manager. On of the band members is Meghan Trainor’s uncle. Their guitar player taught her to play one when she was 15.
Wrong animal, Sam. Belly clams are longnecks, soft shelled clams. Strip clams are the adductor muscles of hard shelled surf clams, aka ashtray clams.
Mr. Softee is alive and well in the NYC/Long Island area. Haven’t seen a Good Humor truck in many years.
Regards,
The hotels are still around and run by the Wyndham chain. According to wiki the hotels and restaurants were franchised separately starting in 1986. During the 60s and 70s it was the largest restaurant chain in the US. That was during the big rise in McDonalds so at some point the golden arches eclipsed HoJos.
I worked the midnight to breakfast shift at the San Diego interstate 8 location. This was 40 years ago. It was amazing how many orders we had going on that flattop grill at once.
And I’ve never ordered scrambled eggs since as that is where the ones you screwed up went.
A couple of years ago I stopped at the one in Lake George.
Biggest and last, my claim to fame...LOL!
Nice post, thanks.
The 1940's, 50's and 60's were a time of mostly two lane roads when most roadside places were mom and pop cabins or motels, cafes, diners and restaurants.
Some were fine places to eat and sleep, others not so nice.
Howard Johnsons was sort of like the McDonald's of the motel/hotel and restaurant industry back then.
They were places that offered travellers some uniformity and consistency in quality, cleanliness and service. When you saw the distinctive orange roof and rooftop spire you knew what to expect.
Exactly! I was thinking the same thing...you knew what to expect.
I agree. It made me feel nostalgia when I saw that. Sometimes with our country, I wonder if it is like being married to someone with Alheimers...just watching them slip away...
We got a brand new farrells about a mile or so from the house its way to noisy and chaotic for my tastes but hey im not a youngin anymore
Thanks for the link.
Good to know they’re still around.
I’ll have to look them up and try them out, see if they’re still up to snuff.
They disappeared from my neck of the woods long ago.
My family moved to Florida when I was 12 years old. Our first morning there, we went to breakfast at the local Howard Johnson’s. For some reason, I had a hankering for spaghetti. And even though it wasn’t on the breakfast menu, darned if they didn’t make me a batch anyway.
The commercials sold me on them (as every other kid)
I can only remember having it once.
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